Penistone Line platform extensions and capacity upgrade

Would the infrastructure to make 2tph possible be a possible candidate for the Government's £500M rail re-opening fund? (I know it's not exactly a re-opening but would seem in principle to tick all the aspirations of the fund).

DynamicSpirit said:

Would the infrastructure to make 2tph possible be a possible candidate for the Government's £500M rail re-opening fund? (I know it's not exactly a re-opening but would seem in principle to tick all the aspirations of the fund).

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If the two PTE's can work together, it might be worth a bid... at minimum a loop is needed at the Huddersfield end, which won't give much change from £10m, even if it's built between stations to avoid the need for a second accessible platform and footbridge: unfortunately pointwork is expensive!

Capacity issues at the Sheffield end are probably a bigger obstacle than the cost of a loop, though.

Just taken my first trip along the line since lockdown started, and the work appears to be complete from what I could see. The exception being Huddersfield platform 2 which AIUI requires the buffer stop moving back a bit to get the full 60m+ required.

Forming up units that can actually use the full length of the platforms is another matter of course!

jimm said:

The whole line was built as double track from Huddersfield to Penistone. Clayton West Junction to Penistone was singled at the end of 1969, with the singling closer to Huddersfield following in the 1980s after the Clayton West branch closed.

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This video from you tube shows the line still doubled in 1989. I believe it was singled later that year. Which was a massive ricket and 1989 isn't that long ago.

AndyHudds said:

This video from you tube shows the line still doubled in 1989. I believe it was singled later that year. Which was a massive ricket and 1989 isn't that long ago.

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Thank you for uploading that valuable historical evidence. Pity the picture quality is so poor. I hope someone like Don Coffey makes a new video at some point using a GoPro camera.

AndyHudds said:

This video from you tube shows the line still doubled in 1989. I believe it was singled later that year. Which was a massive ricket and 1989 isn't that long ago.

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Thanks for this. At some point in the 1990s, the platforms were partially raised along the route, with the unnecessary bits left to grow over. In some cases the recent work has restored the old platform length. In other cases (Shepley, Huddersfield bound) they've extended into new ground doubtless at more expense (on the Sheffield end of the platform) because they'd been short sighted and put railway things in the way on the original bit rendering it unusable.

The line suffers from the single track work that was done then - the timetable isn't optimal as the dynamic passing loop Shepley/Stocksmoor sees things scheduled to meet at the far Sheffield end rather than in the middle.. doh, but that can't be fixed because then things would pass in the wrong place before Barnsley, which also wouldn't be a good idea.