Rotherham Central Railway Station - History

History

This is the fourth station to be built, within the town centre, on the line from Sheffield Victoria. The first, a single platform terminus was built on what became the coal yard by the South Yorkshire Railway. Today this approximates to the land off Brinsworth Street below the bridge which carries the Inner Relief Road over the railway. The S.Y.R. could not gain permission to pass below the already built line of the Sheffield and Rotherham Railway, opened in 1838. A few years later and following amalgamation into the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, a scheme was developed to fill the South Yorkshire Navigation, a canal already owned by that railway company and divert its course into the nearby River Don. As the Navigation already passed below the Sheffield and Rotherham line this would solve the problem, although until recent years the line was prone to flooding. The S.Y.R. already had a single line from Mexborough, on its Barnsley to Doncaster line, towards Rotherham, running alongside the canal but only as far as the pottery and brickworks at Kilnhurst, leaving a gap of almost 4 miles (6 km) between. When the through line was completed a new, although temporary Rotherham station was built in the cut with access from the road above named "Amen Corner". This served the town from 1 August 1868. The line between Rotherham and Mexborough opened for goods traffic on 13 March 1871; passenger services began on 3 April 1871 but these continued to use the temporary station until the permanent Rotherham Central station was opened on 1 February 1874. This was an elongated affair with staggered platforms and a large stone main building opposite the "Statutes Fair Ground", with access from both Main Street, at the Sheffield end, and College Road, at the Doncaster end. In January 1889 this station was renamed Rotherham and Masborough. This station came under the ownership of the Great Central Railway (GCR) when the M.S.& L.R. changed its name on completion of its extension to London (Marylebone station), in 1899. The station was served by Sheffield Victoria - Doncaster local trains and others ranging from the north east to the south coast, the Great Central Railway being involved in many operations jointly with other companies. The GCR amalgamated with other railways to form the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at the start of 1923; the LNER was itself nationalised at the start of 1948, becoming part of the newly-formed British Railways (BR). Following this, Rotherham and Masborough was renamed Rotherham Central on 25 September 1950. Its last main line train, a throw-back to these pre-First World War One joint operations, being the Newcastle to Bournemouth express. This station was closed on 5 September 1966 and soon demolished.

With the rationalisation of railways in the area in full swing plans to concentrate Sheffield's train services at Sheffield Midland station led to the building of a major new junction between the lines of the former Great Central and the Midland Railway at Aldwarke Junction north of Rotherham, allowing Sheffield - Doncaster trains to be routed onto the Midland line to Sheffield Midland station via Rotherham Masborough. With only one station in town, eventually, "Masborough" was dropped from the name of the remaining station. Rotherham Masborough was located almost half-a-mile away from Rotherham town centre and by the 1980s this was judged to be hindering the use of train services from the town.