Network Rail has announced that sections of the railway line between Manchester and Sheffield will close from Saturday 16 March to Sunday 24 March, as its engineers work to complete the final phase of the Hope Valley Railway Upgrade.
This work will also affect Sheffield station, with a much smaller number of platforms available only for longer-distance trains to use. Passengers travelling from, to or through Sheffield are being advised to check before they travel.
Upgrades include track installation and drainage work in the Dore & Totley area – the Dore South Curve extension is set to be completed, doubling the number of tracks in and out of the station to the east, whilst work on the new track in Grindleford will also be finalised.
Work will take place to complete the new second platform at Dore & Totley station, which will be linked to the existing platform by an accessible footbridge with lifts once completed. The existing platform has been extended to accommodate longer trains, creating more seats for passengers.
Network Rail added that passengers travelling to and from Dore & Totley between 25 March and 3 April and requiring step free access should contact Passenger Assist as alternative arrangements may be required while work on the new lifts is completed.
The current platform at Dore & Totley station will become Platform 2, whilst the new, Manchester-bound platform will become Platform 1. This is to align the new platforms with other stations on the Hope Valley line.
Following the recovery of redundant signalling equipment along the route, final commissioning of the upgraded cutting-edge signalling system will take place, improving the reliability of services and signifying the completion of the Hope Valley Railway Upgrade.
Ben Shaw, Sponsor for the Hope Valley Railway Upgrade, said: “The Hope Valley project team will be working around the clock to deliver this final stage of upgrades. We thank passengers and residents for their patience during the upgrade work.
“We’re looking forward to bringing passengers a faster, more reliable, accessible railway between Manchester and Sheffield and would like to thank customers for their patience.”
Kerry Peters, Regional Director for Northern, said: “I’d like to thank our customers for their patience whilst we put the finishing touches on the brand new second platform at Dore & Totley. The second platform and track through the station will bring much-needed improvements, providing for extra capacity in the future with better train speeds and enhanced reliability on this key section of our route”.
Chris Nutton, Major Projects Director at TransPennine Express, added: “The major improvements that Network Rail will be undertaking, with the reinstatement of a second platform at Dore & Totley and track and signalling upgrades on the Hope Valley route, are vital for releasing capacity through this bottleneck on our network and enabling more reliable services for our customers that travel between Sheffield and Manchester.
“While these works are being carried out, we will be operating a revised timetable on our route between Liverpool Lime Street and Cleethorpes and diverting some trains between Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield. We will also be operating an additional TPE service per hour between Manchester Oxford Road and Liverpool Lime Street. Where train services cannot run, rail replacement buses will run to keep you moving. We’d like to advise customers to check before they travel.”
Passengers are urged to check before they travel as these essential works mean services will be affected across the Hope Valley line and in the Sheffield area – some trains may be replaced by buses:
- CrossCountry Trains – Trains between Scotland and the South West are diverted between Sheffield and Chesterfield extending journeys by 10 minutes.
- East Midlands Railway: Rail replacement buses to run between Sheffield and Stockport. Trains between Sheffield and London diverted with journey times extended by 20 minutes
- Northern: Trains will run between Manchester Piccadilly and New Mills Central. Rail replacement buses will operate between New Mills Central (via New Mills Newtown for passengers requiring step free access) and Sheffield. Buses replace trains Moorthorpe – York via Pontefract Monkhill, Gainsborough Lea Road – Cleethorpes and Sheffield – Chesterfield. Some further early morning and late night services in the Sheffield area will also be replaced by buses.
- TransPennine Express: Some trains will run between Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield via Huddersfield as well as replacement buses Manchester Piccadilly – Sheffield. An additional rail replacement bus will call at Dore & Totley mid-week at peak time.
This upcoming set of engineering works will mark the full completion of the Hope Valley Railway Upgrade, allowing the facilitation of longer trains with more seats for passengers and improved reliability of journeys between Manchester and Sheffield.
Network Rail is also advising passengers about work to rebuild a bridge in Edale, Derbyshire between 27 April and 1 May 2024. Buses will replace trains for journeys between Manchester and Sheffield during this time. It is urging passengers to check www.nationalrailenquiries.co.uk or with their train operator before travelling.
