Sheffield Victoria Station
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Sheffield Victoria station was the main Sheffield station on the Great Central Railway (known prior to 1897 as the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway), between Chesterfield and Penistone.
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[edit] History
The Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway between Manchester and Sheffield, which was engineered by Joseph Locke, opened in 1845. Originally this line terminated at the Bridgehouses station about 1 km to the west of the future Victoria station. In 1847 the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway merged with two other railway companies to form the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway. The station at Bridgehouses had been outgrown and an extension and new station were planned. John Fowler, who later gained fame for co-designing the Forth Railway Bridge in Scotland, was employed to engineer the extension and station. Fowler's design included a 40-foot high, 750-yard viaduct over the Wicker. The extension was built in 1847–1848 and the new Victoria station opened on 15th September 1851. The station received a new roof, spanning the main line platforms in 1867 and was enlarged in 1874, well-known railway contractors Logan and Hemingway being awarded the contract.
The station was given a new frontage in 1908 and took on great importance when the line through the Pennines—known as the Woodhead Route because of the long tunnel on it—was electrified for freight purposes after World War II.
[edit] Electrification
The electrification of the line reached Sheffield Victoria by 1954, reducing the journey time to Manchester to 56 minutes. This was the first main line in the UK to be electrified, but the only one at 1500 V d.c.
In 1965 a revised Beeching report recommended that the Sheffield to Manchester service be consolidated; after much local wrangling British Railways favoured the Hope Valley Line which was slower but served more local communities, and in 1967 plans were announced to withdraw passenger services along the Woodhead route. Following public outcry an enquiry was launched that took two years to be completed. Eventually the enquiry backed British Rail's plans and passenger services were withdrawn from the line on 5th January 1970. The last train to Victoria station, an enthusiasts special, arrived at 00:44 on 5 January and from that point the station was closed.
The station re-opened very briefly in 1972 for diverted trains while Sheffield Midland was closed for re-signalling.
The Manchester-Sheffield-Wath electric railway was entirely closed east of Hadfield in 1981; and the tracks through the Woodhead Tunnel were lifted in 1986. Except for the goods avoiding line, the track through the station was lifted in the mid-1980s and the station buildings were demolished in 1989 to make way for an extension to the adjacent Victoria Hotel complex. Outlines of the platforms still remain.
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| Stations in Sheffield | ||
|---|---|---|
| Railway lines: █ Dearne Valley • █ Hallam • █ Hope Valley • █ Midland Main Line • █ Penistone • █ Hull █ Lincoln • █ Wakefield • Woodhead | ||
| Railway stations: Chapeltown • Darnall • Dore • Meadowhall • Sheffield • Woodhouse | ||
| Closed stations: Attercliffe | Attercliffe Road • Beauchief • Beighton • Bridgehouses • Brightside • Broughton Lane • Chapeltown • Chapeltown Central • Deepcar • Ecclesfield | Ecclesfield West • Grange Lane • Heeley • Millhouses • Meadowhall • Wincobank (and Meadow Hall) • Neepsend • Oughtibridge • Tinsley • Tinsley West • Victoria • Wadsley Bridge • Wicker | ||
| Transport in Sheffield • Travel South Yorkshire UK railway stations: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | edit | |
