The station was opened by the
Midland Railway, for passengers only, as
Dore and Totley on 1 February 1872 (at a building cost of £1,517 and £450 for of land) 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. The station was then 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). Dore & Totley Station Junction was at the south end of the station and the signal box stood in the angle between the Chesterfield and Chinley lines. 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 Dore Station Junction was made to the north of the station. 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 became south Sheffield's only remaining station after the
Beeching cuts in the 1960s saw , and stations all close. The station was closed to main line traffic and became an unstaffed halt in 1969. It was renamed
Dore on 18 March 1971. The strategy included proposals to address the problem by re-doubling the track and building a second platform (subject to funding being obtained).
South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive had also been lobbying for this problem to be addressed (as noted in its 2006 Rail Strategy document). The station site had previously been occupied by the Walk Mill; a water-powered mill in operation from the 1280s onwards was used by the monks of
Beauchief Abbey to cleanse and thicken cloth. The name
Dore & Totley was restored in April 2008 when the station received new
Northern Rail-branded running in boards. Plans to double the size of the station by 2014 were delayed. An additional platform and new
Disability Discrimination Act 1995-compliant footbridge were to be provided. Construction work began in December 2012 on a new 129-space car-park, which was completed in April 2013. Network Rail's Hope Valley Capacity Scheme included plans to restore the second platform at Dore & Totley. Plans included a new bridge with passenger lifts and a shelter on the single sided island platform for Manchester bound trains. This plan is spun out of the original Manchester Hub scheme, now renamed the Northern Hub, incorporating two freight passing loops to be constructed east of Bamford and at Dore South. Once completed an hourly stopping service was hoped to be provided (as stated in the new 2016 Northern franchise agreement), and platforms should be long enough to accommodate 6 car trains, now running on TPE fast services. The
Secretary of State for Transport approved the Capacity Scheme in February 2018 and Network Rail received tenders for a Design and Build contract that they hoped to have confirmed by the Department for Transport before the end of 2020 when the contract could then be let. A joint venture of Story and VolkerRail were awarded this contract in February 2021. Construction started in early 2022 with an intention to have it complete by autumn 2023. In January 2023 Network Rail announced that completion was now expected to be by spring 2024 and the cost had risen to £145 million. In May 2019, a canopy was added to the 1872 station building. On 8 April 2024 a new platform was opened at the station. By late 2024, all of the planned work had been completed and the station was served by two lines and had two platforms.
Station masters At the Eckington Petty Session on 25 November 1878, stationmaster Francis Wood was charged with embezzling money belonging to the Midland Railway company amounting to 1s. 1/2d. The railway company had auditors who travelled beyond the validity of their ticket and then paid the station master an excess fare. He appeared at the Derby Quarter Sessions on 2 January 1879. The jury found him not guilty, and he was discharged. ==Facilities==