The Anonymous Widower

Sheffield Region Transport Plan 2019 – A New Station At Barnsley Dearne Valley

This station will be to the East of Barnsley in the vicinity of the village of Goldthorpe.

In Changes Signalled For HS2 Route In North, I used this map of the proposed High Speed Two and Northern Powerhoiuse routes in East Yorkshire.

Note, these points about High Speed Two.

1. It by-passes Sheffield and Barnsley and enters Leeds from the East, via Junction 2.
2. It goes via Junction 1 to link up with the East Coast Main Line to York, Newcastle and Edinburgh.
3. It links to the Leeds and Hull route at Junction 1.
4. It has a Southern route via Chesterfield directly into Sheffield.

The current main route between Sheffield and Leeds is the Wakefield Line.

• It is thirty nine miles long.
• It is not electrified, except North of Wakefield Westgate station
• Trains stop at Meadowhall, Rotherhall Central, Swinton, Bolton-on-Dearne, Goldthorpe, Thurnscoe, Moorthorpe, Fitzwilliam, Sandal & Agbrigg, Wakefield Westgate and Outwood.
• Services take an hour and thirteen minutes
• The route is not very busy, with only, a total of around 4-6 trains per hour (tph) in both directions.

The Northern Powerhouse Rail improvements will see four tph between Sheffield and Leeds

• Journey times will be twenty-eight minutes.
• Some trains will extend past Sheffield to London St. Pancras.
• These fast services will probably stop less often.
• They will probably be backed up by stopping trains at perhaps two tph.
• I suspect the trains will be 125 mph bi-mode trains with batteries.
• I doubt there will be full electrification, as train developments will achieve the same objectives, in a more affordable manner.
• There will be full digital signalling to increase the capacity.

So where does the proposed Barnsley Dearne Valley station fit in?

• It will be on both the Wakefield Line and High Speed Two.
• It will have fast local trains between Leeds and Sheffield at four tph.
• It will have High Speed Two services between London and Leeds via East Midlands Hub at a frequency of at least two tph.
• It will have High Speed Two services between London and Newcastle via East Midlands Hub and York at a frequency of st least two tph.
• As I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Turn-Up-And-Go service on major legs of High Speed Two, will Barnsley Dearne Valley have four tph?
• Stopping trains to and from Sheffield could be at a frequency of four tph and be tram-trains.

The station would be a quality one, with ,lots of parking.

Barnsley would be welcomed to the Twenty-First Century.

I also believe, that the Wakefield Line could be improved, sooner rather than later.

I have flown my virtual helicopter along the route between Rohterham Central and Fitzwilliam stations.

• It is at least double-track all the way.
• It would appear to be fairly straight.
• There is plenty of room on either side, so third and possibly fourth tracks could be added.
• There are no level crossings and very few bridges.
• The stations are simple, but could be easily upgraded to full step-free access.
• Electrification could be a lot easier than some of the TransPennine routes.

So one way to give early benefits could be.

• Electrify between Sheffield and Fitzwilliam.
• Improve line speed to at least 100 mph and possibly 110-125 mph.
• Make all stations step-free.
• Build the Wakefield Line station at Barnsley Dearne Valley.
• East Midlands Railway could run two tph between Leeds and Sheffield using 125 mph bi-mode trains, with stops at Barnsley Dearne Valley, Swinton and Rotherham Central.
• Perhaps one tph could be between Leeds and London.
• Extend the Sheffield tram-train to Barnsley Dearne Valley.

I don’t think much of the engineering would be difficult and an opening date of 2023 would probably be possible.

The proposal would give these advantages.

• Twenty-eight minutes journeys between Leeds and Sheffield at a frequency of four tph.
• One or possible two tph between Leeds and London calling at Barnsley Dearne Valley and Rotherham Central.
• Extension of Leeds local electric trains to Barnsley Dearne Valley.
• A four tph tram-train service between Sheffield and Barnsley Dearne Valley.
• A direct service between Barnsley Dearne Valley and Doncaster is also a possibility.

The idea of a station at Barnsley Dearne Valley is a brilliant idea.

July 19, 2019 Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Barnsley Dearne Valley Station, East Midlands Railway, High Speed Two, Leeds, Rotherham, Sheffield, Sheffield Region Transport Plan 2019 | 6 Comments