Sheffield station

Infobox UK station
name = Sheffield
code = SHF
latitude = 53.378
longitude = -1.462


manager = East Midlands Trains
locale = Sheffield
borough = Sheffield
usage0405 = 5.001
usage0506 = 5.167
usage0607 = 5.590
platforms = 9
start = 1870
years1 = 1905
events1 = Extension
years2 = 1956
events2 = Rooftop removed
years3 = 1973
events3 = Power signal box built

Sheffield Station, formerly Pond Street [Batty (cite book |title=Rail Centres: Sheffield| last=Batty| first=Stephen|year=1989 |publisher=Ian Allen Ltd |location=Shepperton, Surrey|isbn=0-7110-1366-7 |pages=p. 10 ) refers to the station as "Pond Street", however Fox (cite book |title=The Midland Line in Sheffield |last=Fox |first=Peter |year=1990 |publisher=Platform 5 |location=Sheffield |isbn=1-872524-16-8 |pages=p. 8 ) notes that, although the name "Pond Street" appears on some Midland Railway maps, the station has never been known locally by this name, and was never referred to as such in timetables. ] and later Sheffield Midland, is a railway station and tram stop in central Sheffield, in Yorkshire, northern England.

Sheffield is at the northern end of the core Midland Main Line route via Derby (or Nottingham) and Leicester to London St Pancras, which became the home of Eurostar international services 14 November 2007. Direct services are also available to Leeds, the North East, North West, and East coast with CrossCountry, Northern Rail and First TransPennine Express.

The station is located on the Blue and Purple routes of the Sheffield Supertram network, and is linked to the city's bus station by a short covered walkway. A major revamp of the station approach was completed in 2006.

The station also has a PlusBus scheme, which allows train and bus tickets to be bought together at a saving, avoiding having to buy bus tickets at the end of the train journey.

History

The station opened in 1870 by the Midland Railway and was the fifth and final 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, and Tapton Junction, just north of Chesterfield.This new line replaced Midland Railways's previous route to London, which ran from Sheffield Wicker Station via Rotherham.

The station, along with Pond Street Goods Depot opened on a damp and cold day without any celebrations. Originally there were different entrances for passengers of different social classes. The original station buildings can still be seen on the 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 as well as a new entrance.

Offices were built at the north end of the 300 feet long carriage way rooftop. A large parcels office was built to the south of the main buildings. Two footbridges connected to the platforms, the one to the north for passengers, the one to the south for station staff and parcels employees. The tracks were covered by two train sheds or rooftops. One spanned platforms 5 and 6, the second platforms 1 and 2. Wartime damage put the rooftops beyond economic repair, so they were removed in the autumn of 1956 and replaced by low-level awnings.

The 1960s saw the introduction of the Class 45 and Class 46 diesel-electric engines, known as "Peaks". Sheaf House was built 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 1972 the station was resignalled and its track layout remodelled. In 1984 British Rail introduced the High Speed Train to Sheffield to serve on the Midland Main Line. The Cross Country services had seen the introduction of the HSTs in 1982. On 21 Dec 1991 the station was flooded by the River Sheaf, which flows under it. A log that was debris with a plaque commemorating the event is on show on platform 5.

In 2002, Midland Mainline, as station managers, commenced major regeneration work including a new footbridge to link the station with the Supertram stop, new platform surfaces, a revamped passenger hall with new shops, ticketing facilities and destination boards, and remodelling of Sheaf Square, outside the station, to incorporate a new large open pedestrian space, water features and sandblasting of the station front. Before the revamp of Sheaf Square began archaeologists and researchers were allowed to dig to study the remains of Bamford Dam.

tation layout

The station currently has 9 platforms, numbered 1 to 8 and "2C". Along with platform 1, platforms 3 and 4 are divided into A and B sections to allow a brief stabling of terminating services before they are scheduled to depart. The station also has four through roads which are used for through running or more commonly for stabling stock. Between platforms 5 and 6 these are known as "1-Up" and "2-Up" (they are on the "Up" or London-bound side of the station) whilst between platforms 1 and 2 can be found the "through road" with a direct path through the station or by a central crossover to the north end of platform 1 (1b) and "down station siding".

In a normal day's service local trains run by Northern use platforms 1A/B, 3A/B and 4A/B. Terminating services run by East Midlands Trains normally use platform 5. CrossCountry services use platform 2 for northbound and platform 6 for southbound departures. East Midlands Trains services passing through use platform 2 for northbound departures and platforms 6 and 8 for southbound departures. East Midlands Trains services on the Norwich-Liverpool (via Peterborough) services generally use platform 2 for services to Liverpool with platforms 5 and occasionally 7 being used for services to Norwich. First TransPennine Express use platform 2 eastbound and platform 8 westbound leaving platform 2C for the use of the Sheffield-Manchester local trains run by Northern.

Prior to the 1972 multiple-aspect signalling scheme, or MAS, resignalling, the southern half of the current platform 8 was called platform 9. Trains from the north from platform 9 could avoid trains stood at platform 8 via an additional through road.

More services from Sheffield are also planned, offering more trains per hour at peak times and extra carriages.

ervices

###@@@KEYEND@@@###

References and notes

External links

* [http://www.shef.ac.uk/~scgisa/trp6110/station/webpage/station.html Station history]