APPENDIX G

WOODHEAD (CENTRAL) RAILWAY

[Web Site]

The proposal

Central Railway plc is proposing to promote, build and operate a 600km (400m) freight railway from Liverpool to Lille in Northern France via the Channel Tunnel. The intention is to use existing (under-used) and disused railway corridors as far as is possible. The route will offer a 70 – 80mph lorries-on-trains service between the UK and mainland Europe which is predicted to take 40% of projected UK-Continental road freight traffic off the `roads. New freight terminals will be built at strategic points on the motorway network to form an integrated transport system for the UK, France and Ireland. Freight services are expected to account for most of the company’s activity, but the company would also offer capacity to other operators, enabling new domestic and international passenger services to be offered.

Timescale (dates approximate)

Ongoing consultation until 2002

Submission of TWA application & Parliamentary approval provisionally Summer 2001

Public Inquiry 2001-2002

Ministerial Order confirmed 2003

Commence construction 2003

Commission railway 2007

Commence operation 2008

The route across the Pennines

This would involve the re-instatement of the disused former mainline railway (Woodhead) between Hadfield and Sheffield. The line of this railway now forms part of the Trans-Pennine and Longdendale Trails; the company intends to construct alternative routes for the trails, entering into agreements with local authorities that it will fulfil its obligations to do so.

basic outline of Central Railway’s proposed route

Environmental issues

Re-instatement of the railway would need to address key environmental issues.

National Park Issues

1. A recognition that the Park’s primary purpose is ‘conserving and enhancing the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the National Park
2. Under the 1995 Environment Act, agencies promoting development in National Parks are under an obligation to ‘have regard to National Park purposes.’ ‘Have regard to’ requires compliance with the National Park statutory purposes, unless there is reasoned justification not to do so
3. The route passes through or is adjacent to a number of nationally important sites for nature conservation including Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and a number of Sites of Special Scientific Interest(SSSI). SACs are designated under a Directive from the European Union. Infrastructure projects in such an area need to have special justification and to be of national significance
4. There is a long standing (since 1976) government policy that ‘no new route (through a National Park) should be constructed, or existing route upgraded unless there is a compelling need that cannot be met by any reasonable alternative means.’
5. Effects on recreational users on the moorlands and in the valleys to be traversed by the railway and particularly users of the TransPennine Trail

Central Railway; Proposed Environmental Mitigation Measures

6. Central Railway expects to deliver environmental and economic benefits, helping to ease road congestion and reduce air pollution. The proposed terminals will offer access between various modes of transport at ‘intermodal hubs.’ Environmental impacts of noise, visual intrusion, increase of local traffic and landtake have been taken into account in the selection of potential sites.
7. By the use of existing under-used or disused corridors, landtake will be kept to a minimum. In the few cases where residential properties might be affected, the company is proposing a property protection scheme to protect the value of the properties.
8. Electric-powered trains will be less noisy than diesel powered ones currently used in France and the UK
9. Central Railway is working with environmental agencies and local authorities in order to protect significant ecological resources.
10. There will be strict control over construction to minimise associated impacts. An Environmental Management System will be devised and all contractors employed by the company will have to adhere to the terms of the System.
11. In June 2000, the company signed up to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), along with the Environment Agency, English Heritage, English Nature, the Forestry Commission, the Countryside Agency and the Farming and Rural Conservation Agency. This requires Central Railway to undertake an environmental impact assessment of the project and agree its scope with the Agencies. With regard to Environmental Management planning, a structured relationship has been devised and agreed throughout the various stages of the project.

Peak Park Transport Forum (PPTF) December 2000

The Central Railway proposals has to be set against the other rail re-opening proposal that was considered in SPITS, namely the re-instatement of the Matlock to Buxton line . (See Appendix C) In its original SPITS form, Woodhead was seen as very much a local route, but is now being promoted by Central Railway as an inter-national main line, particularly for freight. The promoters of both schemes need to address whether the two routes are competitive or complementary, because if they are the former, then the Peak Park Transport Forum, as a partnership, and individual authorities, acting in accordance with their various statutory remits and policies, will need to consider which is the better option and which should be supported. If the two schemes turn out to be complementary, then the issue becomes one of extracting the maximum traffic and environmental benefit.

At its meeting in December 2000 the PPTF agreed :that the Matlock-Buxton feasibility study be made conditional on it addressing the issues about modal shift, traffic restraint, environmental impact and complementarity with the Central Railway proposal and up to date information about the railway schemes be included as part of any SPITS web site.