The Anonymous Widower

Between Dore & Totley And Bamford Stations – 1st April 2025

I wanted to see the newly-built passing loop between Heathersage and Bamford stations, so the easiest way was to go to Bamford station and return from Bamford station to Sheffield station.

I took these pictures along the outward route.

Note.

1. Hathersage seems a tidy and attractive village.
2. All the stations I visited, seem to be long on information.
3. The last three pictures show the passing loop from the bridge at Bamford station.
4. eathersage and Bamford stations are not step-free.
5. The piling is of a similar quality to a larger scale of a surgeon sewing up a patient after a serious operation.

This OpenRailwayMap shows the loop.

Note.

1. The three tracks of the passing loop appear almost straight.
2. Are they level I wonder?
3. The loop looks level from my pictures.
4. Bamford station is 83.9 miles from Cleethorpes according to Real Time Trains.
5. Dore & Totley station is 75 miles from Cleethorpes according to Real Time Trains.
6. Dore & Totley and Bamford stations are 8.9 miles apart and  TransPennine Express Class 195 trains take eight minutes to go between the two stations.

I’ll take an average speed of just under 70 mph on a straight and level track.

What speed would a battery-electric Class 802 train, be able to achieve?

This track seems to have been built for battery-electric InterCity Trains and their drivers to have fun.

If the engineers had wanted to make it better they could have used concrete slab track, but to my camera and my eyes, it looks to be extremely level.

I took these pictures along the return route.

Only by looking at all pictures and the map in detail in this post, can you get a feeling for what has been done.

The Wikipedia entry for the Hope Valley Line says this.

The work includes creating a 3,600 feet (1,100 m) passing loop between Bamford and Hathersage.

But this is no passing loop, as it’s much more of a passing straight!

It will be very interesting to see how many minutes can be saved between Dore & Totley And Bamford stations.

My Only Worry

This OpenRailwayMap shows the Eastern section of the Hope Valley Line.

Note.

1. The triangular junction at Dore is at the East of the map.
2. The blue arrow indicates Bamford station.
3. The straight and level passing loop to the East of Bamford station.
4. Click the map to show it to a larger scale.

Will this section of track, with trains going through at seventy mph, every few minutes be too dangerous for some people on the four stations on the route?

 

April 2, 2025 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Bamford Station, Heathersage Station, Hope Valley Line, Hope Valley Line Upgrade, Information, Passing Loop, Piling