Sheffield and Midland Joint Section This section was built by the
Sheffield and Midland Railway Companies' Committee as part of the
Midland Railway's drive to reach Manchester with its line from
London via and . Initially, in 1867, it joined the
Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway at
Hyde Junction, running into
Manchester London Road, but in 1875 a more direct route was built through . When was opened by the
Cheshire Lines Committee, a new line was built through . This third route was closed along with Manchester Central, apart from the section through
Disley Tunnel to , where it now joins the old
LNWR line into .
Dore and Chinley In 1872, the Midland Railway's only route from Sheffield to Manchester was via Ambergate. It had originally proposed a line to run from Dore to
Hassop, meeting its extension from
Rowsley to . However, the "" was floated independently in 1872 and, unsuccessfully, until the Midland took an interest, since it would provide a more direct route, connecting through Chinley into Manchester. The line was authorised by the '''''' (
47 & 48 Vict. c. clxxxi) and work began in 1888. The line took five years to build, opening to goods traffic in November 1893, with passenger traffic being carried from June 1894. The terrain through
Hope Valley and the
Vale of Edale was easy enough by Midland standards, but at each end there were formidable obstacles, negotiated by means of the
Totley and
Cowburn Tunnels.
20th century At the time of the
Beeching review, the line was running in competition with the recently modernised and faster
Woodhead Line and its closure was suggested. On appeal, British Rail was required to keep the Hope Valley Line open to passenger traffic; it was decided that the
Woodhead route would be closed to passenger traffic instead and then subsequently to all traffic in 1981, due to the high cost of further upgrading the line to modern standards.
Metrolink proposals In the early 1980s, proposals were put forward to convert the Piccadilly–Belle Vue–Rose Hill/Marple section of the Hope Valley Line to light rail operation for the proposed
Manchester Metrolink system. While construction of Metrolink went ahead, the Hope Valley Line was not included in the system which was completed in 1992. When in 2000, proposals for a large-scale extension of Metrolink were announced by the government, these still did not include conversion of the Hope Valley Line; but, subsequently, planning documents from
Network Rail and from the
Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority have suggested that this route might be appropriate for
tram-train operation, and, as such, it was suggested to the
Department for Transport as a possible location for a national tram-train pilot.
2019 closure On 1 August 2019, the line was closed between Marple and Sheffield amid fears that the dam at
Toddbrook Reservoir would collapse, following heavy rain, which would flood the town of
Whaley Bridge. The
Buxton line, between Hazel Grove and Buxton, was also closed because of this. The line was re-opened on 7 August 2019. ==21st century upgrades==