Which services might call at Rotherham Gateway station?

[Masbroughlad]

Seen the headline today that Rotherham Gateway station will be open by 2031.

New Rotherham railway station 'will open in 2031'

Transport hub will combined mainline rail and Tram Train services in one interchange.

www.bbc.co.uk

A new railway station is now expected to open by 2031 after plans progressed.

Rotherham Gateway Station, incorporating both rail and Tram Train services, will be based at Parkgate, and will reintroduce mainline trains to Rotherham for the first time since the 1980s.

The Outline Business Case for the station is in its final stages, though its submission has been delayed.

It is now anticipated to be submitted to the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority this month, and to the Department for Transport by May 2025.

A few questions from me, if anyone can help.

Will Rotherham Central remain open? If so, what services will use it? The same locals as today?

Will Gateway and Central be linked by tram, train or both? Or neither?!

What inter-city services will call there? I guess by then, TOCs will be things of the past. I wonder what services it will get from GBR?

I grew up in Rotherham in the '70s and '80s. You could get direct trains to Scotland, Newcastle, Carlisle, Leeds, York, Manchester, Liverpool, London, Birmingham, the South East, the South West, Humberside and Wales.

I really hope it happens and is good for the town.

 

[Bevan Price]

Seen the headline today that Rotherham Gateway station will be open by 2031.

New Rotherham railway station 'will open in 2031'

Transport hub will combined mainline rail and Tram Train services in one interchange.

www.bbc.co.uk

A few questions from me, if anyone can help.

Will Rotherham Central remain open? If so, what services will use it? The same locals as today?

Will Gateway and Central be linked by tram, train or both? Or neither?!

What inter-city services will call there? I guess by then, TOCs will be things of the past. I wonder what services it will get from GBR?

I grew up in Rotherham in the '70s and '80s. You could get direct trains to Scotland, Newcastle, Carlisle, Leeds, York, Manchester, Liverpool, London, Birmingham, the South East, the South West, Humberside and Wales.

I really hope it happens and is good for the town.

My guess would be just an additional stop for the current local services.

 

[Dr Hoo]

My guess would be just an additional stop for the current local services.

I didn’t think that the ‘local’ services (Dearne Valley and Adwick) pass through Masborough.

 

[SqUaShIe P]

One of the articles I read, mentioned shorter journey times to Leeds and York by 30 and 35 mins respectively, so maybe XC trains will be stopping there. And if XC will be stopping, then TPE services will probably stop there too.

Also, from a map I saw of the project, it's going to be a 5/7 min walk between the mainline platforms and the tram train platform

 

[Iskra]

One of the articles I read, mentioned shorter journey times to Leeds and York by 30 and 35 mins respectively, so maybe XC trains will be stopping there. And if XC will be stopping, then TPE services will probably stop there too.

Also, from a map I saw of the project, it's going to be a 5/7 min walk between the mainline platforms and the tram train platform

Northern also serve both Leeds and York though on routes out of Sheffield, so you can’t rule out the possibility that it’s just Northern services calling.

 

[johnnychips]

Northern also serve both Leeds and York though on routes out of Sheffield, so you can’t rule out the possibility that it’s just Northern services calling.

But surely only Cross Country could improve the Leeds journey time by 30 minutes, which implies it’s on the Masbrough line, on the other side of Parkgate from the tram train halt.

 

[Iskra]

But surely only Cross Country could improve the Leeds journey time by 30 minutes, which implies it’s on the Masbrough line, on the other side of Parkgate from the tram train halt.

No, if you compared currently travelling from Rotherham Central to Meadowhall or Sheffield for a connection onto a Leeds/York train, a local train stopping at the new Rotherham station would probably deliver the advertised journey reductions.

 

[eastwestdivide]

There's also a plan/map at:

News: New images show how £100m "Rotherham Gateway" mainline station could look

Visit Rothbiz for the latest news on businesses, commercial property, regeneration, key developments and the economy in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, UK

www.rothbiz.co.uk

which shows the site is by the canal basin/turning area (pretty much the former Rotherham Road station site on the GC line), with platforms on both the main line and the R Central line.

 

[py_megapixel]

Rotherham Gateway Station, incorporating both rail and Tram Train services, will be based at Parkgate, and will reintroduce mainline trains to Rotherham for the first time since the 1980s.

Perhaps I'm being stupid, but what is this sentence supposed to mean?

There's already a station at Parkgate... it's called Rotherham Parkgate! Although it's only served by the tram-train and not the mainline trains. (But Rotherham Central is served by mainline trains today and has been continuously since 1987, so it's odd to claim they're reintroducing them for the first time since the 1980s)

Rotherham Gateway is the name of a section of the A630 between Sheffield and Rotherham. It's not even really in Rotherham and it's certainly not at Parkgate. But a cursory look at the map suggests there is conveniently an empty field where it crosses the line from Sheffield to Derby - which could perhaps be considered more "mainline" than Rotherham Central given it carries the long-distance trains towards London and Birmingham.

So where exactly are they envisaging putting this station?

 

[yorkie]

The typical journey time from Rotherham to York, once per hour for most of the day, is between 58min and 1hr 13min, with a change at Doncaster.

There are a few direct trains taking 1hr 7min.

Therefore, if we are generous, we can take their claim to be around the 70 minute mark, so a 40 minute journey time, which would suggest either a reinstatement of regular XC services via Doncaster (with an additional call at Rotherham Gateway) or possibly a new fast Northern service, which is very limited stop between Sheffield and York (perhaps only calling at Meadowhall, Rotherham Gateway, Pontefract Monkhill and maybe one other station).

The latter would be very welcome, but I am not going to hold up any hopes of that happening. The former is perhaps more likely.

Perhaps I'm being stupid, but what is this sentence supposed to mean?

It's a generic sentence by a journalist with little knowledge, who didn't have time to get it proofread by someone who understands the topic

...There's already a station at Parkgate... it's called Rotherham Parkgate! Although it's only served by the tram-train and not the mainline trains. (But Rotherham Central is served by mainline trains today and has been continuously since 1987, so it's odd to claim they're reintroducing them for the first time since the 1980s)

I think their point is that Rotherham Central is not on the "mainline", i.e. it's a backwater, which short-formed Northern services divert via, to allow faster TPE/XC trains to overtake, the latter of which are deemed to be "mainline" services.

 

[Nottingham59]

So where exactly are they envisaging putting this station?

The diagram in the article shows the station between the two lines, with platforms on both. Sitated between roads Forge Way and Mangam Way.

So here:

 

[duffield]

Based on the plans, calling it "at Parkgate" is a bit of a stretch; it's nearly half a mile away from where I would put the actual centre of Parkgate shopping centre, and about the same distance from the Parkgate tram-train stop. I'm not sure it will be very convenient for people getting off the mainline services wanting the shopping centre. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding its intent (I'm not saying that that's it's main purpose, but billing it as "at Parkgate" does sort of imply it's *a* purpose).

 

[MCR247]

Is there that much demand for XC services to stop there? XC always seem keen to drop station calls where they can, such as with Chesterfield and Basingstoke(?)

 

[Bevan Price]

I didn’t think that the ‘local’ services (Dearne Valley and Adwick) pass through Masborough.

The proposed new station is at Parkgate, not Masborough, according to the link above.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

possibly a new fast Northern service, which is very limited stop between Sheffield and York (perhaps only calling at Meadowhall, Rotherham Gateway, Pontefract Monkhill and maybe one other station).

Presumably you meant Baghill rather than Monkhill here?

I'd be adding a call at Moorthorpe too. The Moorthorpe/South Elmsall area has a fair bit of potential, and is the boundary station for South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire.

 

[johntea]

Perhaps I'm being thick but despite it claiming to cut journey times by about 30 minutes the proposed location in relation to what I consider 'Rotherham Town Centre' is around a mile on foot so that'll take an average walk of around 20 minutes so the benefit is perhaps not that great depending on where in Rotherham you want to be

Although I dread to imagine what a typical town centre is going to look like by 2031, most are bad enough already in 2025!

 

[Grimsby town]

The diagram in the article shows the station between the two lines, with platforms on both. Sitated between roads Forge Way and Mangam Way.

So here:
View attachment 173980

Yes that's the correct location.

Based on the plans, calling it "at Parkgate" is a bit of a stretch; it's nearly half a mile away from where I would put the actual centre of Parkgate shopping centre, and about the same distance from the Parkgate tram-train stop. I'm not sure it will be very convenient for people getting off the mainline services wanting the shopping centre. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding its intent (I'm not saying that that's it's main purpose, but billing it as "at Parkgate" does sort of imply it's *a* purpose).

The purpose isn't to serve Parkgate and it won't be called Parkgate. It will be served by a new tram-train station with tram-train services carrying on to the existing Parkgate tram stop. The stations aim is to provide better long distance services for Rotherham that are connected to the tram network. Previous rail strategies have called for Rotherham Central to only be served by tram-train services that continue on to Doncaster. I imagine that is still the long term plan.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

One wonders whether the tram-train could be diverted to the new Gateway station instead of Parkgate by a new short connecting link to the Midland line? A five minute walk doesn't sound like a convenient interchange to me in the current plans.

The tram could then continue alongside the Midland line to a new Parkgate station on the other side of the shopping centre.

 

[Dr Day]

One would think any new station would only get through the various planning and funding hoops on the basis of at least one existing or otherwise committed service calling there.

Hence concerning that 18 posts in there is still considerable speculation on everything from trams to intercity services calling there.

But unfortunately the fragmentation of the industry with those funding new stations often several organisations removed from those actually timetabling and operating rail services means this does seem to happen regularly enough.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Is it fair to suggest that calling stations "X Gateway" is the new "X Parkway"? Or even the new "X Road" to be used when the station is nowhere near "X"?

 

[Grimsby town]

One wonders whether the tram-train could be diverted to the new Gateway station instead of Parkgate by a new short connecting link to the Midland line? A five minute walk doesn't sound like a convenient interchange to me in the current plans.

The tram could then continue alongside the Midland line to a new Parkgate station on the other side of the shopping centre.

That was under consideration at one point but has clearly been rejected. There's a 130 metres between the lines at the shortest point which translates into around a 90 second walk for an average person. If you are travelling from the far end of one platform to the far end of another platform it could take 5 minutes but that's no different to a tram interchange at Piccadilly or New Street. Diverting the tram-train would be very costly for very little benefit.

One would think any new station would only get through the various planning and funding hoops on the basis of at least one existing or otherwise committed service calling there.

Hence concerning that 18 posts in there is still considerable speculation on everything from trams to intercity services calling there.

But unfortunately the fragmentation of the industry with those funding new stations often several organisations removed from those actually timetabling and operating rail services means this does seem to happen regularly enough.

It won't get through planning loops without and idea of what trains will stop there. The business case hasn't been completed yet so the services aren't currently public knowledge but the service pattern will be being considered.

My (somewhat educated) guess will be that it'll be served by Northern's new fast service between Leeds and Sheffield and Crosscountry services initially. I don't think TPE will stop there regularly because of the Meadowhall stop. Eventually the Leeds stopper will be diverted away from Rotherham Central to stop at this new station too.

 

[eastwestdivide]

I suppose there's also the option of serving the new station by diverting the existing services from Central. Plus side: reduced conflicts at Aldwarke and Holmes. Minus side: a lot of those services are currently overtaken while doing the loop through Central.

 

[Falcon1200]

I suppose there's also the option of serving the new station by diverting the existing services from Central.

Was the whole point of replacing Masborough with Central the fact that the latter is far better placed for the town centre? Not sure diverting trains away from Central to an even more distant station would go down well!

 

[eastwestdivide]

Was the whole point of replacing Masborough with Central the fact that the latter is far better placed for the town centre? Not sure diverting trains away from Central to an even more distant station would go down well!

Agree. But with another station, and improved connectivity from the old one to the new via the tram, it's an option, although not an especially attractive one.

 

[YorksLad12]

One wonders whether the tram-train could be diverted to the new Gateway station instead of Parkgate by a new short connecting link to the Midland line? A five minute walk doesn't sound like a convenient interchange to me in the current plans.

The tram could then continue alongside the Midland line to a new Parkgate station on the other side of the shopping centre.

Tram train will (I was told) call at Rotherham Central, the new station and Rotherham Parkgate. An additional stop between the two existing stops. From there you can transfer to the other side of the new station for trains elsewhere. A bit like Meadowhall... except that trains stop at Meadowhall, and no-one has committed to stopping at this new station yet, that I'm aware of.

I don't think XC will call there; TPE might have their arms twisted. Northern's new fast service could reasonable call there. The stopping services run via Central to allow the fast services to overtake. The idea for it came as a stop on the HS2 route!

 

[edwin_m]

Was the whole point of replacing Masborough with Central the fact that the latter is far better placed for the town centre? Not sure diverting trains away from Central to an even more distant station would go down well!

I think it was at least partly to get the slower trains off the main line so faster ones could overtake.

 

[Peterthegreat]

I think it was at least partly to get the slower trains off the main line so faster ones could overtake.

Nope not at all. Central was built because Masborough was so far from the town centre. The number of passengers soared once Central opened. And in those days (mid 80s) services were not as frequent as trains to Hull and Cleethorpes ran via Central and the only services that initially remained running via Masborough were cross-country together with the odd Leeds to St Pancras.

 

[JD2168]

Ones I can see stopping at this station are:
Local Northern stopping services
Sheffield to Scarborough Northern service
TPE Liverpool to Cleethorpes
Tram Train

 

[stevieinselby]

No, if you compared currently travelling from Rotherham Central to Meadowhall or Sheffield for a connection onto a Leeds/York train, a local train stopping at the new Rotherham station would probably deliver the advertised journey reductions.

Rotherham Central already has an hourly Northern service to Leeds, taking a shade over an hour.
The faster Northern services between Sheffield and Leeds don't run through Rotherham (Central or Masborough) but go up through Barnsley.
But XC services do take just over 30 minutes from Masborough Junction to Leeds, so if they did call at Rotherham Parkway that would cut the journey time down from just over an hour (on Northern) to just over half an hour.

 

[Ben427]

One of the articles I read, mentioned shorter journey times to Leeds and York by 30 and 35 mins respectively, so maybe XC trains will be stopping there. And if XC will be stopping, then TPE services will probably stop there too.

Also, from a map I saw of the project, it's going to be a 5/7 min walk between the mainline platforms and the tram train platform

Rotherham to Leeds is an hour, so to get it down to 30 minutes will require the mystical NPR interventions. Somehow I'm not convinced as looking at the maximum speeds on the line much of it is at 100mph already