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Traders back calls to use Victoria for new station
On right track: Campaigners Iltaf Hussain, Coun Shaffaq Mohammed, Ellie Bennett, Youssef Toumiat from La Perle Patisserie, Coun Colin Ross ,Coun Ian Auckland.
BRING high-speed rail to Sheffield city centre is the call from a group of businesses and politicians.
Details of the proposed route for the line north from Birmingham to Sheffield and Leeds have not yet been revealed, but campaigners are urging ministers to look at using the old Victoria Station site above the Wicker arches.
They say tracks could be built in a straight line into and out of the city centre - vital for high speeds - and partially using existing trackbeds which would mean less disruption than building a new route.
Wicker firms and opposition Liberal Democrat members of Sheffield Council believe a route using the old Victoria Station, which closed in 1970, would ‘regenerate the area and maximise economic benefits to the city centre’.
Other ideas include a station in the lower Don Valley, but campaigners say it would mean many passengers having further to travel to catch trains, reducing the time saving from the high-speed line.
Ellie Bennett, from Wicker Chemist, said: “This is a great idea both for the Wicker area and Sheffield as a whole.
“We have to plan for the future to ensure the city centre will thrive in the years to come and a high-speed rail link would bring business and prosperity to Sheffield.”
Coun Shaffaq Mohammed, Liberal Democrat group leader on the council, said: “We believe the new station should be located as close to the city centre as possible. The Victoria site would be perfect.
“Locating the station somewhere like Meadowhall would see passengers travel four miles out of the city, therefore the improved journey time to London would be negated.
“As well as maximising the economic benefit for Sheffield and the region, having the station in this area would provide an opportunity for much-needed regeneration.”
The Lib Dems are proposing a motion at Wednesday’s full council meeting calling for the council to throw its weight behind a campaign to use the Victoria site.
Ruling Labour councillors have also voiced interest in the Victoria Station idea.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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Comments
There are 13 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
Old Bean
Monday, January 30, 2012 at 01:40 PMIf the HS2 station were at Meadowhall, you could have a shuttle train to Midland station and Rotherham and other nearby towns Midland station has no room to expand unless you add a lower level like some continental stations have. Reviving Victoria would be great if you reopen the Woodhead line to Manchester. Wherever the station is you probably need a shuttle boss to the city centre.
Charlie Farleigh
Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 11:37 PMSurely the headline should read.. 'Traders and failed Councilorrrrs' back calls to use Victoria!!
kal77uk
Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 11:05 PMWaste of money. Sheffield needs less people not high speed rail so more "immigrants" and "foreigners" come in. Cities like London and Birmingham have an international flavour to them so they need high speed rail to promote trade especially with non-UK people. Sheffield is a white man's backwater town.
S10mike
Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 10:57 PMA station on the outskirts of town ie: Tinsley or Meadowhall will bring no benefit to Sheffield whatsoever - we need a Station in the City Centre and Victoria looks the best option given the existing infrastructure. A 'parkway' near Meadowhall might benefit Wincobank and Brightside but absolutely nobody in the rest of town as the travel time to Meadowhall would mean that it would be quicker to catch a train to Birmingham, Leeds or London from Sheffield Midland. For an example, look at East Midlands Parkway station, built in an out-of-town location and aimed as a park and ride high speed link from Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to London and Midlands Cities - it is a very poorly used station in the wrong location and relies on cheap bus connections to get passengers through the doors. Victoria station, of course, would also be a hub for regeneration of Spital Hill, Wicker, Savile Street and the surrounding areas too.
brianthegiant
Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 10:04 PMHS2 will be good for South Yorkshire, and potentially allow direct trains to Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, etc. But have these councillors and traders taken the trouble to do the most elementary research on what is needed?? The trains will be twice as long as anything that stops at existing Sheffield station, in the future there may also be double deck trains, thats a thousand passengers to disperse from each train arrival. If you look at what's proposed for Birmingham international and city centre stations, we're talking a lot bigger than the old Sheffield victoria station. Don't forget car parking, extra bus stops, large taxi rank, etc. Realistically the existing Sheffield station wont be large enough to cope, and the nearest suitable location for the new station will likely be somewhere in the Don valley or near Meadowhall.
Sheffielderinthesouth
Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 05:58 PMIf they were to use this site they would have to look at what they have done in London and consider a large amount of tunelling. If they dont they are going to have to spend millions on CPO'S, bridges, and round routes just to try and get the tracks coming into and out of Sheffield in the right direction. I am a great supporter of HS2, especially as in the long run it will benefit our city but as I currently live in Buckinghamshire where HS2 will be cutting through the opposition is immense - always interesting to see the reasons for and against a project and while I do believe it will be expensive I think it is absolutely vital for us as a city to get this link.
ghost rider
Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 05:43 PMHow could the old victoria station possibly be used .Its on the top of a viaduct going east to west and vice versa still carrying the stocksbridge freight branch.As i understand it the line has to be straight and is heading north not west.Are we going to demolish half of sheffield to accomodate this.Its surely got to follow the route of the m1 to keep costs down and disruption to a minimum, meaning the nearest station would probably be somewhere near catcliffe.The payout inolved in compulsory purchases would be astronomical.Railway stations were never in the ideal places they were put where it was the easiest with minimum civil engineering needed.
astrologer
Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 02:22 PMGreat! But also bring back the Woodhead route to Manchester!
seenitall
Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 01:02 PMSurely,the real argument is less about using the demolished station but rather using parts of the last UK mainline to be built and first to be shut ( sounds a bit like Sheffield Airport) for HS2. Sheffield Victoria is not in the centre of the City but, then again, nor is the old Midland station. One proposal I have seen is that a "Parkway" type station should be built....which might be at Beighton. The only logic I can see for using Victoria would be if the Woodhead route ( once electrified but short sightedly closed) was used to link with Manchester.It's less Lib-Dem opportunism but rather more "outside the box thinking".
Ukip
Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 12:46 PMI can't understand why the Victoria station was shut down in the first place. I have found that the better thoughts I have, the safer I feel where ever I go, it is all in the mind.
kayte
Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 12:31 PMThe area around the Wicker and Markets is 'no-go' as far as I'm concerned. I don't feel safe there! A friend refers to it as the 'badlands'. If there is serious intent to upgrade this area something needs to be done about the drunks and 'Jeremy Kyle guest' types who frequent it.
Observer3
Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 12:20 PMThis seems like a piece of oportunism by the LDs. Since when has the The Wicker been in the centre of the city?
mjb66
Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 12:09 PMSounds a very good idea for the future of our city, lets hope the government will see sense in this project.
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