Plans to reopen the Stocksbridge line submitted to the Government

[Jorge Da Silva]

https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/tran...-proposals-are-submitted-share-ps500m-2004787

This is where a new railway route in Sheffield could run, as proposals are submitted for share of £500m
Sheffield could get a new railway route, with up to three trains an hour running between the city centre and Stocksbridge, under proposals submitted to the Government.

Trains could call at Deepcar, Oughtibridge, Wadsley Bridge and Neepsend if politicians and campaigners succeed in securing a share of the £500 million announced to transform Britain's railway network.

They have taken the first step by submitting a formal expression of interest for the cash needed to prepare a detailed business case.

Miriam Cates, the newly elected MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge, teamed up with Sheffield City Region Mayoral Combined Authority to submit outline proposals to the Department for Transport.

They also worked with the Don Valley Railway group, which has long campaigned to revive passenger services on the existing railway
line, which still serves the steelworks at Stocksbridge.

Under their initial plans, between one and three trains an hour would run from Stocksbridge to either the old Sheffield Victoria station or Nunnery Square Park and Ride.

They also want to look at extending services to Rotherham, Chesterfield, Workshop and Lincoln.

The next step will be to prepare a full bid and make their case to a panel of ministers and officials in March.

Ms Cates said: "This proposal offers us a real opportunity to improve transport connections for our community and unleash our economic and social potential.

"By linking Stocksbridge and the Upper Don Valley into the national rail network we can reduce congestion and air pollution whilst also making it easier for people to access jobs, training and services across the region.
I look forward to continuing to move this project forward by presenting our case to the Department for Transport in person next month.”
The route was part of the Woodhead line between Sheffield and Manchester which closed to passengers in 1970. There are calls to restore the entire line, though that would mean reopening a tunnel now used to carry electric cables.
The £500m Restore Your Railway Fund was launched in January by transport secretary Grant Shapps to reverse widespread closures during the 1960s following the Beeching report, though Labour claimed at the time the money available would help reopen just 25 miles of railway.

Plans to reopen the line to Stocksbridge currently a Freight Line

 

[Aictos]

I don't know Sheffield but would it not be better for all concerned to ensure it has a decent link onto the Sheffield Supertram network at Nunnery Square? I don't know anything about the old Victoria station as I'm not from there.

 

[Edders23]

Another scheme chasing the money pot is there any research on potential demand ? Or is this just a rush job to try and grab a slice

 

[Jorge Da Silva]

Another scheme chasing the money pot is there any research on potential demand ? Or is this just a rush job to try and grab a slice

I heard this section has a high BCR ratio so is very much feasible.

 

[njamescouk]

Another scheme chasing the money pot is there any research on potential demand ? Or is this just a rush job to try and grab a slice

And if it ever got extended to Penistone it would be rammed in peak times.

 

[johnnychips]

Why?

And if it ever got extended to Penistone it would be rammed in peak times.

Most of the housing in Stocksbridge and Deepcar is up steep hills, well away from where a station could be. It is well served by the tram and bus connection at present. The new train would have to reverse to get into Sheffield station, and this bit of line is too busy already. Reopening Victoria would cost a fortune and it is very much on the periphery of the centre.

 

[DimTim]

An extension of the tram or tram train network would make more sense. If a chord could be constructed from the existing Meadowhall line after it crosses the parkway near Police building to the freight line that passes through old Victoria station very little construction work would be required.

 

[Tracked]

An extension of the tram or tram train network would make more sense. If a chord could be constructed from the existing Meadowhall line after it crosses the parkway near Police building to the freight line that passes through old Victoria station very little construction work would be required.

Extending the tram-train onto the freight line would be best surely? the north end of Sheffield's surely crowded enough already without adding more services?

 

[BrianB]

The problem with the old Woodhead line, as someone has already mentioned, is that it doesnt go anywhere near where people actually live or want to travel to, if it did the original local service might have last longer than 1959. It would only work with a park n ride at Deepcar with local buses to serve the estates which are all up on the hillside, along with a short extension to the Fox Valley retail park in the 'centre' of Stocksbridge. Even then it wouldn't serve the populated part of Oughtibridge, the busy Hillsborough centre or the City centre proper. This was talked about way back in the 70s when SYPTE first came into existence, there were roadshows the lot, loads of fancy maps and plans, including a monorail through the city centre, all of which came to nowt but eventually evolved we got Supertram. It's also time to get over Sheffield Victoria, the mere mention of it appears deliberate to stir up misguided emotions and support, whether it be this, HS2 or HS3 or whatever. It was a dump station, in a dump part of the city well away from the centre and wouldn't connect with any other line.

 

[Bald Rick]

I heard this section has a high BCR ratio so is very much feasible.

Don’t confuse viability with feasibility.

Secondly, I doubt very much that sufficent work has been done to produce a credible BCR.

 

[Wharfe106]

Another scheme chasing the money pot is there any research on potential demand ? Or is this just a rush job to try and grab a slice

It may well have been noted on another thread, that the transport secretary has written to all MPs asking them to consult locally and come forward in a very short timescale with ideas for lines which might be reopened under the "reverse Beeching" idea. So, yes, it is a rush for a slice, because that is what the SoS has asked for.

 

[MarkyT]

Using tram-train vehicles, I suggest a new on-street link from the existing railway at the old Wadsley Bridge station site to the Leppings Lane stop on the existing Supertram network. About 1km new construction.

 

[a_c_skinner]

I still think there are two questions:

1. Can it be done quickly (or enough to convince the voters)?
2. Is it in the North?

 

[Edders23]

I still think there are two questions:

1. Can it be done quickly (or enough to convince the voters)?
2. Is it in the North?

and how cheaply can it be done

 

[a_c_skinner]

Off topic. You are of course correct. Actually I think on time and on budget are more important than absolute timing and budget. Overruns cost votes and this is about votes as much as trains.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Given that most of the residential areas of Deepcar and Stocksbridge are up the sides of the valley, surely a fixed link to those areas would be better off as a tram or tram-train? After all there's plenty of steep hills on the existing Sheffield tram network, and the existing vehicles cope fine with those. Using trams would allow them to reach where people actually live.

 

[L+Y]

Most of the housing in Stocksbridge and Deepcar is up steep hills, well away from where a station could be. It is well served by the tram and bus connection at present.

Appreciate the bit about train reversals which I agree is a major killer, but on housing I'm not sure this is right. I used to live in Horsforth, Leeds, and houses with good bus links, away from the stations and up hills doesn't prevent Horsforth and Kirkstall Forge stations from thriving.

 

[tbtc]

I think I probably said more than enough on this thread >> https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...and-will-it-happen-even-if-not-viable.199491/

Stocksbridge remains a frustrating example of the ingredients for a route that could work on paper (post-industrial town in need of regeneration and better links to nearest big city ten miles away, frequent commercial bus service - so shades of Ebbw Vale/ Blyth etc)...

...but the geography make it very difficult to work properly (a Stocksbridge station would be inconvenient for most of the town, the line from Stocksbridge to Sheffield does an amazing job of avoiding any areas of much population and any "solution" at the Sheffield end would be an expensive/messy compromise, whether you plan to terminate at Victoria/ Neepsend/ Midland)

Feels like it'd be a very expensive way of replacing the current set up (people use frequent buses that connect to frequent light rail at Middlewood that then serves the heart of the city centre) with people using buses to connect to an hourly/ half hourly train at Fox Valley that won't serve the city centre very well/easily)

Wonderful if someone can come up with a feasible way of doing it but you're going to need a lot of crayons!