Engineering work on 183-year-old Derbyshire rail tunnel to cause major disruption for passengers from Chesterfield, Matlock, Derby, Alfreton and Belper

From Saturday, May 27 until Sunday, June 11, engineering work is taking place between Derby and Chesterfield – closing some lines for 16 days. Rail replacement buses will run on some routes and diversions will be in place on others.

Over the 16 days, the 183-year-old Clay Cross tunnel will undergo a series of major improvements, including upgrading drainage and replacing sleepers and ballast to improve resilience during periods of bad weather. Additionally, the Milford tunnel will benefit from a complete track upgrade during this time.

The location of these tunnels means services are unable to run between Derby and Matlock, or via their normal route between Derby and Chesterfield. East Midlands Railway and Cross Country operate on this route and their services will be affected.

Buses will replace trains between Derby and Matlock for the duration of the engineering work.

Between Mondays and Saturdays during this 16 day period, a reduced service of one train per hour will run between London St Pancras and Sheffield, taking a diversionary route which will not call at Derby.

A reduced service of one train per hour will run between London St Pancras and Derby.

A rail replacement bus service will run between Derby and Chesterfield, to connect with train services. Customers travelling between Derby and Sheffield should use Cross Country services, which will take a diversionary route, adding up to one hour to journey times.

On weeknights, some additional late-night and early-morning buses will run between Derby and Chesterfield, calling at Belper. On Saturdays, there will be one late-night bus between Derby and Chesterfield which will call at Belper.

On Sunday, May 28, Sunday, June 4 and Sunday, June 11, one train will run per hour between Sheffield and London St Pancras, via Derby.

Between 2.00pm and 6.30pm on May 28 and June 4, one train per hour will run between Derby and London St Pancras.

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Strike action by the ASLEF union will take place on Wednesday, May 31 and Saturday, June 3 – with no services running on these dates. Additionally, strike action by the RMT union has been announced for Friday, June 2 – and a reduced service will operate on these days.

Sheffield Wednesday and Barnsley FC will be contesting the League One playoff final at Wembley Stadium on Monday, May 29. In response to the reduced timetable outlined below, customers travelling to and from the football may seek alternative routes, instead of travelling directly between Sheffield and London St Pancras. As a result, services on all EMR routes to and from London St Pancras are expected to be significantly busier.On Monday, May 29, queuing systems will be in place at Sheffield (for travel to the match) and London St Pancras (post-match for all services), with queuing times of up to one hour expected. Please allow yourself extra time at the station and to complete your journey.