People are being asked to get behind a campaign to reinstate regular train services between Crewe and Derby.

North Staffs Community Rail Partnership is campaigning to bring back an hourly service on the route – which would also pass through Alsager, Kidsgrove, Longport, Stoke, Longton, Blythe Bridge, Uttoxeter, and Tutbury & Hatton.

The group says the campaign has the backing of East Midlands Railway (EMR).

It's understood the service was reduced during the pandemic and is still down by six trains per day.

Campaigners say it leaves Crewe, Derby, Stoke – and all communities in between – with fewer trains, which they'd previously been able to use for decades.

Claire Sandys from North Staffs Community Rail Partnership said: "It was a lot more convenient for people, we had an hourly service for decades.

"Trains either side of the missing trains are now very, very busy – so if you need to get a seat it's a major inconvenience.

"One of the reasons for getting our hourly service back would be to avoid having crowded trains."

She said the campaign is only just getting underway, with an online meeting planned for Thursday 3rd August to help drum up support.

The North Staffordshire Community Rail Partnership (NSCRP) was formed in 2005 and works to promote and develop the North Staffordshire Line (Crewe-Stoke-Derby and Stoke-on-Trent to Penkridge).

It's funded by Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Cheshire East Council, Derbyshire County Council and Staffordshire County Council as well as train operators East Midlands Railway, West Midlands Trains, Cross Country Trains and Avanti West Coast.

Claire said: "We're right at the beginning. We see this as a first meeting, the most important thing is to get as many people onboard as possible – especially the local councils.

"We're especially looking at places east of Stoke that have no other service – like Longton, Blythe Bridge, Uttoxeter, Tutbury & Hatton.

"Those are the communities that are hardest hit, so we want those town councils and parish councils to be onboard.

"We want to get the MPs onboard, and take it from there.

"We know the Derwent Valley Line has been successfully reinstated – they've had a lot of public support and the local councils were involved in organising a campaign."

She said towns along the Derwent Valley Line, which runs Derby to Matlock, are more sparsely populated than those on the Crewe to Derby route, yet they currently enjoy 18 services per day after the pre-pandemic timetable was reinstated in May this year.

This compares with 14 services per day currently operating between Stoke and Derby.

The Department for Transport and East Midlands Railway have been contacted for a comment.