HVCA hosted a celebration of the Mini Switzerland project at Edale village hall on Friday 17th July. We welcomed 95 attendees: local residents and representatives of local, regional and national organisations. We heard from East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward as well as National Park CEO Phil Mulligan, Northern Rail Stakeholder Director Carolyn Watson, Visit Peak District MD Jo Dilley, High Peak MP Jon Pearce, Stagecoach Director John Young and local partners.
Mayor Claire explained how Mini Switzerland would provide integrated rail and bus services, making car-free travel a realistic option for local people and visitors.
HVCA Mini Switzerland Project Lead Thomas Ableman described how this project will make the Hope Valley a national demonstration of how integrated transport could work, building on the world-leading Swiss experience. Buses would connect with trains at Hope Valley stations, serving all villages and main visitor destinations seven days a week.
Pete Mathieson, for the EMCCA project team, shared their ambitions and plans for the project. EMCCA plans to involve partners through topic-based workstreams to deliver Mini Switzerland as a phased rollout. EMCCA has already started work on ticketing and travel information apps, as well as on promotion.
We heard from our local partners too; a few examples below:
- Phil Mulligan, CEO of Peak District National Park shared his support for the project and marked how the Hope Valley could set as an example to expand into the rest of the Peak District and other national parks.
- Jo Dilley, Managing Director of Visit Peak District noted how important it is to make transport an easy option and part of the visitor experience.
- Andy Nash, Derbyshire Dales Councillor for Bradwell, reminded us of how the project could benefit on a local level including trips to school and work.
- John Young, Director of Stagecoach mentioned the importance of partnership working and also how buses can be flexible and react to demand.
There was a high level of interest and commitment from participants. The event demonstrated how important partnership and local collaboration is to the success of this project. HVCA is grateful to everyone who came along to the event and shared comments and thoughts.
If you’d like to be kept in the loop of this project and other travel news in the Hope Valley please sign up to the HVCA monthly newsletter and select ‘travel & transport’ under ‘interests’ to receive our special travel bulletin – register for the HVCA newsletter.
A big thank you to Cafe Adventure for supplying us with fantastic cake and traybakes and all of our volunteers for helping the event run smoothly. Also, a special thank you to one of our volunteers for baking the Mini Switzerland celebration cake!
Find out more about the project by visiting our website. If you have any questions or comments, please get in touch by emailing us at info@hopevalleyclimateaction.org.uk.
Photo credit: Kate Eden
2 responses
I live in Bakewell and am a local representative for Cycling UK and have started a local Safer Cycling Group. I was very impressed with the level of commitment and the scope of the proposals. When the full Stategic Outline Business Case for a rail reinstatement in the other half of the Peak District is produced I am now expecting the same level of enthusiasm for the extension to the project that Phil Mulligan suggested. So far the PDNPA have been negative because of the Monsal Trail, but at least they have not suggested you take your trains off the track and put in a section of public bridleway in the middle of it. That would of course be ridiculous, it would increase road traffic, reduce connectivity, limit opportunities for commuting and active travel links not to mention the economic consequences.
Let’s all hope we wake up the reality of climate change and all work together to reduce our collective carbon footprint and improve connectivity in the whole of the Peak Park. Very well done for your part, over to us and the PDNPA now to make life better for future generations.
Hi Dave, thanks for your comment. I have logged this with the project team.