Sheffield to Manchester: Trains face disruption starting this weekend while Dore & Totley upgrades pull in

Passengers planning trips from Sheffield to Manchester this weekend have been warned parts of the line will be closed.

Sections of the railway line between Manchester and Sheffield will be closed from Saturday, March 16 to Sunday, March 24, as works are carried out to complete the final phase of the Hope Valley Railway Upgrade.

The upgrade, which has been underway for over a year, is intended to free up the “bottleneck” around Dore & Totley and Grindleford station and make traveling between Sheffield and Manchester through the Peak District easier.

This work will also affect Sheffield station, with a much smaller number of platforms available only for longer-distance trains to use.

A revised timetable between Liverpool Lime Street and Cleethorpes will be in place starting this weekend until it is finished, and some trains between Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield will be diverted.

There will also be an extra Transpennine Express service per hour between Manchester Oxford Road and Liverpool Lime Street, with rail replacement buses where trains cannot run.

Passengers travelling from, to or through Sheffield should also check before they travel.

Here is how the upgrade works at Dore & Totley are set to change the platform when they are finished:

• Upgrades include new tracks and drainage work in the Dore & Totley area, which Network Rail says will double the number of tracks in and out of the station to the east, whilst work on a new track in Grindleford will also be finalised.

• Work will take place to complete a new, second platform at Dore & Totley station, which will be linked to the existing platform by an accessible footbridge with lifts once completed.

• Meanwhile, the existing Dore & Totley platform has been extended to accommodate longer trains and therefore more passengers.

• The current platform at Dore & Totley station will become Platform 2, whilst the new, Manchester-bound platform will become Platform 1. This is to align the new platforms with other stations on the Hope Valley line.

• New signaling equipment

Ben Shaw, sponsor for the Hope Valley Railway Upgrade, said: “The Hope Valley project team will be working around the clock to deliver this final stage of upgrades. We thank passengers and residents for their patience during the upgrade work. 

“We’re looking forward to bringing passengers a faster, more reliable, accessible railway between Manchester and Sheffield and would like to thank customers for their patience.” 

Kerry Peters, Regional Director for Northern, said: “I’d like to thank our customers for their patience whilst we put the finishing touches on the brand new second platform at Dore & Totley. The second platform and track through the station will bring much-needed improvements, providing for extra capacity in the future with better train speeds and enhanced reliability on this key section of our route”.

Passengers are urged to check before they travel as these works mean services will be affected across the Hope Valley line and in the Sheffield area, and some trains may be replaced by buses: 

• CrossCountry Trains – Trains between Scotland and the South West are diverted between Sheffield and Chesterfield extending journeys by 10 minutes.  

• East Midlands Railway: Rail replacement buses to run between Sheffield and Stockport. Trains between Sheffield and London diverted with journey times extended by 20 minutes  

• Northern: Trains will run between Manchester Piccadilly and New Mills Central. Rail replacement buses will operate between New Mills Central (via New Mills Newtown for passengers requiring step free access) and Sheffield. Buses replace trains Moorthorpe – York via Pontefract Monkhill, Gainsborough Lea Road – Cleethorpes and Sheffield – Chesterfield. Some further early morning and late night services in the Sheffield area will also be replaced by buses.  

• TransPennine Express: Some trains will run between Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield via Huddersfield as well as replacement buses Manchester Piccadilly – Sheffield. An additional rail replacement bus will call at Dore & Totley mid-week at peak time. 

• Network Rail is also advising passengers about work to rebuild a bridge in Edale, Derbyshire between 27 April and 1 May 2024. Buses will replace trains for journeys between Manchester and Sheffield during this time. Please check www.nationalrailenquiries.co.uk or with your train operator before travelling.