SHEFFIELD Midland station celebrated its 150thanniversary on January 31, when East MidlandsRailway laid on a morning of celebrations on the main concourse. The station was the last to open in the city centre but, with the closure of the others decades ago, it has been in use for the longest.
The city’s first station was built at Wicker in 1838 by the Sheffield & Rotherham Railway (later part of the Midland Railway). The line ran to Rotherham Westgate, but from 1840 gave the North Midland Railway (which also became part of the Midland Railway) access to Sheffield via the ‘Old Road’ from Chesterfield and a reversal at Rotherham Masborough. Wicker closed to passengers with the opening of Sheffield Midland, but remained in use for goods traffic until 1965.
Wicker was followed in 1845 by Bridgehouses as the terminus of the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway (via Woodhead), and a connection from Wicker was added in 1847. Bridgehouses closed as a passenger station when the line was extended through to Victoria in 1851 following the formation of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (later the Great Central Railway), but it remained open for freight until 1965, while Victoria closed to passengers in January 1970.
Sheffield Midland (initially Pond Street and today just Sheffield) was built as part of the Midland Railway’s ‘New Road’ direct to Sheffield from Chesterfield via Dore, which had been avoided initially as it involves some testing gradients up to 1-in-100 that were beyond the capabilities of early locomotives. The ‘New Road’ officially opened to traffic on February 1, 1870, running through Midland station to join up with the former Sheffield & Rotherham line for access to the north at Masborough.
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