Friends of Dore and Totley Station(FoDaTS)
Station History

FoDaTs HomeDore DeparturesActivities |  History |  FacilitesNew CanopyNew PlatformFranchisesDevelopmentsHV CapacityCommitteeVisitor InfoTravel InfoNewsletterHope Valley 125StatsTrips

Station History

Dore and Totley StationDore and Totley (D&T) station was opened by the Midland Railway.  Initially for passengers only in 1872, on the then two-year-old Midland Main Line extension from Chesterfield to Sheffield, and was initially served by the local services on this line. There was three additional stations on the line into Sheffield at Beauchief, “Millhouses and Ecclesall” and Heeley.  The image on the left is of D&T station looking South towards Dronfield and Chesterfield pre 1902[1].  The station was served by six or seven weekday trains and three on Sundays.

In 1894 the station became the junction for the new Dore and Chinley line (now the Hope Valley Line). D&T Station Junction was at the south end of the station and the signal box stood in the angle between the Chesterfield and Chinley lines.  The image on the left is of D&T station looking north towards Sheffield[1] circa 1900.

Between 1901 and 1902, the line between Sheffield station and Dore was widened; the original twin tracks continued to be used by traffic for the Dore and Chinley line and two new tracks were built to the east of this for traffic on the main line to Chesterfield. The original southbound platform was converted to an island platform and a new platform for trains to Chesterfield built to the east. The line from Chesterfield was slewed into its present course to serve the new platforms. A new D&T Station Junction was made to the north of the station.  The image on the left is of D&T station looking towards Sheffield, with the Hope Valley line on the left and Dronfield to the right[1].

On 9 October 1907, a Sheffield to Birmingham and Bristol express train ran foul of the points at the station. One of the locomotives hit the platform and overturned. The driver and the second man were thrown from the cab but survived, and the passenger coaches fortunately stayed upright with no passengers injured.Dore and Totley 4 Tracks

The image on the left shows D&T station when it was a 4 platform station[1].

Station_Sign_300D&T became South Sheffields only remaining station after the Beeching cuts in the 1960s which saw Beauchief, Millhouses and Heeley stations all close. The station was closed to main line traffic and became an unstaffed halt in 1969. It was renamed Dore on the 18th March 1971. Subsequently, the island and eastern platforms were demolished in the 1980s. Mainline services from the South therefore can no longer stop at the station and the Hope Valley Line now runs single-track (it was singled in March 1985) through the station, with trains in both directions stopping at the one remaining platform.
The name Dore and Totley was restored in April 2008 when the station received new Northern-branded running in boards.

Park&Ride_300In 2011 SYPTE acquired the garden centre situated next to the station.  The building was knocked down and a Park and Ride facility provided for the station on the land. This was opened in April 2013.

IMG_20190505_173531287300_1In 2019 A canopy was added to the platform side of the Station Building.  This has provided additional shelter to the passengers waiting for their service.

 

Network Rail are progressing proposals to add an additional track on the Hope Valley line. This together with a second platform and a bridge between the platforms is part of the Hope Valley Capacity scheme to provide additional capacity on the Hope Valley line.. Work is planned between 2021 and September 2023.  The main aims of the scheme are to:-

  • Enable faster passenger services to overtake slow moving freight trains
  • Provide capacity for three fast trains per hour, instead of two, between Manchester and Sheffield.
  • Provide an hourly local stopping service, instead of one every two hours, on the Hope Valley line.
  • provide for 6 car trains to stop at the station

Rail services from three franchises currently(May 2021) provide services which call at D&T. Northern provide the local service between Sheffield and Manchester usually stopping at most of the stations in the Hope Valley and some of the stations in Greater Manchester.  TransPennine Express provides a service between Liverpool Lime Street and Cleethorpes.  East Midlands trains provides a service between Liverpool Lime Street and Norwich/Nottingham.

[1] Images by courtesy of the Pendragon Publishing Collection. 
www.PendragonPublishing.co.uk