Churnet Valley Railway General Discussion

There isn’t. This is solely to buy the track, there is still recovery to organise which will be more than double the purchase price and then clearance work and drainage repairs to complete on the CVR trackbed.

If anyone can help finance any of the above, my details are as provided. It’s the only thing holding us back, and unfortunately resources are limited and we still have 10-miles of operational railway to maintain already.

 

So about £100kish? Is that what we’re talking about to get it done asap?

 

If £100k landed into the account it would certainly progress things. But there is a lot of work needed to make this happen.

 

Excellent news - came as a complete surprise to me, despite being a vol there.

 

Has nothing happened on the CVR since Sept 6th, there has been no postings at all, its as if the "Polar Express" never happened, has it been as sucessful and fully booked as in previous years?

 

Although a volunteer but not been for a while, I believe that Polar has been a sucess again this year. We were working in the Carriage Workshop so that an additional two carriages were added to this years rake to cope for the extra demand. Tickets for 2026 season have already gone on sale.

 

I believe it was considered successful with +70,000 tickets sold; the locomotive success IMHO was the appearance of D1944 / 47292 in original 2-tone green livery.

 

Lots has happened, just no-one has any real interest in posting on here.

CVR Polars hosted 71,000+ punters, making it the most popular PE event in the UK in terms of visitor numbers. Tickets are on sale for 2026, with the aim or surpassing 80,000 visitors.

We also fixed a wing-wall, completed the re-entry into service of D1994, restored 2x coaches, repainted 3(?) and enjoyed a short break before returning to give the 3-coach dining set a refresh and complete the overhaul of 3278 ready for February.

Feel free to book onto 1 of the Border Explorer dates to see just what we are doing, or even better come volunteer and be part of it.

 

71000 is a collosal achievement, well done CVR!

 

We know we could handle more, the problem is our car park cannot!

 

Is there any way the space at leek could be used next winter with even a “temporary” setup?

 

Nope, presently the only legal access to Leek platform is via Train - hence the operation of the heritage days (rebranded as Borders Explorer for 2026).
https://www.churnetvalleyrailway.co.uk/borders-explorer

Even if this was resolved, the proposed car park at Leek is slightly less what we have at Froghall now IIRC.
The 9x coach train is the max we can fit in the platform, 6x trips is the max we can fit to keep crews within hours (even this we're doing split shifts). We ran 26x days in 2025, 2026 it is proposed to run 28x...
There's worse concerns we could have!

 

Sounds like you need a park n ride for special events ... maybe a vintage coach or bus service if the "normal bus" service can't help.

Never having used it, I have no idea what the existing "public transport" is like around Cheddleton.

 

Just a thought with the empty land sat there. Also given the large amount of semi derelict land around Froghall it seems a shame something couldn’t be done there. Are there any other longer term options for improving capacity for an issue like this?

Yes I did the borders explorer last year as I wanted to contribute to the Leek Project given the challenges and it was a great trip. If there was something else new on it this year I may of done again. But I’ll certainly be revisiting for rail ale trail and maybe a Sunday lunch or two.

What’s the issue with getting access at leek? Planning? I was thinking longer term the leek market/car boot site could offer a substantial temporary parking location.

 

Fair to say woeful, it’s generally one or two buses a day between leek and Cheadle (Froghall at least)

 

At weekends, I don't think Froghall has any public transport at all.
I've always got an Uber from Stoke station to Froghall in the morning.
In the afternoon, there is a mostly reasonable bus from Leek to Hanley through Cheddleton which I think is sort-of hourly but gives up early and may have gaps. To get the bus from Cheddleton station is either a hike up a (very) steep hill or a longer hike somewhat alongside the river. This was pleasant enough in summer & when the train times worked OK with the bus times. That bus then takes you to Hanley from where you have to get another bus or walk to Stoke station. You have to be dedicated or motivated to do it by public transport. I can motivate myself to do it once per year but that's the limit.

 

But is a park and ride likely to be attractive to those who use this type of service, I have my doubts.

 

I'm thinking mainly about Galas rather than father crimble trains - although something could, I think, be devised.
Certainly works to some extent at Ffestiniog Galas.
and quite a number of places like York, Whitby etc have P&R services that work well.

 

The Stainmore railway seemed to have the Park and Ride sorted.
A free vintage bus service linking the Town, Kirkby Stephen East Station and the Settle and Carlisle main line station.

 

I must confess I haven't visited the CVR because of the lack of public transport. Several lines has found a bus link beneficial, even just for event days. Statfold's always seems pretty busy, the Bluebell's link meant they had a stream coming by public transport before they opened East Grinstead, Epping Ongar have run a bus for years, etc.