Sheffield district rail rationalisation plan of the 1960s
Encyclopedia
The Sheffield District Rail Rationalisation Plan was a series of linked railway civil engineering projects, station and line closures and train route changes that took place in and around Sheffield
, South Yorkshire
. The majority of these changes took place in the 1960s and early 1970s, however the plan, by now much modified in the face of rapidly dwindling freight traffic, was not fully realised until the 1980s.
In 1965, Sheffield Midland station
's exterior was cleaned for the first time 95 years. At the same time, Sheaf House
, new home of British Rail
Sheffield Division headquarters were opened. Sheaf House stood on the site of the former Pond Street Goods station closed in 1963. Midland Main Line
services South were improved with hourly workings (alternatively via Nottingham or Derby) from 1966 with departure times scheduled just past the hour. Cross-country passenger services from the North-East to the South-West were transformed with services running via Sheffield Victoria station
rerouted to Sheffield Midland. Services via Retford and the ECML to London King's Cross were stopped and all London trains routed via the Midland Main Line to London St Pancras. The Master Cutler
was transferred to the Midland line and lost its Pullman cars.
Stopping trains to Derby and Nottingham were taken off and Heeley, Millhouses and Beauchief stations were closed in June 1968. Stopping trains on the former Midland main line north of Rotherham were also axed in January 1968 and many South Yorkshire stations closed: all Leeds-bound stopping services were diverted run via Chapeltown and Barnsley replacing the short distance Sheffield-Barnsley and Barnsley-Wakefield stopping trains on this line; York-bound services became semi-fast with Bolton-on-Dearne
being the only South Yorkshire station north of Rotherham remaining open on that line.
The Nunnery Curve built in 1870 was upgraded and brought into passenger use, allowing trains arriving in Sheffield from the East over former Great Central lines to access Sheffield Midland. Passenger services to Lincoln, Doncaster, Hull, Grimsby and Cleethorpes were moved from Sheffield Victoria to Midland. It had been suggested that after the closure of Victoria the electrification be extended to Sheffield Midland from the Woodhead Line
, but this was dismissed as being too expensive and the Woodhead became a freight only line under the 1984 Trunk Route Plan. All Manchester services were consequently diverted to the Hope Valley Line
; electrified passenger services ended on 5 January 1970 and Sheffield Victoria station closed.
After closure the Sheffield to Huddersfield service continued to pass through Victoria by reversing at Woodburn Junction. This service was diverted via Barnsley in 1983 by an initiative of the SYPTE
who agreed to subsidise the diversion (see Penistone line
). The operation was a success and the diverted service was kept, resulting in subsequent station re-openings at Silkstone
and Dodworth
, which had both closed in 1959. Victoria station was demolished in 1989.
from the north a scissors junction, Aldwarke Junction
, was constructed near Parkgate, North of Rotherham. This also enabled passenger trains to reach Sheffield Midland from the Great Central route following the closure of the Swinton Curve. New lines were constructed from the Great Central in the Attercliffe/Broughton Lane area to reach the Sheffield District Railway
and access to Tinsley Marshalling yard. Dr Beeching
opened both complexes on 29 October.
was the first to close. Grimesthorpe lost its steam locomotives but became the temporary home to the new diesel locomotive fleet pending the opening of the new shed at Tinsley. This new depot, which could service both diesel and electric locomotives opened in February 1964. This resulted in the closure of Grimesthorpe and the steam/electric depot at Darnall, which became a wagon-repair depot. Barrow Hill and Canklow lost their allocation of steam locomotives in 1965; the former remained open into the 1980s as a stabling point for diesel locomotives and the latter remained open for servicing visiting steam locomotives until the numbers of these dwindled in 1966 with withdrawals elsewhere.
All remaining servicing of passenger trains was done at Nunnery carriage sidings, or at Midland station itself in the through roads or on the former Pond Street goods depot.
and the simplification of the up entrance to Sheffield Midland. The reduction in track was completed by January 1972 with the closure of Dore West and Dore South signal box
es. The dive under built in 1900 was taken out of use from 25 June 1972. There, the track was reduced from four to three and to two between Heeley and Dore & Totley. A passing loop was kept between Heeley
and Millhouses
.
Sheffield Power Box commissioned between 20 January 1973 and Monday the 22nd. The new box replaced Sheffield signal boxes A, B, 1 and 2, Queens Road, Heeley station, Heeley carriage sidings and Millhouses. The end of stage I of the MAS scheme was announced in June.
Between 20 January and 22 January 1973 Sheffield Victoria station was temporarily reopened as Midland station was completely closed for commissioning of the new power box. Only the main up and down platforms were used as the loop platforms had already been lifted. The station was still complete but the electrics were deemed beyond help so the station was strung with light bulbs strung through the station roofing. Trains to Manchester went via Woodhead although diesel traction was used rather than electric working.
Stage II of the MAS was completed on 14 January 1979 when Wincobank signal box was closed. The boxes at Holmes, Masborough and Canklow closed in July 1979 followed on 16 May 1982 by Beighton Junction. Track work at Treeton was realigned and simplified and both boxes, Treeton Junction and Treeton South were closed in October 1982. At that point all Midland lines had been converted to MAS. The Sheffield to Lincoln line
is however still operate using semaphore signals controlled by Woodhouse Junction signal box. The resignalling project was completed to encompass Chesterfield, Rotherham and lines north of Sheffield as far as Thurnscoe, Conisbrough, Darfield and Wath.
The decision to concentrate Rotherham's traffic on Masborough station was a mistake, which lead to declining passenger numbers. This was rectified in 1987 with the switching of Rotherham's passenger traffic to a brand new Central station on the site of its predecessor and, later, the closure of Masborough, albeit via a low-cost single line connection that is now seen to be a bottleneck.
A general increase in passenger numbers in the area since the 1980s has shown that, with hindsight, many of the suburban and urban station closures were premature. The stations at Meadowhall (on the site of the former Wincobank station) and Swinton
, closed in the 1960s, were re-opened in 1990. Millhouses has been repeatedly put forward as a candidate for re-opening, with line capacity constraints usually cited as a confounding factor; indeed it is notable that the rationalised track layout to the south of Sheffield Midland that was enabled by the closure of the southern suburban stations is now cited a major bottleneck. The re-opening of stations at Ecclesfield, Parkgate
and Wath-upon-Dearne
has also been mooted.
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...
. The majority of these changes took place in the 1960s and early 1970s, however the plan, by now much modified in the face of rapidly dwindling freight traffic, was not fully realised until the 1980s.
History
In the 1960s, the Sheffield area was one of the busiest areas in the country for rail traffic, in particular for freight traffic: a BRB report showed that 10% of the country's rail freight emanated from the Sheffield area. The facilities that existed, however, were built by competing railway companies in the 19th century and were cramped and outmoded. In an era of central government economic planning this was seen as constraint on Britain's economic growth; government money was made available to relieve these bottlenecks. At the same time, passenger facilities in Sheffield were to be made more convenient, representing the need for faster and more frequent trains on fewer routes stopping at fewer intermediate stations, but allowing more convenient changing between trains for the remaining local and long-distance express trains.The Plan
The major part of the rationalisation plan involved:- The concentration of passenger services on Sheffield Midland and the closure of Sheffield Victoria.
- The closure of Rotherham CentralRotherham Central railway stationRotherham Central railway station is in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. The station was originally named "Rotherham", becoming "Rotherham and Masborough" in January 1889 and finally "Rotherham Central" on 25 September 1950...
and the concentration of services on Rotherham MasboroughRotherham Masborough railway stationRotherham Masborough railway station was the main railway station for Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England from the 1840s, until most of its trains were rerouted via Rotherham Central in 1987...
. - The concentration of parcels traffic and goods transshipmentTransshipmentTransshipment or Transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, and then from there to yet another destination....
on a new 'Sheffield Freight Terminal' built on a site adjacent to the former Midland Railway locomotive sheds at Grimesthorpe. - The construction of a new marshalling yard at Tinsley (Tinsley Marshalling YardTinsley Marshalling YardTinsley Marshalling Yard was a railway marshalling yard located near Tinsley in Sheffield. It was opened in 1965 as a part of a major plan to rationalise all aspects of the rail services in the Sheffield area, and closed in stages from 1985 with the run-down of rail freight in Britain. It was also...
) to replace many small yards around South Yorkshire. - The construction of a Freightliner depot on the site of the former Masborough sorting sidings in Rotherham.
- The upgrading of signalling to multiple-aspect signalling or MAS.
Passenger services
Sheffield Midland station
Sheffield station, formerly Pond Street and later Sheffield Midland, is a railway station in Sheffield, England and is the busiest station in South Yorkshire...
's exterior was cleaned for the first time 95 years. At the same time, Sheaf House
Sheaf House
Sheaf House was a nine storey tower building by Sheaf Square, next to Sheffield railway station, in the centre of Sheffield, in South Yorkshire, England. The building was formerly the Sheffield area headquarters of British Rail.-History:...
, new home of British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
Sheffield Division headquarters were opened. Sheaf House stood on the site of the former Pond Street Goods station closed in 1963. Midland Main Line
Midland Main Line
The Midland Main Line is a major railway route in the United Kingdom, part of the British railway system.The present-day line links London St...
services South were improved with hourly workings (alternatively via Nottingham or Derby) from 1966 with departure times scheduled just past the hour. Cross-country passenger services from the North-East to the South-West were transformed with services running via Sheffield Victoria station
Sheffield Victoria Station
Sheffield Victoria was the main railway station in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England on the Great Central Railway, between Chesterfield and Penistone.-Early history:...
rerouted to Sheffield Midland. Services via Retford and the ECML to London King's Cross were stopped and all London trains routed via the Midland Main Line to London St Pancras. The Master Cutler
Master Cutler
The Master Cutler is the head of the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire established in 1624. Their role is to act as an ambassador of industry in Sheffield, England. The Master Cutler is elected by the freemen of the company on the first Monday of September of each year and the position taken in the...
was transferred to the Midland line and lost its Pullman cars.
Stopping trains to Derby and Nottingham were taken off and Heeley, Millhouses and Beauchief stations were closed in June 1968. Stopping trains on the former Midland main line north of Rotherham were also axed in January 1968 and many South Yorkshire stations closed: all Leeds-bound stopping services were diverted run via Chapeltown and Barnsley replacing the short distance Sheffield-Barnsley and Barnsley-Wakefield stopping trains on this line; York-bound services became semi-fast with Bolton-on-Dearne
Bolton-on-Dearne railway station
Bolton-on-Dearne railway station serves the village of Bolton on Dearne in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the Wakefield Line north of Sheffield railway station.- History :...
being the only South Yorkshire station north of Rotherham remaining open on that line.
The Nunnery Curve built in 1870 was upgraded and brought into passenger use, allowing trains arriving in Sheffield from the East over former Great Central lines to access Sheffield Midland. Passenger services to Lincoln, Doncaster, Hull, Grimsby and Cleethorpes were moved from Sheffield Victoria to Midland. It had been suggested that after the closure of Victoria the electrification be extended to Sheffield Midland from the Woodhead Line
Woodhead Line
The Woodhead Line was a railway line linking Sheffield, Penistone and Manchester in the north of England. A key feature of the route is the passage under the high moorlands of the northern Peak District through the Woodhead Tunnels...
, but this was dismissed as being too expensive and the Woodhead became a freight only line under the 1984 Trunk Route Plan. All Manchester services were consequently diverted to the Hope Valley Line
Hope Valley Line
The Hope Valley Line is a railway line in England linking Sheffield with Manchester. It was completed in 1894.From Sheffield, trains head down the Midland Main Line to Dore, where the Hope Valley Line branches off to run through the Totley Tunnel .It emerges in the stunning scenery of the Hope...
; electrified passenger services ended on 5 January 1970 and Sheffield Victoria station closed.
After closure the Sheffield to Huddersfield service continued to pass through Victoria by reversing at Woodburn Junction. This service was diverted via Barnsley in 1983 by an initiative of the SYPTE
South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive
The South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive is the Passenger Transport Executive for South Yorkshire in England. It is supervised by the South Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority, which consists of representatives from the metropolitan boroughs of Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster, and...
who agreed to subsidise the diversion (see Penistone line
Penistone Line
The Penistone Line is operated by Northern Rail in the West Yorkshire Metro/ Travel South Yorkshire area of northern England. It connects Huddersfield and Sheffield via Penistone and Barnsley, serving many rural communities...
). The operation was a success and the diverted service was kept, resulting in subsequent station re-openings at Silkstone
Silkstone Common railway station
The present Silkstone Common railway station, which opened on 14 May 1983 serves the village of Silkstone Common, near Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England...
and Dodworth
Dodworth railway station
Dodworth railway station serves the village of Dodworth, in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. The station is west of Barnsley on the Penistone Line between Huddersfield and Sheffield....
, which had both closed in 1959. Victoria station was demolished in 1989.
Freight traffic
Pond Street Goods station closed on 7 October 1961, Queens Road Goods station on 11 May 1963 and Park Goods station in October 1963. Work on Grimesthorpe freight terminal began at the end of 1963. A third Western entrance to Tinsley Yard over Shepcote Lane was opened in summer 1964 and was electrified. Followed the opening of Grimesthorpe in summer 1965. In order to allow goods trains reach the new Tinsley Marshalling YardTinsley Marshalling Yard
Tinsley Marshalling Yard was a railway marshalling yard located near Tinsley in Sheffield. It was opened in 1965 as a part of a major plan to rationalise all aspects of the rail services in the Sheffield area, and closed in stages from 1985 with the run-down of rail freight in Britain. It was also...
from the north a scissors junction, Aldwarke Junction
Aldwarke Junction
Aldwarke Junction at Parkgate near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England is a major railway junction. It was constructed in 1965 as a part of the Sheffield district rail rationalisation plan.- The Location :...
, was constructed near Parkgate, North of Rotherham. This also enabled passenger trains to reach Sheffield Midland from the Great Central route following the closure of the Swinton Curve. New lines were constructed from the Great Central in the Attercliffe/Broughton Lane area to reach the Sheffield District Railway
Sheffield District Railway
The Sheffield District Railway was a railway line in South Yorkshire, England with its main line running between Brightside Junction, on the Midland Railway's Sheffield to Rotherham line, and Treeton Junction, on the same company's Rotherham to Chesterfield line...
and access to Tinsley Marshalling yard. Dr Beeching
Richard Beeching
Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching , commonly known as Doctor Beeching, was chairman of British Railways and a physicist and engineer...
opened both complexes on 29 October.
Locomotive and train servicing
Between 1961 and 1965 the fleet of steam locomotives in the Sheffield area was gradually withdrawn and replaced with new diesel locomotives and multiple units. Millhouses engine shedEngine shed
Engine shed may refer to:* Engine shed, also called a motive power depot or roundhouse, a structure used for the maintenance of railway locomotives.* Engine Shed , a music and entertainment venue on the University of Lincoln's campus....
was the first to close. Grimesthorpe lost its steam locomotives but became the temporary home to the new diesel locomotive fleet pending the opening of the new shed at Tinsley. This new depot, which could service both diesel and electric locomotives opened in February 1964. This resulted in the closure of Grimesthorpe and the steam/electric depot at Darnall, which became a wagon-repair depot. Barrow Hill and Canklow lost their allocation of steam locomotives in 1965; the former remained open into the 1980s as a stabling point for diesel locomotives and the latter remained open for servicing visiting steam locomotives until the numbers of these dwindled in 1966 with withdrawals elsewhere.
All remaining servicing of passenger trains was done at Nunnery carriage sidings, or at Midland station itself in the through roads or on the former Pond Street goods depot.
Multiple-aspect signalling
The multiple-aspect signalling scheme, or MAS, was the two-stage introduction of multiple-aspect light signalling in the Sheffield area, which began in 1971. The scheme began with the reduction of the quadruple track between Sheffield Midland and Dore & TotleyDore railway station
Dore and Totley railway station is a small, one platform railway halt near the Sheffield areas of Dore and Totley in South Yorkshire, England...
and the simplification of the up entrance to Sheffield Midland. The reduction in track was completed by January 1972 with the closure of Dore West and Dore South signal box
Signal box
On a rail transport system, signalling control is the process by which control is exercised over train movements by way of railway signals and block systems to ensure that trains operate safely, over the correct route and to the proper timetable...
es. The dive under built in 1900 was taken out of use from 25 June 1972. There, the track was reduced from four to three and to two between Heeley and Dore & Totley. A passing loop was kept between Heeley
Heeley
Heeley is a former cluster of villages now a suburb in the south of the City of Sheffield, England. The village has existed at least since 1343, its name deriving from Heah Leah, High Lea then Hely, meaning a high, woodland clearing...
and Millhouses
Millhouses
Millhouses is a neighbourhood in the City of Sheffield, England. It is located in Ecclesall ward; in the south-western portion of the city on the northwest bank of the River Sheaf. Its origins lie in a small hamlet that grew around the Ecclesall Corn Mill...
.
Sheffield Power Box commissioned between 20 January 1973 and Monday the 22nd. The new box replaced Sheffield signal boxes A, B, 1 and 2, Queens Road, Heeley station, Heeley carriage sidings and Millhouses. The end of stage I of the MAS scheme was announced in June.
Between 20 January and 22 January 1973 Sheffield Victoria station was temporarily reopened as Midland station was completely closed for commissioning of the new power box. Only the main up and down platforms were used as the loop platforms had already been lifted. The station was still complete but the electrics were deemed beyond help so the station was strung with light bulbs strung through the station roofing. Trains to Manchester went via Woodhead although diesel traction was used rather than electric working.
Stage II of the MAS was completed on 14 January 1979 when Wincobank signal box was closed. The boxes at Holmes, Masborough and Canklow closed in July 1979 followed on 16 May 1982 by Beighton Junction. Track work at Treeton was realigned and simplified and both boxes, Treeton Junction and Treeton South were closed in October 1982. At that point all Midland lines had been converted to MAS. The Sheffield to Lincoln line
Sheffield to Lincoln Line
The Sheffield to Lincoln line is a railway line in England. It runs from Sheffield east to Lincoln via Worksop, Retford and Gainsborough Lea Road. The route comprises the main line of the former Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, to Gainsborough, Trent Junction, where it then follows...
is however still operate using semaphore signals controlled by Woodhouse Junction signal box. The resignalling project was completed to encompass Chesterfield, Rotherham and lines north of Sheffield as far as Thurnscoe, Conisbrough, Darfield and Wath.
The outcome today
As with much of the BR Modernisation Plan, a lot of expenditure was made in upgrading facilities to deal with wagonload freight and heavy industry traffic that would rapidly become obsolete. Tinsley Yard was never used to its full capacity, and although it remained impressively busy until the early 1980s it was almost defunct by the mid-1990s along with its locomotive depot. A major fire in 1985 proved convenient for the closure of the Grimesthorpe parcels/freight depot, which by that time was only being used for limited steel industry-related activity; the Freightliner depot between Masborough and Canklow was found to be more useful for steel loading than containers. The Darnall wagon-repair depot closed in the mid-1980s with the run-down of freight in the area. Nunnery carriage sidings also closed in the mid-1980s with the introduction of High Speed Trains on the Midland Main Line, which required less servicing, all of which was done from Leeds Neville Hill. After that time all remaining passenger train stabling and servicing was done at Midland station or outside the area; this was becoming increasingly problematic in the early 21st century leading to plans to re-open a Traincare Depot in the Sheffield area.The decision to concentrate Rotherham's traffic on Masborough station was a mistake, which lead to declining passenger numbers. This was rectified in 1987 with the switching of Rotherham's passenger traffic to a brand new Central station on the site of its predecessor and, later, the closure of Masborough, albeit via a low-cost single line connection that is now seen to be a bottleneck.
A general increase in passenger numbers in the area since the 1980s has shown that, with hindsight, many of the suburban and urban station closures were premature. The stations at Meadowhall (on the site of the former Wincobank station) and Swinton
Swinton (South Yorkshire) railway station
Swinton railway station is a railway station in Swinton, South Yorkshire, England. It has three platforms and a small bus station, and lies at the junction of the former North Midland Railway main line between Rotherham Masborough and Leeds via Cudworth and the former South Yorkshire Railway line...
, closed in the 1960s, were re-opened in 1990. Millhouses has been repeatedly put forward as a candidate for re-opening, with line capacity constraints usually cited as a confounding factor; indeed it is notable that the rationalised track layout to the south of Sheffield Midland that was enabled by the closure of the southern suburban stations is now cited a major bottleneck. The re-opening of stations at Ecclesfield, Parkgate
Parkgate and Rawmarsh railway station
Parkgate and Rawmarsh railway station, originally named Park Gate and Rawmarsh was situated in Parkgate, adjacent to the Park Gate Iron and Steel Company's works...
and Wath-upon-Dearne
Wath North railway station
Wath North railway station was on the Midland Railway's Sheffield - Cudworth - Normanton - Leeds main line, serving the South Yorkshire town of Wath-upon-Dearne...
has also been mooted.