Hope Valley Line
| Hope Valley Line |
| Principal stations and landmarks (Manchester Airport Line)
Disley Tunnel Northern Branch
Romiley |
The Hope Valley Line is a railway line in England linking Sheffield with Manchester. It was completed in 1894.
From Sheffield, trains head down the Midland Main Line to Dore, where the Hope Valley Line branches off to run through the Totley Tunnel. It emerges in Derbyshire, where it passes through stunning scenery and the railway stations of Grindleford, Hathersage, Bamford, Hope and Edale. It then enters the Cowburn Tunnel and reemerges two miles west.
The line then runs through Chinley before splitting, the northern branch running via New Mills toward Manchester Piccadilly, the southern passes through the Disley Tunnel before merging with the Buxton line and then heading to Stockport.
Passenger services on the line are currently operated by Northern Rail (previously First North Western), Central Trains and TransPennine Express.
History
Sheffield and Midland Joint Section
This section was built by the Sheffield and Midland Railway Companies' Committee as part of the Midland Railway's drive to reach Manchester with its line from London via Ambergate and Millers Dale. Initially, in 1867, it joined the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway at Hyde Junction, running into Manchester London Road, but in 1875 a more direct route was built through Bredbury. When Manchester Central was opened by the Cheshire Lines Committee, a new line was built through Heaton Mersey. This third route was closed along with Manchester Central, apart from the section through Disley Tunnel to Hazel Grove, where it now joins the old LNWR line into Stockport.
Dore and Chinley
In 1872, the Midland Railway's only route from Sheffield to Manchester was via Ambergate. It had originally proposed a line to run from Dore to Hassop meeting its extension from Rowsley to Buxton. However, the "Dore and Chinley Railway" was floated independently in 1872, and unsuccessfully, until the Midland took an interest, since it would provide a more direct route, connecting through Chinley into Manchester. The line was authorised in 1884 and work began in 1888.
The 21 mile-long line took six years to build. The terrain through Hope Valley and Edale was easy enough by Midland standards, but at each end there were formidable obstacles, negotiated by means of the Totley and Cowburn Tunnels.
Recent history
At the time of the Beeching review the line was running in competition with the recently modernised route through the Woodhead Tunnel, and its closure was suggested. On appeal, British Rail were required to keep the Hope Valley line open to passenger traffic, and so instead shut the Woodhead route to passengers (and then subsequently to freight also).
