The Anonymous Widower

Beeching Reversal – Sheaf Valley Stations

This is one of the Beeching Reversal projects that the Government and Network Rail are proposing to reverse some of the Beeching cuts.

Stations To Be Rebuilt

As you approach Sheffield station, you pass four station sites, three of which are demolished and the fourth is just a shadow of its former self.

Dore & Totley

Dean & Totley station used to have four platforms and this Google Map, shows what is left after British Rail’s vandalism in the mid-1980s.

Note.

1. The station has only one platform.
2. The single track in the platform handles all trains to and from the Hope Valley Line.
3. At present it appears to be two trains per hour (tph) in both directions.
4. The two tracks at the right are the Midland Main Line.

Transport for the North wants to run four tph between Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield through here, that will take forty minutes between the two cities.

Updates planned for the station include.

• A second platform for Manchester-bound trains.
• A new bridge with lifts.
• Platforms long enough to take a pair of Class 185 trains or a five-car Class 802 train.
• A full hourly service.

There certainly seems to be enough space for another platform and track through the middle of the station.

At some point in the near future, the two Midland Main Line tracks will be electrified, as part of the upgrade for High Speed Two.

Between Dore & Totley And Beauchief

This Google Map shows a typical section of the line between Dore & Totley and Beauchief stations.

Note the two Midland Main Line tracks on the right and single-track to the Hope Valley Line on the left.

It would appear that the fourth track can be squeezed in between the single track and the Midland Main Line.

Beauchief

Beauchief station used to have four platforms before it was demolished.

This Google Map shows the station’s former location.

Note.

1. The building with the red dot is the former Beauchief Hotel. which was by the station.
2. On a larger screen you can see three tracks going into Sheffield.

I’m fairly certain that four tracks and two platforms for a station can be fitted into this narrow trackbed.

Millhouses & Eccleshall

Millhouses and Eccleshall station used to have four platforms before it was demolished.

This Google Map shows the station’s former location.

Note.

1. Wikipedia says the station was accessed from the Archer Road bridge, which is in the South East corner of the map.
2. It looks like there are three tracks with space for four.
3. The road to the North-West of the railway is called Old Station Road.

As at Beauchief, it will be tight.

Heeley

Heeley station used to have four platforms before it was demolished.

This Google Map shows the station’s former location.

Note.

1. The red arrow indicates Heeley Bridge, which Wikipedia says is near the station site.
2. There appears to be only two tracks through here.

It is easy to follow the tracks from here to Sheffield station.

Could A Four Track Railway Be Rebuilt Between Dore & Totley And Sheffield Stations?

I’ve not seen anything that says that building a four-track railway through here is not possible.

In a few years, there could be the following tracks and platforms, on this section.

• Two fast tracks for High Speed Two, Midland Main Line and CrossCountry trains, that will be electrified with 25 KVAC overhead electrification, between Clay Cross North Junction and Sheffield station.
• The High Speed Two trains will be classic-compatible and up to 200 metres long.
• The two fast tracks will not have any platforms.
• Two slow tracks for local services, that will be appropriately electrified.
• The slow tracks will have step-free platforms, that will be long enough to take a five-car Class 802 train or a pair of Class 185 trains.

I can’t for the life of me understand, why this stretch of four-track main line between Dore & Totley and Sheffield stations was ever simplified, as at other places on the UK network, extra tracks were being added to the main lines, at the same time.

Future Services On The Fast Lines

Currently, the following services take the fast lines between Sheffield and Chesterfield stations via Dore & Totley station.

• East Midlands Railway – Sheffield and London St. Pancras – 2 tph
• East Midlands Railway – Sheffield and Norwich via Nottingham – 1 tph
• CrossCountry – Edinburgh/Newcastle and Derby/Birmingham and the South – 2 tph
• Northern – Sheffield and Nottingham – 1 tph

That is a very modest six tph.

High Speed Two are currently planning to run two tph between Sheffield and London Euston.

There may or may not be other changes.

• As Birmingham Curzon Street and Sheffield will be just forty-seven minutes by High Speed Two all the way, will these destinations have a direct high speed classic-compatible service? There’s plenty of space capacity on High Speed Two.
• I don’t think the Sheffield and St. Pancras services will be dropped, but they might be.
• CrossCountry will probably be running intelligent multi-mode trains capable of 125 mph running and up to 140 mph in places.
• Northern’s service between Sheffield and Nottingham might go via a reopened Barrow Hill Line.

But the biggest change will be that these two fast lines will be to High Speed Two standards.

• Sheffield and Chesterfield will be electrified.
• There will in-cab digital signalling, which theoretically could probably allow eighteen tph on the route.
• High Speed Two Trains between Sheffield and Chesterfield will take twelve minutes.
• Sheffield station will have been modified as required, to be able to handle all trains very efficiently.

But it would still be carrying a modest eight tph.

If required Sheffield would have the capacity to accept more trains from the South.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see, the following trains added.

• An extra tph to and from London Euston via High Speed Two.
• Two tph to and from Birmingham Curzon Street via High Speed Two.

I also wouldn’t be surprised to see CrossCountry using classic-compatible High Speed Two trains and switching to High Speed Two between Birmingham New Street and Sheffield. But these trains would still use the same tracks to access Sheffield station.

But I am led to the conclusion, that Sheffield will have more than enough capacity linking the City to Chesterfield and the South.

Future Services On The Slow Lines

Or should I use lines connecting to the Hope Valley Line rather than slow lines?

Currently, the following services take the slow lines between Sheffield and  Dore & Totley stations.

• East Midlands Railway – Liverpool Lime Street and Sheffield – via Manchester Piccadilly – 1 tph
• TransPennine Express – Manchester Airport and Cleethorpes via Manchester Piccadilly – 1 tph
• Northern – Sheffield and Manchester Piccadilly – 1 tph

Transport for the North aims to run a four tph service with a forty minute journey time between Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield.

Consider.

• 100 mph TransPennine Express trains take fifty-three minutes between Sheffield and Manchester Piccadilly without a stop.
• Classic-compatible trains with a battery capability could easily handle the route.
• Northern’s services on the Hope Valley Line are timed for 75 mph trains.
• Dore & Totley and Hazel Grove stations are twenty-nine miles apart.

If between Dore & Totley and Sheffield stations were to be electrified and track improvements like passing loops were to be made to the Hope Valley Line, I believe that to achieve a forty minute all-stops timing between Sheffield and Manchester Piccadilly, would need a train with the following specification.

• Electric train with batteries.
• Four cars
• 100 mph or faster operating speed.
• Step-free access between platform and train.
• Sparkling acceleration and deceleration.
• Ability to run under in-cab digital signalling to keep out of the way of freight services.

Looking at Crossrail between London Paddington and Maidenhead stations, the London route is probably as difficult as the Hope Valley Line and it has been designed as a forty minute service with ten stops, using a modern electric train.

If TransPennine fitted batteries to their Class 802 trains, these trains would fit the Northern Powerhouse Rail requirements.

East Midlands Railway and Northern would find that the following trains could be used.

• Bombardier – Aventra with batteries
• Bombardier – Class 377 train with batteries
• Bombardier – Class 379 train with batteries
• CAF – Class 331 train with batteries
• Hitachi – Class 385 train with batteries
• Porterbrook – Battery/FLEX train based on Class 350 train
• Stadler – Flirt with batteries

All would need that between Dore & Totley and Sheffield stations be electrified.

After the upgrades and the new or refurbished trains are running, this would mean that between Dean & Totley and Sheffield would be handling four tph, which would be semi-fast trains between Sheffield and Manchester Piccadilly. Although to current passengers on the line, they would seem to be fast services of a much higher standard.

It would not be very different to how the slow lines into Paddington also handle about four tph of other services, including GWR services and freight.

I believe that to provide an adequate service to the reopened and rebuilt stations of Dore & Totley, Beauchief, Millhouses & Eccleshall and Heeley, that a Turn-Up-And-Go service of at least four tph should be run between Dore & Totley and Sheffield stations.

A Turnback At Dore & Totley

This Google Map shows Dore & Totley station and the area to the South.

Note.

1. There would appear to be a lot of space between the Midland Main Line and the single track, that leads between Dore & Totley station and the Hope Valley Line.
2. Flying my helicopter, as low as I dare, it looks like the area is either a rubbish dump or very low grade businesses.
3. Crossrail has designed turnbacks at Abbey Wood and Paddington stations, that will handle twelve tph.

I believe that it would be possible to design a turnback at Dore & Totley station, that would handle eight trains per hour, if not twelve tph.

It might even be possible to squeeze in some overnight stabling.

Trains Or Tram-Trains Between Dore & Totley And Sheffield Stations

In my view, it doesn’t matter.

Crossrail’s 12 tph turnbacks can handle a 205 metre long Class 345 train, so I’m sure a well-designed turnback at Dore & Totley could handle a mixture of any trams or tram-trains below a defined maximum length of say 140 metres, which would be defined by a pair of Class 185 trains, which might have to be turned back during service disruption.

Where Would The Services Terminate in The East?

It is my view that cross-city services like Birmingham’s Cross-City Line, Liverpool’s Northern Line, London’s Crossrail and Thameslink, Newcastle’s Metro and Paris’s RER are efficient for both passengers and train operators.

So Dore & Totley station could be one end of a Sheffield cross-city line, with a frequency of at least eight tph through Beauchief, Millhouses & Eccleshall, Heeley and Sheffield stations.

So where would services go on the other side of Sheffield? Wikipedia gives these as services to the East of Sheffield.

• Leeds via Barnsley and Wakefield (fast) – 2 tph
• Leeds via Meadowhall, Barnsley, Wakefield and Castleford (stopping). – 1 tph
• Leeds via Meadowhall, Moorthorpe and Wakefield. – 1 tph
• Scarborough via Meadowhall, Doncaster, Hull and Bridlington. – 1 tph
• Lincoln Central via Worksop and Retford – 1 tph
• Gainsborough Central via Worksop, three trains per week continue to Cleethorpes via Brigg. – 1 tph
• Huddersfield via Meadowhall, Barnsley and Penistone – 1 tph
• Doncaster via Meadowhall and Rotherham, with one train per hour continuing to Adwick – 2 tph
• York via Moorthorpe and Sherburn-in-Elmet. – 3 trains per day (tpd)

For much of the day, that is a frequency of 10 tph, with 5 tph calling at Meadowhall, 2 tph calling at Worksop and two fast tph passing Meadowhall without stopping.

But there are other rail projects under development.

• High Speed Two will enable a new fast service between Sheffield and Leeds via Meadowhall and a new station in the Dearne Valley.
• The Sheffield Region Transport Plan 2019 envisages a new station at Barnsley Dearne Valley. See Sheffield Region Transport Plan 2019 – A New Station At Barnsley Dearne Valley.
• The Sheffield Region Transport Plan 2019 envisages tram-trains running between Sheffield and Doncaster-Sheffield Airport See Sheffield Region Transport Plan 2019 – Tram-Trains Between Sheffield And Doncaster-Sheffield Airport.
• The Sheffield Region Transport Plan 2019 envisages a new Station at Waverley. See Sheffield Region Transport Plan 2019 – A New Tram-Train Route To A New station At Waverley.
• High Speed Two might enable a fast classic-compatible service between Sheffield and Scarborough via York.
• The possible opening of the South Yorkshire Joint Railway to passenger traffic, may open up further opportunities. See Beeching Reversal – South Yorkshire Joint Railway.
• The possible reinstatement of the Barrow Hill Line. See Reinstatement Of The Barrow Hill Line Between Sheffield And Chesterfield.
• The development of the Stocksbridge Railway for passenger services.

I can see classic-compatible High Speed Two trains serving the following places to the East of Sheffield.

• Leeds
• Hull via Doncaster
• Scarborough via York
• Cleethorpes via Doncaster, Scunthorpe and Grimsby.

A train like a five-car Class 802 train would probably be enough for most routes except Leeds.

I can see the following terminals for tram-trains to the East of Sheffield.

• Doncaster and Doncaster-Sheffield Airport
• Waverley station, which could be on a loop from the Sheffield and Lincoln Line.
• Barnsley Dearne Valley

There may well be others.

If Sheffield were Karlsruhe in Germany, the tram-trains would probably serve the following routes.

• Huddersfield via Penistone.
• Lincoln via Worksop and Gainsborough.
• Manchester via the Hope Valley Line.

But the Germans have a much larger electrified core, than Sheffield will have, even if High Speed Two electrifies between Dore & Totley and Thurnscoe stations via Sheffield.

I can make a table of destinations and distances and how they could be served.

• Barnsley – 16 miles – Possible return trip from Sheffield for a battery electric train.
• Barnsley Dearne Valley – 8 miles from Rotherham Parkgate – Possible return trip from Sheffield via Rotherham Parkgate for a battery electric tram-train.
• Doncaster – 11 miles from Rotherham Parkgate – Possible return trip from Sheffield via Rotherham Parkgate for a battery electric tram-train.
• Chesterfield via Barrow Hill – 17 miles – Possible return trip from Sheffield for a battery electric tram-train.
• Doncaster Sheffield Airport – 10 miles from Doncaster – Possible return trip from Sheffield via Rotherham Parkgate and Doncaster for a battery electric tram-train.
• Gainsborough Lea Road. – 32 miles – See Lincoln Central.
• Huddersfield – 36 miles – Possible battery electric train with charging at Huddersfield.
• Hull – 59 miles – Possible battery electric train with charging at Doncaster and Hull.
• Lincoln Central – 48 miles – Possible battery electric train with charging at Lincoln and/or Gainsborough Lea Road. Otherwise diesel.
• Penistone – 23 miles – Possible return trip from Sheffield for a battery electric train, using Newton’s friend on the way back.
• Retford – 23 miles – Possible return trip from Sheffield for a battery electric train.
• Waverley – About 6 miles – Possible return trip from Sheffield for a battery electric tram-train.
• Worksop – 16 miles – Possible return trip from Sheffield for a battery electric train.

It looks to me like a mix of battery electric trains and tram-trains could run most of the services from Sheffield, if services that used new High Speed Two infrastructure used classic-compatible trains or trains like the existing Class 802 trains, that have been converted to battery electric operation.

Note.

1. I am assuming, that a battery electric train has  a range of 56 miles on a single charge.
2. Rotherham Parkgate station is changed to a through station.
3. Tram-trains passing through Doncaster can recharge on the station’s 25 KVAC overhead electrification.
4. Charging can be provided as required at other stations.

There are lots of possibilities.

Consider, this for tram-train extensions to Barnsley Dearne Valley, Doncaster and Doncaster Sheffield Airport.

• Extend the tram-train service at Rotherham Parkgate to either Doncaster and Doncaster Airport or Barnsley Dearne Valley stations.
• Run tram-trains between Dore & Totley and Rotherham Parkgate via Sheffield, Meadowhall and Rotherham Central.

This would give a double-ended route across Sheffield and Rotherham between Dore & Totley and the existing Supertram network in the West and Barnsley Dearne Valley, Doncaster and Doncaster Sheffield Airport in the East.

Consider how to connect the branch to Waverley station to the Supertram network.

• Waverley station will be either on or on a loop from the Sheffield and Lincoln Line.
• The Sheffield and Lincoln Line has no obvious connection with the Supertram network.
• The Sheffield and Lincoln Line goes straight in to Sheffield station.
• Trains to Lincoln always appear to use Platform 4 in Sheffield station.
• Sheffield station has four through platforms.

This Google Map shows where the Sheffield and Lincoln Line passes behind the Supertram Depot at Nunnery.

Note.

1. The Nunnery Square Park and Ride is in the South West corner of the map.
2. The Supertram depot is to the East of the Park-and-Ride, with the Nunnery Square tram stop to the South.
3. The Woodbourn Road tram stop is in the North East corner of the map.

This second Google Map shows the lines around the Park-and-Ride.

I suspect that a connection between the Supertram system and the Sheffield and Lincoln Line, could be built to the North of the Nunnery Depot.

But would it be easier to continue to Sheffield station or pass through the station and terminate at Dore & Totley station?

I can’t be sure looking at the maps, but it could be logical that trains to and from Lincoln use the Southern pair of tracks past the Nunnery Depot, as they would be on the right side of the tracks for Lincoln.

This would make it easier to do the following.

• Create a connection between the Nunnery Depot and the Sheffield and Lincoln Line, which would surely be needed for efficient maintenance and operation of tram-trains running to and from Waverley.
• Allow tram-trains used to serve the proposed Waverley station to return to the Depot every night.
• Allow tram-trains working between Sheffield and Meadowhall to use the Lincoln and Sheffield Line to enter the Nunnery Depot.
• Build a tram stop/station by the Park-and-Ride.

There would also be less need to build another depot.

Looking at the maps, could there be space to extend the Nunnery Depot?

Conclusion

This could be a very good project.

• It fits in well with the plans and needs of High Speed Two.
• It connects the new Waverley station to Sheffield station.
• It fits well with the Sheffield Region Transport Plan 2019.
• It connects Sheffield, Rotherham and Doncaster to Doncaster Sheffield Airport.
• It opens up the Hope Valley Line to improve services between Manchester and Sheffield.

I also don’t think, there’s any great risk!

I

July 12, 2020 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Barnsley Dearne Valley Station, Beauchief Station, Beeching Reversal, Clay Cross North Junction And Sheffield Electrification, Dore and Totley Station, Heeley Station, High Speed Two, Manchester Piccadilly Station, Midland Main Line, Millhouses & Eccleshall Station, Sheaf Valley Stations, Sheffield, Sheffield Region Transport Plan 2019, Sheffield Station, Sheffield Supertram, Sheffield Tram-Train, Sheffield Waverley Station, South Yorkshire Joint Railway, Transport for the North | 3 Comments