Reinstatement Of The Barrow Hill Line Between Sheffield And Chesterfield
This is one of the successful bids in the First Round of the Restoring Your Railway Fund.
The Route
This Google Map shows where the Barrow Hill Line starts at Tapton Junction near Chesterfield station.
Note.
- Chesterfield station is less than a mile to the South.
- The left railway going North is the Midland Main Line to Sheffield
- The right railway going North is the Barrow Hill Line.
The Barrow Hill Line turns slightly to the East and this Google Map shows it passing through Barrow Hill, which gives the route its name.
Note.
The historic Barrow Hill Roundhouse and some rail-related businesses to the North of the line.
There used to be a station here called Barrow Hill! What a surprise!
The Wikipedia entry for Barrow Hill station has a section called Modern Traffic, where this is said.
At 22 June 2013 the line is part of the Midland Main Line. It is used predominantly for freight, with a handful of passenger trains going the “long way round” from Chesterfield to Sheffield via the Old Road and Darnall largely to retain staff route knowledge in case of diversions.
The Wikipedia entry for the station also has a section called Possible Future, which is worth a read, as it lists other mothballed rail lines in the area, that could be developed.
Follow the Barrow Hill Line to the North-East and it goes through a mix of agricultural land, industrial dereliction, modern factories and nature reserves before it splits near Beighton.
This Google Map shows the area.
Note.
- The rail lines splitting by the Rother Valley Country Park at Beighton Junction.
- Barrow Hill is to the South.
- There used to be a station at Beighton.
- Woodhouse station is in the North West corner of the map.
- Woodhouse station is on the Sheffield-Lincoln Line, which can be seen crossing the area.
- Trains taking the left fork at Beighton Junction can go to Sheffield via Woodhouse and Darnall stations.
- Trains taking the right fork go under the Sheffield-Lincoln line and have connections to a large number of destinations for both freight and passengers.
It looks to me, that it is proposed to convert this long-way round route, into a second route between Sheffield and Chesterfield.
- Stations exist at Woodhouse and Darnall.
- Stations used to exist at Barrow Hill, Eckington & Renishaw, Killamarsh West and Beighton.
- The route would surely be very useful, when the Midland Main Line route between Sheffield and Chesterfield is updated for High Speed Two.
- The route might also be very useful for East Midlands Railway to develop services to Rotherham and other places to the East of Sheffield.
- I’ve found a train that takes this route between Chesterfield and Sheffield and with no stops it took twenty-five minutes.
- Typically, the direct route takes about eleven minutes.
I can see several possibilities for local, regional and national services using the Barrow Hill Line.
I have a few questions.
Would The Barrow Hill Line Be Electrified?
It has been stated that High Speed Two and the Midland Main Line will share an electrified corridor from Clay Cross North Junction to Sheffield via Chesterfield.
- So as both stations will be electrified, it would not be any problem to rustle up a good electricity supply to power an electrified Barrow Hill Route.
- Electrification might narrow the fourteen minute difference between the routes.
- Electrification would allow East Midlands Railway‘s new Class 810 trains to have a second electrified route into Sheffield.
- Is there a case for a service between London and the South of England and the South and East of Sheffield?
I think electrification of the Barrow Hill Line is more than a possibility.
Would Gauge-Clearance For Electrification Be Difficult?
As the route is already cleared for freight trains with the largest containers, it won’t be as difficult as some routes.
Could Tram-Trains Be Used Between Sheffield And Chesterfield On The Barrow Hill Line?
In Sheffield Region Transport Plan 2019 – A New Tram-Train Route To A New Station At Waverley, I talked about a plan by the Sheffield Region for a new tram-train route between Sheffield station and a new housing district of Waverley on the Sheffield-Lincoln Line.
- Waverley is between Darnall and Woodhouse stations.
- The new Advanced Manufacturing Park would also be served.
- Tram-trains could venture further down the Sheffield-Lincoln Line, if that was so desired.
If tram-trains were used on the Barrow Hill Line, between Sheffield and Chesterfield, both routes would share the track between Sheffield and Darnall stations.
Note that tram-trains would be able to share tracks with all electric trains used around Sheffield, including freight trains and the Class 810 trains.
Note that the stations for tram-trains can be much simpler and even share platforms with full-size trains.
The pictures show Class 399 tram-trains at Rotherham Parkgate and Rotherham Central stations.
- I feel with innovative design, the whole route between Sheffield and Chesterfield could be run using tram-trains.
- The route could be electrified with 25 KVAC overhead wires.
- Instead of taking the Sheffield fork at Beighton Junction, the tram-trains could also take the right fork and link Chesterfield with Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Swinton.
- These tram-trains also come with batteries, if that is needed.
Barnsley, Chesterfield, Rotherham and Sheffield could be getting a lot of better connectivity and the Barrow Hill Line is key.
Conclusion
This looks to be a very sensible project.
- It could be run with either trains or tram-trams.
- It should be electrified, so it could be zero-carbon.
- Tram-trains could be used to make stations simpler.
- It could give an alternative route for electric trains to Sheffield station.
- The track is already there and regularly used.
But surely the biggest reason to built it, is that it appears to open up a lot of South and South-East Sheffield and North-East Chesterfield for development.
The Anonymous Widower 