Rotherham Central railway station

Rotherham Central
Rotherham Central in 2014
Location
Place	Rotherham
Local authority	Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham
Coordinates	53°25′56″N 1°21′38″W / 53.4322°N 1.3605°W / 53.4322; -1.3605Coordinates: 53°25′56″N 1°21′38″W / 53.4322°N 1.3605°W / 53.4322; -1.3605
Grid reference	SK425930
Operations
Station code	RMC
Managed by	Northern
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	E
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2011/12	0.655 million
2012/13	0.712 million
2013/14	0.667 million
2014/15	0.718 million
2015/16	0.690 million
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	Travel South Yorkshire
Zone	Rotherham
History
1 August 1868	Temporary station opened (terminus of line from Tinsley)
3 April 1871	Line to Mexborough opened
1 February 1874	Permanent station opened as Rotherham Central
January 1889	Renamed Rotherham and Masborough
25 September 1950	Renamed Rotherham Central
5 September 1966	Closed
11 May 1987	Re-opened
2012	Renovated
National Rail – UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Rotherham Central from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

Rotherham Central railway station is in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The station was originally named "Rotherham", becoming "Rotherham and Masborough" in January 1889 and finally "Rotherham Central" on 25 September 1950. (The town's other station was at one time known as "Masbrough and Rotherham".)

Rotherham Central is the only railway station in Rotherham since the closure of Rotherham Masborough, in 1988. However, it has retained its "Central" suffix, like Lincoln Central railway station.

This is the fourth station to be built, within the town centre, on the line from Sheffield Victoria. The first, a single platform terminus was built on what became the coal yard by the South Yorkshire Railway. Today this approximates to the land off Brinsworth Street below the bridge which carries the Inner Relief Road over the railway. The S.Y.R. could not gain permission to pass below the already built line of the Sheffield and Rotherham Railway, opened in 1838. A few years later and following amalgamation into the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, a scheme was developed to fill the South Yorkshire Navigation, a canal already owned by that railway company and divert its course into the nearby River Don. As the Navigation already passed below the Sheffield and Rotherham line this would solve the problem, although until recent years the line was prone to flooding. The S.Y.R. already had a single line from Mexborough, on its Barnsley to Doncaster line, towards Rotherham, running alongside the canal but only as far as the pottery and brickworks at Kilnhurst, leaving a gap of almost 4 miles (6 km) between. When the through line was completed a new, although temporary Rotherham station was built in the cut with access from the road above named "Amen Corner". This served the town from 1 August 1868. The line between Rotherham and Mexborough opened for goods traffic on 13 March 1871; passenger services began on 3 April 1871 but these continued to use the temporary station until the permanent Rotherham Central station was opened on 1 February 1874. This was an elongated affair with staggered platforms and a large stone main building opposite the "Statutes Fair Ground", with access from both Main Street, at the Sheffield end, and College Road, at the Doncaster end. In January 1889 this station was renamed Rotherham and Masborough. This station came under the ownership of the Great Central Railway (GCR) when the M.S.& L.R. changed its name on completion of its extension to London (Marylebone station), in 1899. The station was served by Sheffield Victoria - Doncaster local trains and others ranging from the north east to the south coast, the Great Central Railway being involved in many operations jointly with other companies. The GCR amalgamated with other railways to form the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at the start of 1923; the LNER was itself nationalised at the start of 1948, becoming part of the newly formed British Railways (BR). Following this, Rotherham and Masborough was renamed Rotherham Central on 25 September 1950. Its last main line train, a throw-back to these pre-First World War One joint operations, being the Newcastle to Bournemouth express. This station was closed on 5 September 1966 and soon demolished.