In the next few weeks, in partnership with the major quarry companies operating in the Peak District and after several years of analysis, Peak Rail will be issuing a tender for bids to examine the engineering and administrative feasibility of reinstating the rail link between Peak Forest and Rowsley on the Buxton to Matlock route that was closed to through rail traffic 50 years ago on 1st July 1968. This will principally be to provide a more direct route for the expanding stone traffic between the Peak District and the Midlands and the South of England and to thereby relieve some of the busy passenger rail routes it currently follows. Since its formation in 1975 Peak Rail has reopened 4 miles of the railway from Matlock to Rowsley South for heritage operation and will be able to extend its own services further into the Peak Park to the benefit of the local tourist industry. The study would also look at any costs involved over the wider network and in continuing to cater for walking and cycling within the National Park.