Woodhead Line

Woodhead line
Class 76 locos, about to enter Woodhead Tunnel in 1981 under British Rail.
Overview
Type	Main line
System	National Rail Network
Status	Partially open
Locale	South Yorkshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and Lancashire
Termini	Sheffield: Rotherwood Sidings / Wath Manchester: London Road (1845–1960) Piccadilly (1960–70)
Services	3
Operation
Opened	1845
Closed	1970 (passengers) and 1981 (goods)
Technical
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification	1,500 V DC

The Woodhead line was a railway line linking Sheffield, Penistone and Manchester in the north of England. A key feature of the route is the passage under the high moorlands of the northern Peak District through the Woodhead Tunnels. The line was electrified in 1953 and closed between Hadfield and Penistone in 1981.

The Manchester to Glossop/Hadfield section is still in operation; east of the Pennines the vicinity of Penistone and the Sheffield to Deepcar section are still open, although the latter is goods-only. The track has been lifted on other sections and much of the trackbed is now part of the Trans-Pennine Trail and National Cycle Route 62. The Woodhead line has achieved a cult status with collectors of railway memorabilia.

The route from Manchester to Sheffield was 41½ miles with stops at Manchester, Gorton, Guide Bridge, Newton, Godley Junction, Mottram, Glossop and Dinting, Glossop Central, Hadfield, Crowden, Woodhead, Dunford Bridge, Hazlehead Bridge, Penistone, Wortley, Deepcar, Oughtibridge, Wadsley Bridge, Neepsend and Sheffield. Services still run from Manchester to Glossop and Hadfield, and from Sheffield to Penistone continuing onwards to Huddersfield. The section from Deepcar to Sheffield is currently used for goods. The route can be seen on this Google overlay map.

The line opened in 1845. It was built by the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway with Joseph Locke as its engineer. In 1847 the railway merged with the Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway, the Great Grimsby and Sheffield Junction Railway, and the Grimsby Docks Company to form the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, which changed its name to the Great Central Railway (GCR) in 1897. Ownership passed to the LNER in 1923 and finally to British Railways Eastern Region in 1948.