Sheffield station
Sheffield station Pond Street and Sheffield Midland, is a combined railway station and tram stop in Sheffield and the busiest station in South Yorkshire. Adjacent is Sheffield station/Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Supertram stop. In 2017-18, the station was the 43rd-busiest in the UK, the 15th-busiest outside London; the station is being considered as a stop for the High Speed 2 rail project. The station was opened in 1870 by the Midland Railway to the designs of the company architect John Holloway Sanders, it was the last station to be built in Sheffield city centre. The station was built on the'New Line', which ran between Grimesthorpe Junction, on the former Sheffield and Rotherham Railway, Tapton Junction, just north of Chesterfield; this line replaced the Midland Railway's previous route, the'old road', to London, which ran from Sheffield Wicker via Rotherham. The new line and station were built despite opposition locally; the Duke of Norfolk, who owned land in the area, insisted that the southern approach be in a tunnel and the land known as The Farm landscaped to prevent the line being seen.
Some years the tunnel was opened out into a cutting. Sheffield Corporation was so concerned about the eastern side of the city being cut off from the city centre that it insisted that public access be preserved across the railway site; the station and Pond Street Goods Depot opened on a cold day without any celebrations. There were different passenger entrances for each class; the original station buildings have been preserved and are between island platforms 2 to 5. The station was given two extra platforms and a new frontage in 1905 at a cost of £215,000; the enlargements consisted of creating an island platform out of the old platform 1 and building a new platform 1 and a new entrance. These works were overseen by the Chief Architect to the Midland Railway Charles Trubshaw. Offices were built at the north end of the 300 feet long carriageway rooftop. A large parcels office was built to the south of the main buildings. Two footbridges connected the platforms, the one to the north for passengers, the one to the south for station staff and parcels.
The tracks were covered by two overall roofs. The older and larger spanned platforms 5 and 6, an identical structure can still be viewed today at Bath Green Park railway station. Wartime damage put the roofs beyond economic repair; the 1960s saw the introduction of the Class 45 and Class 46 diesel-electric engines, known as Peaks. Sheaf House was built in 1965 adjacent to the station to house British Rail's Sheffield Division headquarters; as part of the reconstruction of the area as the "Gateway to Sheffield", it was demolished in early 2006. In 1970 Sheffield's other main station, Sheffield Victoria, was closed and its remaining services, from Penistone, were diverted until 1981 via a cumbersome reversal; the Pullman service between Sheffield Victoria and London King's Cross, including the morning and evening Master Cutler now ran onto the East Coast Main Line via Retford from Sheffield Midland instead. This was the third route used by the train of that name; the station was resignalled in 1972, its track layout remodelled.
British Rail introduced the High Speed Train to Sheffield on the Midland Main Line in 1984. The cross-country services had seen the introduction of the HSTs in 1982. On 21 December 1991, the station was flooded by the River Sheaf. A log, part of the debris commemorates the event on platform 5. In 1991 construction of the new Supertram network began and by late 1994 Sheffield Midland was connected to the network, after the opening of the line between Fitzalan Square in the city centre and Spring Lane, to the east of the station. In 2002, Midland Mainline, as the main train operating company of the station, instigated a major regeneration of Sheffield station. Prior to this, a taxi rank was located inside what is now the main concourse and the new entrance hall; the stone façade of the station was sandblasted and its archways filled with unobstructed windows to improve views both from inside and out. Other changes included the improvement of platform surfaces and the addition of a pedestrian bridge connecting the station concourse with the Sheffield Supertram stop at the far side of the station.
To coincide with the regeneration of the station, Sheaf Square was rebuilt as part of a project designed to create the Gateway to Sheffield. The station and the square form part of a route that leads passengers through the square past the 262.5 feet Cutting Edge water feature, up Howard Street and into the Heart of the City. This Gateway to Sheffield won the Project of the Year Award in the 2006 National Rail Awards. On 11 November 2007, East Midlands Trains, an amalgamation of Midland Mainline and part of Central Trains, took over the management of the station. In December 2009, following the restoration of the station, a new pub, the Sheffield Tap, opened next to platform 1B; the room, located within the main station building, had been used as a store room for 35 years but was used for much longer as a bar and restaurant, catering for first class passengers since 1904. The bar is noteworthy for its restored early 20th century interior and its selection of quality cask ales and beers from around the world.
Since opening, the bar has won the National Railway Heritage Award and the Cask Ale pub of the year award. In October 2010, East Midland Trains initiated £10 million worth of improvements to its stations. Sheffield received renovated waiting rooms, toilet facilities and upgraded
Ryder Brow railway station
Ryder Brow railway station serves the Gorton and Ryder Brow areas of Manchester, England. The station is 2¾ miles south east of Manchester Piccadilly on the Hope Valley Line and opened in 1985 by British Rail; the station is unmanned and has basic amenities only - waiting shelters and timetable posters on both platforms and a payphone on platform 2. No ticket provision is offered, so these must be bought prior to travel or on the train. Access to the platforms is via stepped ramps from the nearby road, so the station is not suitable for wheelchair users. Monday to Friday there is an hourly service to Manchester Piccadilly northbound and New Mills Central southbound, whilst on Saturdays the frequency is the same but the service runs to Rose Hill Marple until the evening. There is no Sunday service. Train times and station information for Ryder Brow railway station from National Rail
East Midlands Trains
East Midlands Trains is a British train operating company owned by Stagecoach Group. Based in Derby, the company provides train services in the East Midlands and parts of Yorkshire, chiefly in Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire; the franchise commenced in November 2007 with the amalgamation of the Midland Mainline and eastern parts of the Central Trains franchises and will run until August 2019. In June 2006 the Department for Transport announced its intention to restructure some rail franchises. Included was an East Midlands franchise combining the Midland Mainline franchise with the East Midlands services of the Central Trains franchise. In September 2006 the Department for Transport announced that Arriva, FirstGroup, National Express and Stagecoach had been shortlisted to bid for the franchise. In June 2007 the Department for Transport awarded the East Midlands franchise to Stagecoach and services operated by Central Trains and Midland Mainline transferred to East Midlands Trains on 11 November 2007.
Due to end in March 2015, the franchise has been extended several times and is now planned to finish in August 2019. In April 2019, the DfT announced that Abellio had won its bid for the East Midlands franchise, after Stagecoach was disqualified from the process due to not meeting pension obligations; the service will be renamed "East Midlands Railway" and the contract is due to last until August 2027. Amidst a background of ongoing rail strikes on a national level, the National Union of Rail and Transport Workers warned in September 2017 that East Midlands Trains staff could be balloted for potential industrial action following a breakdown in negotiations over an ongoing pay rise dispute; the dispute was settled without industrial action, the threat of strikes on East Midlands Trains services was dropped. East Midlands Trains divided its services between two sub-brands: Mainline inter-city services, Connect urban and suburban services, which came from the Central Trains franchise. However, from April 2008, the company dropped the "Mainline" and "Connect" branding in favour of "London" and "Local" services.
It has four broad routes for the areas in which it operates, except for the high-speed services, which all serve London. EMT promised better integration between "London" and "Local" services, together with increased punctuality and becoming more user-friendly. On 25 November 2008, Peter Bone asked if the Secretary of State for Transport supports the "In the Can" campaign, whereby sardines are sent to the Chief Executive to show dissatisfaction at perceived overcrowding. Helen Southworth raised the overcrowding issue on the same day; the service pattern at the start of the franchise was of 4 off-peak departures from London: 2 fast and 2 stopping. Sheffield peak-hour trains extended from and to Leeds, with weekend services extending to York/Scarborough. 1 peak-hour Derby service was extended to one to Barnsley. EMT made no significant changes until the introduction of its December 2008 timetable. In December 2008, EMT made significant changes to the service pattern, similar to the current one. There are five off-peak departures from London: 2 fast, 2 stopping.
A smaller number of Sheffield peak-hour trains continue to extend from and to Leeds, with weekend services extending to York/Scarborough. In addition a Nottingham service is extended to start from Lincoln Central on weekdays and Saturdays. There were plans for 2 return services to Skegness through from London in the summer; the Burton-on-Trent and Barnsley services ceased at the beginning of the December 2008 timetable, when Corby services began. One Corby service was extended to Melton Mowbray at the outset, a second was added to Derby from May 2010. In December 2013, the Midland Main Line started running at 125 mph in some areas, cutting journey times; the Liverpool Lime Street via Warrington Central, Manchester Oxford Road and Piccadilly, Nottingham and Ely to Norwich service was provided by Central Trains. Nottinghamshire County Council has campaigned for better services between the four core cities of Liverpool, Manchester and Nottingham. Network Rail's plans for the Northern Hub would deliver extra train paths along the Hope Valley Line, enabling more trains to run from the North West to the East Midlands.
In December 2012, double-unit trains were provided for services between Manchester and Nottingham to ease overcrowding. East Midlands Trains' services can be categorised into two types: London: inter-city services out of London St Pancras station, along the Midland Main Line, to various towns and cities in the East Midlands region including Bedford, Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield; some peak-time services serve Lincoln Central, Doncaster and York, while a single Saturday service runs to and from Scarborough in the summer. These services all use Class HST sets, which are painted in a white livery. Local: short- and medium-distance services within the East Midlands region, plus the long-distance route between Liverpool Lime Street and Norwich; these services are operated by Sprinters. The Class 158 units are painted in a white livery, while the remaining units are all
River Medlock
The River Medlock is a river in Greater Manchester, which rises near Oldham and flows south and west for ten miles to join the River Irwell in Manchester city centre. Rising in the hills that surround Strinesdale just to the east of Oldham, the Medlock flows through the steep-sided wooded gorge that separates Lees from Ashton-under-Lyne and the Daisy Nook Country Park with its 19th century aqueduct carrying the disused Hollinwood Branch Canal over the shallow river; the final miles of the river flowing to the River Irwell have been extensively modified. The river is culverted underneath the car park of the City of Manchester Stadium, it is visible under a bridge on Baring Street, close to Piccadilly station, before running again in a culvert beneath the former University of Manchester Institute of Science & Technology campus under Hulme Street, until it appears at Gloucester Street before flowing under the former gasworks at Gaythorn, reappearing at City Road East. At the point where Deansgate and Chester Road meet the river meets the Bridgewater Canal head on, where a sluice gate allowed water to feed the canal, until the water quality of the Medlock became too polluted for canal use.
The level of the river is several feet below the level of the canal, the river is carried in a tunnel under the Castlefield canal basin, reappearing at Potato Wharf, where it is supplemented by excess canal water draining into a circular weir. When the river is in spate the tunnel cannot cope and river water enters the canal, flows across the basin, exits via the weir and manually operated gates. A quarter of a mile further on the Medlock enters the Irwell adjacent to the bottom gate of the disused Hulme Locks. In the latter part of the 18th century the river was navigable at least between the Bridgewater Canal and the site of India House. At India House was the entrance to a tunnel used to carry coal to a wharf at Store Street; the tunnel mouth is still visible. The tunnel was rendered obsolete by the construction of the Rochdale Canal; the area just south of Oxford Road railway station enclosed by the railway line and the loop in the river was known as Little Ireland, was described by Friedrich Engels as "the most horrible spot" of the area.
It is commemorated by a red plaque in Cambridge Street near New Wakefield Street. The telephone exchange name, subsequent dialling code for the area around Strinesdale and Grains Bar, was Medlock Head, abbreviated to MED for dialling; this was so at the time of the introduction of Subscriber Trunk Dialling to the area in the 1960s. The name owed less to local geography than to technology; the code MED was rendered as 633 on the telephone dial. MAI, the code for Oldham Main, was 624. Post Office Telecoms equipment of the day worked better when discrete local geographical areas with few subscribers, had similar prefixes; these numbers, others beginning with 6, remain in use in Greater Manchester, prefixed by 0161. River Tib Shooter's Brook Newton Brook Lord's Brook Lumb Brook Taunton Brook Holden Brook Little Bankfield Brook Rabbit Brook Rowton Brook Thornley Brook Ashes Brook Wood Brook Sheep Washes Brook Roebuck Low Brook Ed Glinert, The Manchester Compendium, Allen Lane, 2008. ISBN 978-0-7139-9971-6.
Andrew Taylor, Manchester City Centre Map at a scale of 1:3500, 7th edition, Andrew Taylor, 2011. ISBN 978-1-905250-09-7
Manchester Metrolink
Metrolink is a tram/light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. The system is owned by Transport for Greater Manchester and operated and maintained under contract by a Keolis/Amey consortium. In 2017/18, 41.2 million passenger journeys were made on the system. The network consists of seven lines which radiate from Manchester city centre to termini at Altrincham, Ashton-under-Lyne, East Didsbury, Manchester Airport and Rochdale. Metrolink has 93 stops along 62 miles of standard-gauge track making it the largest light rail system in the United Kingdom, it consists of a mixture of on-street track shared with other traffic. It is operated by a fleet of Bombardier Flexity Swift M5000s. A light rail system for Greater Manchester emerged from the failure of the 1970s Picc-Vic tunnel scheme to obtain central government funding. A light-rail scheme was proposed in 1982 as the least expensive rail-based transport solution for Manchester city centre and the surrounding Greater Manchester metropolitan area.
Government approval was granted in 1988 and the network began operating services between Bury Interchange and Victoria on 6 April 1992, becoming the United Kingdom's first modern street-running rail system. Expansion of Metrolink has been a key strategy of transport planners in Greater Manchester, who have overseen its development in successive projects, known as Phases 1, 2, 3a and 3b with the most recent phase, 2CC becoming operational in February 2017. Construction work on the Trafford Park Line extension from Pomona to the Trafford Centre commenced in early 2017 with an estimated operational date of 2020/21. Furthermore, TfGM have endorsed more speculative expansion proposals for new lines to Stockport, a loop around Wythenshawe, the addition of tram-train technology. Manchester's first tram age began in 1877 with the first horse-drawn trams of Manchester Suburban Tramways Company. Electric traction was introduced in 1901, the municipal Manchester Corporation Tramways expanded across the city.
By 1930, Manchester's tram network had grown to 163 route miles, making it the third largest tram system in the United Kingdom. After World War II, electric trolleybuses and motor buses began to be favoured by local authorities as a cheaper transport alternative, by 1949 the last Manchester tram line was closed. Trolleybuses were withdrawn from service in 1966. Greater Manchester's railway network suffered from poor north–south connections due to the fact that Manchester's main railway stations and Victoria, were built in the 1840s on peripheral locations outside Manchester city centre; the central commercial district had no rail links, over the years, a number of unsuccessful schemes were proposed to connect Manchester's rail termini. In the 1960s, transport design studies were undertaken to address the problems of increasing traffic congestion. A number of urban public transport schemes were evaluated for Manchester, including several types of monorail systems and metro-style systems. While the monorail schemes were all abandoned, a scheme to create an underground tunnel link gained momentum.
The SELNEC Passenger Transport Executive — the body formed in 1969 to improve public transport for Manchester and its surrounding municipalities – promoted the'Picc-Vic tunnel' project. This was a proposal to link Piccadilly and Victoria stations via a tunnel under the city centre and enable train services to run across the Manchester conurbation. Greater Manchester County Council inherited the project and presented it to the United Kingdom Government in 1974, but the council failed to secure the necessary funding and the project was abandoned in 1977. Inter-station links were provided by the Centreline shuttle bus service for many years; the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive, the successor to SELNEC, continued to examine possible rail link solutions. Light rail emerged in the early 1980s as a cost-effective option that could make use of existing railway lines and run through the city centre at street level, eliminating the need for costly tunnelling works. A Rail Study Group, composed of officials from British Rail, GMC and GMPTE formally endorsed the Project Light Rail scheme in 1984.
Initial abstract proposals, based on light rail systems in North America and continental Europe, illustrated a draft 62-mile network consisting of three lines: Altrincham–Hadfield/Glossop, Bury–Marple/Rose Hill and Rochdale–East Didsbury. To promote the scheme, GMPTE held a public proof of concept demonstration in March 1987 using a Docklands Light Railway P86 train on a freight-only line adjacent to Debdale Park; the Project Light Rail proposals were presented to the UK Government for taxpayer funding. Because of central government's constraints on financial support for innovative transport projects, funding was granted by HM Treasury with the strict condition that the system be constructed in phases. Additional taxpayer funding came from bank lending. Parliamentary authority to proceed with Phase 1 construction was obtained with two Acts of Parliament – the Greater Manchester Act 1988 and Greater Manchester Act 1988. Metrolink construction phases 1992–2017 Beginning in July 1991, the first Phase of Metrolink involved the conversion of two suburban heavy rail lines to light rail operation — the Bury-Victoria line in the north and the Altrincham-Piccadilly line in the sou
Heaton Chapel railway station
Heaton Chapel railway station serves the Heaton Chapel and Heaton Moor districts of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The station is 4½ miles south of Manchester Piccadilly towards Stockport Opened as Heaton Chapel & Heaton Moor in 1852 by LNWR by LMS until 1948 when British Railways was formed, the station was renamed Heaton Chapel on 6 May 1974. Since May 2018 the number of trains per hour going towards Manchester Piccadilly has been reduced from a maximum of five down to three; those trains all run within a 20-minute slot. There are now up to four rather than the previous five trains each hour from Manchester Piccadilly to Heaton Chapel; these run towards Hazel Grove and Buxton. During the evening and on Sundays, there are two trains per hour to Manchester and hourly trains to Crewe and Buxton. 3 trains from Stoke call on Sundays. The station has a ticket office, closed at weekends; when this is closed access to the Manchester-bound platform is only possible via a ramp from Tatton Road North.
In May 2016, the roof collapsed onto the stairs of the Manchester-bound platform. This resulted in the stairs being closed on both platforms leaving access only via long ramps to the platforms; the roofs have now been re-instated. Mitchell, Vic. Crewe to Manchester. Middleton Press. Figs. 96-100. ISBN 9781908174574. OCLC 892047119. Train times and station information for Heaton Chapel railway station from National Rail
Yorkshire and the Humber
Yorkshire and the Humber is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of NUTS for statistical purposes. It comprises most of Yorkshire, as well as North East Lincolnshire, it does not include Middlesbrough and Cleveland or other areas of Yorkshire, such as Sedbergh not included in the aforementioned administrative areas. The largest settlements are, Sheffield, Bradford and York; the population in 2011 was 5,284,000. The committees for the regions, including the one for Yorkshire and the Humber, ceased to exist upon the dissolution of Parliament on 12 April 2010. Regional ministers were not reappointed by the incoming Coalition Government, the Government Offices were abolished in 2011. Scammonden Dam, is the highest dam in UK at 73 metres, Dean Head cutting is the deepest roadway cutting in Europe at 183 ft, at Scammonden Bridge, on the M62. Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe claims to be longest place name in England. In the Yorkshire and the Humber region, there is a close relationship between the major topographical areas and the underlying geology.
The Pennine chain of hills in the west is of Carboniferous origin. The central vale is Permo-Triassic; the North York Moors in the north-east of the county are Jurassic in age, while the Yorkshire Wolds and Lincolnshire Wolds to the south east are Cretaceous chalk uplands. The highest point of the region is Whernside, in the Yorkshire Dales, at 737 metres; the region is drained by several rivers. In western and central Yorkshire, the many rivers empty their waters into the River Ouse, which reaches the North Sea via the Humber Estuary; the most northerly of the rivers in the Ouse system is the River Swale, which drains Swaledale before passing through Richmond and meandering across the Vale of Mowbray. Next, draining Wensleydale, is the River Ure; the River Nidd rises on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park and flows along Nidderdale before reaching the Vale of York. The Ouse is the name given to the river after its confluence with the Ure at Ouse Gill Beck; the River Wharfe, which drains Wharfedale, joins the Ouse upstream of Cawood.
The Rivers Aire and Calder are more southerly contributors to the River Ouse. The most southerly Yorkshire tributary is the River Don, which flows northwards to join the main river at Goole; the River Derwent rises on the North York Moors, flows south westwards through the Vale of Pickering turns south again to drain the eastern part of the Vale of York. It empties into the River Ouse at Barmby on the Marsh. In the far north of the county, the River Tees flows eastwards through Teesdale and empties its waters into the North Sea downstream of Middlesbrough; the smaller River Esk flows from west to east at the northern foot of the North York Moors to reach the sea at Whitby. To the east of the Yorkshire Wolds, the River Hull flows southwards to join the Humber Estuary at Kingston upon Hull; the western Pennines are served by the River Ribble, which drains westwards into the Irish Sea close to Lytham St Annes. The lower stretches of the River Trent flow through North Lincolnshire and meet the Ouse at Trent Falls.
The largest freshwater lake in the region is Hornsea Mere in the East Riding of Yorkshire. This region of England has cool summers and mild winters, with the upland areas of the North York Moors and the Pennines experiencing the coolest weather and the Vale of York the warmest. Weather conditions vary from day to day as well as from season to season; the latitude of the area means that it is influenced by predominantly westerly winds with depressions and their associated fronts, bringing with them unsettled and windy weather in winter. Between depressions, there are small mobile anticyclones that bring periods of fair weather. In winter anticyclones bring cold dry weather. In summer the anticyclones tend to bring settled conditions which can lead to drought. For its latitude, this area is mild in winter and cooler in summer due to the influence of the Gulf Stream in the northern Atlantic Ocean. Air temperature varies on a seasonal basis. Cities such as Sheffield and Bradford are cooler due to their inland and upland location, while York and Wakefield are warmer due to their lowland location.
The temperature is lower at night. Snow is not uncommon in the winter, Yorkshire is hilly/mountainous, the Yorkshire Dales and the Pennines can have extreme snowstorms with high snowdrifts. Inland/upland settlements, such as Skipton or Ilkley, have more snow than coastal towns. Hull and Scarborough have less snow. Climate data for settlements in the region: There are seven cities in Yorkshire and the Humber: Bradford, Kingston upon Hull, Ripon, Sheffield and York. Large towns in the area include Barnsley, Grimsby, Harrogate and Scunthorpe. Leeds is the largest settlement and the largest part of an urban area with a population of 1.5 million. Leeds is now one of the largest financial centres in the United Kingdom. Sheffield is a large manufacturing centre. Bradford was a textile manufacturing city; as jobs moved offshore the decline of this industry has resulted in a more diverse economy. Kingston upon Hull is the main port in the region and a notable fishing harbou
