The Feasibility Study, undertaken by specialist consultants Arup, looked at the engineering viability of a commuter service on the route and looked at the viability of the project from previous studies. This engineering feasibility study has shown that: • Reopening the Stocksbridge to Sheffield route to passenger rail traffic is feasible in engineering terms. • The Network Rail owned section from Deepcar to Victoria appears to be in good condition and suitable for the introduction of a DMU shuttle. • The station sites at Deepcar and Victoria appear suitable for the modest station layouts described. • The capital cost for infrastructure is estimated at £4.3m; the annual running costs are estimated at £1.8m. Arup recommended that further study is conducted into the following areas in particular: operational arrangements; type and cost of rolling stock; station layout arrangements;
track gauge and weight restrictions; sources of funding and patronage estimates. The study can be found on the Don Valley Railway's website.
Business plan Following the Feasibility Study Don Valley Railway are in the process of developing a business plan to operate passenger services on the route. In order to reduce the infrastructure costs to a minimum, the most viable introductory service is a non-stop shuttle between a station at Stocksbridge or Deepcar and a station in Sheffield, at or close to the site of the old Sheffield Victoria Station. This would serve these two stations only with a half-hourly service. With the route being a single track with no places where it is possible for trains to pass, this service pattern allows a half-hourly service to operate on the route without the need to build extra track. This would also link a station in Deepcar or Stocksbridge with Sheffield in a service that takes only 11 minutes for the 9 mile trip.
Proposed stations train approaching the former station At various times numerous station locations have been considered along the route: •
Manchester (new track) •
Penistone (new track) •
Oxspring (new track) •
Thurgoland (new track) •
Stocksbridge •
Deepcar (reopened old station) •
Wharncliffe Side •
Oughtibridge (reopened old station, formerly known as Oughty Bridge) •
Wadsley Bridge (reopened old station) • Hillsborough and Owlerton (Proposed station to serve the Sheffield College Hillsborough Campus and the districts of
Hillsborough and
Owlerton) •
Sheffield (former) ski village • Sheffield (former
Victoria Station site) • Sheffield (Nunnery Square) • Meadowhall (Lower Don Valley - new station to serve part of the
Lower Don Valley area of Sheffield and link into the
Sheffield Supertram) •
Darnall (extended service - to interchange with train services on the
Sheffield to Lincoln Line) •
Woodhouse (extended service) •
Orgreave (extended service) • The
Advanced Manufacturing Park (extended service) •
Retford (extended service) •
Chesterfield (extended service) It is hoped that some of these can be incorporated into the planned services.
Parry People Movers Extrapolated figures from work done in 2006 to evaluate the viability of the rail service on the Don Valley Line by Arup for South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive found that although the level of subsidy per passenger would be less than the average on current (2006) supported services, that the additional subsidy would not be available. Therefore, in order to introduce a viable service Don Valley Railway considered other methods for operating the service than via a standard National Rail franchised services model. Don Valley Railway therefore considered utilising Ultra Light Rail Rapid Transit for the passenger service as operated by
Parry People Movers. The West Midlands-based company has pioneered this technology on the UK rail network with the Stourbridge Town to Stourbridge Junction service. It is hoped that an adaption of this can be brought in on the Don Valley Railway.
Extending the service The business plan sets out options for expanding beyond the basic service and looks at other options for utilisation of the line. Stations at Oughtibridge, Wadsley Bridge and Neepsend are considered in the business plan along with the link to Supertram at Nunnery. The business plan also considers operating to the east to bring in a cross-city service to serve Darnall, the Advanced Manufacturing Park, Orgreave and Woodhouse.
Leisure Originally, at weekends and holidays Don Valley Railway ltd. planned to operate the Don Valley Railway line as a
double tracked
heritage railway, with Preserved Steam, Diesel and Electric trains running along the route between
Sheffield City Centre and
Deepcar. In addition they hope to establish a
living museum in Stocksbridge, which will be centred on the history of
steel making in the valley and provide a local
visitor attraction. However now the focus is on finding Heritage Rail partners to operate services up the line. As part of this it is proposed to rejuvenate old stations along the route to receive trains from mainline heritage operators. ==References==