Notes: Matlock Station was situated on what became the Midland Railway’s (MR) main line between Ambergate and Manchester Central. Matlock was opened as Matlock Bridge by the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midland Junction Railway (MBM&MJR) as part of a line that ran from Ambergate to Rowsley. The station opened with others along the route to passengers on Monday the 4th June 1849. (When the railway opened what is today termed Matlock did not exist. At that time Matlock Bath was referred to as Matlock in contrast to the other settlements: Matlock Bridge, Matlock Bank, Matlock Town, Matlock Green, and Matlock Cliff, which were later to become the single settlement of Matlock we know today. The two stations had to be differentiated, of course, so Bath was added to that at what was the main resort, while Matlock Bridge was appropriate for the other station, as that was the hamlet in which it was situated.)

The MBM&MJR was formed in 1845 with the single purpose of creating a line from Ambergate to Stockport. The company was backed by the Manchester and Birmingham railway in the north and the MR who had their headquarters in Derby. These two companies wanted to create a route between Manchester and London which would not rely on the

The station’s main facilities located in handsome single storey stone built buildings located on the east side of the line, on the southbound platform. The main building had a pitched roof which extended out from the building to form a canopy. A second building situated a little further north along the southbound platform had a full canopy to protect passengers from the elements. Waiting facilities were also provided on the northbound platform.

At the time of opening Matlock Bridge was served by six trains per day in each direction that ran between Ambergate and Rowsley. Trains were operated by the MR from the very start. During the late 1850s proposals were made by independent groups that would have seen a line built between Rowsley, the northern extent of the line, and Buxton. This caused

In 1948 Matlock became part of the British Railways (London Midland Region). In the late 1950s and early 1960s the line was particularly busy as many Manchester services used the route as the former LNWR route, the West Coast Main Line, was being electrified at that time. Indeed in the late 1950s and early 1960s the Ambergate to Manchester Central line

A BRB meeting on 10th April 1963 gave a mandate for certain studies to be carried out on what were seen as duplicate routes. The findings subsequently appeared in a confidential report, dated March 1964, headed “Examination of Duplicate Routes – Trans Pennine”. This included the Derby to Manchester line, and while it could hardly be described as a Trans-Pennine route, it was part of a duplicate route between Manchester and London. One recommendation proposed the complete closure of the line between Matlock and Peak Forest Junction immediately after completion of the Euston to Manchester Piccadilly electrification, and the simplification of facilities between Ambergate and Matlock, with plans to be put in hand at “an early date”. The net saving was estimated as £142,400. This could not be made public, of course, as the Midland route was the principal one for London to Manchester passenger traffic while the Western Lines electrification was taking place.

In March 1964 notices were exhibited for the closure of the local stations, as recommended in the Beeching Report – the scheduled date of closure being Monday15th June. Like many proposed closure dates during that period, 15th June was not practicable and objections to the BRB’s proposals were not heard by the Transport Users Consultative Committee for the East Midlands until the Thursday of the same week. The recommendations from this enquiry then lay with the Minister of Transport for more than two years!

New electrified services were introduced between Euston and Manchester Piccadilly on 18th April 1966. At the same time, express services on the Midland lines were remodelled to cater mainly for passengers between Lancashire and the East Midlands rather than London.

Shortly, afterwards, on 24th June, advance notice was given for the complete closure of the line between Rowsley and Peak Forest Junction, and the singling of the line between Ambergate and Rowsley for local freight services only. Through freight, parcels and express passenger services were to be diverted via the Hope Valley line, as a result of which Matlock station

On 14th September 1966 Barbara Castle, the Minister of Transport, finally ruled on the proposal to withdraw local passenger service from the line. Her decision was that the stations north of Matlock should be closed, but those to the south, with the exception of Matlock Bath and Nottingham Road, would remain open but be served by peak hour services only. This meant that Matlock station could not now be closed. The changes to the local services were introduced on 6th March 1967.

Now all that remained were eight express passenger trains in each direction that just called at Matlock, and a freight trip service from Derby that served Matlock, Rowsley and Bakewell.

In June 1967, the BRB made public its long expected plan to divert the expresses via Chesterfield and the Hope Valley Line. However, Barbara Castle’s ruling on the local passenger services meant that consideration had now to be given to those who used the express services at Matlock. The BRB therefore came up with the ingenious plan of running non-stop services between Matlock and Derby, which would connect into and out of some of the diverted expresses. While the line would be closed to the north, the cost of train operation would certainly increase. It was 11 miles further between Derby and Chinley via the Hope Valley (a further 9 miles was added later when services were diverted in and out of Sheffield), while there were now to be additional trains covering the 17 miles between Matlock and Derby. Although not envisaged at the time, this new service was later to benefit the intermediate stations, which are today served by more trains than at any period in their 160-year existence.

South of Matlock, the intermediate stations were destaffed on 1st January 1968, following the installation of electric lighting. Those who joined these trains at Matlock were also asked to pay on the train, but continued to buy tickets at the Booking Office when travelling on the non-stop services as these also provided First Class facilities.

Now with only a sparse service between Ambergate and Matlock, it was decided to single the line, and this became effective from 11th May 1969. In anticipation of this work, a revised timetable was introduced on the previous Monday. All services were now pay trains and Second Class, with anyone travelling beyond Derby having to re-book. However, Derby to London

Track lifting on the closed section of line commenced in January 1969, the intention being to work from Peak Forest Junction towards Matlock. Suddenly, on 22nd August the work came to a stand. Work on lifting the track between Darley Dale and Millers Dale restarted on Monday 1st June 1970, with recovered material being removed via Matlock. A notice was issued advising that on Sunday 17th February 1971, the line from bridge 35 at Matlock towards Darley Dale was to be brought back into use as a Research Department test track. Even this short section of track was not retained for long and towards the end of 1973 it was noted as being dismantled.

In 1975 a group was formed called Peak Rail. Their express intent was to reopen the line from Matlock to Buxton. They first had a base at Buxton but their efforts to run trains along the route of the line towards Matlock, part of which is still an operational railway at Buxton, were frustrated by British Rail. In 1987 Peak Rail acquired the Darley Dale station which is the next station to the north of Matlock. Peak Rail commenced running trains from Darley Dale to a point approximately 1 mile towards Matlock in December 1991. They had hoped to run trains into Matlock Station. Once again British Rail was unhelpful and stopped them. In the summer of 1992 they opened their own terminus a few hundred metres to the north of Matlock Station and called it Matlock Riverside.

By 2008 attitudes had changed, and Network Rail, owner of the national network, seemed more cooperative. New lines were laid running north from Matlock Station up to Matlock Riverside. On 2 July 2011 Peak Rail services began to use the former northbound platform as their southern terminus. National network services operated by East Midland

Eight and a half miles of the Matlock - Buxton line now forms the Monsal Trail starting at Coombs Road Viaduct, one mile southeast of Bakewell and finishing at the head of Chee Dale, about three miles east of Buxton. There is a diversion round the tunnels.

Further reading: Railway from Buxton to Bakewell, Matlock and Ambergate (Scenes from the Past) by JM Bentley, 1992. Railways around Buxton by JM Bentley, 1987.

Additional source Glynn Waite. Tickets from Michael Stewart, timetable from Rowsley Association, route map drawn by Alan Young. Click here for a list of Matlock Station Masters.

To see other stations between Manchester Central & Matlock click on the station name: Manchester Central, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Withington & West Didsbury, Didsbury, Heaton Mersey, Cheadle Heath, Hazel Grove (Midland), Buxworth, Chinley (2nd site) STILLOPEN, Chinley (1st site), Chapel-en-le-Frith Central, Peak Forest, Cheedale Halt, Buxton (Midland), Blackwell Mill Halt, Millers Dale, Monsal Dale, Great Longstone, Hassop, Bakewell, Rowsley (2nd site), Rowsley (1st site), Rowsley South PEAK RAIL, Darley Dale, Matlock Riverside PEAK RAIL
See also Stockport Tiviot Dale & Stockport Portwood