Dronfield railway station

Dronfield
Location
Place	Dronfield
Local authority	North East Derbyshire
Operations
Station code	DRO
Managed by	Northern Rail
Number of platforms	2
Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage
2004/05 *	12,502
2005/06 *	14,882
2006/07 *	17,548
2007/08 *	17,710
2008/09 *	35,372
2009/10 *	114,552
History
Original company	Midland Railway
Post-grouping	London Midland and Scottish Railway
1870	Opened
1967	Closed
1981	Re-opened
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 passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Dronfield from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Please note: methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Dronfield railway station serves the town of Dronfield in Derbyshire, England (population 25,000), south of Sheffield, on the Midland Main Line between Chesterfield and Sheffield.

Construction of the Sheffield & Chesterfield line was authorised by the Midland Railway Act of 1864 but it was not until Monday 2 February 1870 that the line and Dronfield station were opened to traffic. Railwaymen know the line as the "New Road" as against the "Old Road" built by the North Midland Railway which took an easier route along the Rother Valley and bypassed Sheffield. The station is on the long climb up the Drone valley to Bradway Tunnel at the point where the gradient steepens from 1 in 201 to 1 in 102.

The station had single storey wooden buildings on both platforms. The main buildings, including booking office and staff offices, were on the up platform (nearer Chesterfield Road). The smaller building on the other platform contained a waiting room and a ladies' waiting room.

To the south of the passenger station, on the land now used as a car park, was the goods station with a brick-built warehouse and several sidings.

The original Midland Railway station buildings were still standing at the centenary. 1 February 1970

The station was closed to passengers with effect from Monday 2 January 1967, the last passenger train to call being the 21:41 Sheffield - Derby local on Saturday 31 December 1966. The station remained staffed for a year or two longer until the goods station closed. The buildings were demolished in June 1973 leaving only the platforms.

The station reopened to passengers on 5 January 1981 with a limited service at peak periods only.

The station is managed by Northern Rail, however, until 14 December 2008 no Northern services stopped there. A residents' pressure group, Friends of Dronfield Station, successfully campaigned for rail services to the town to be improved and continue to beautify the station and press for better facilities. Its president is local MP Natascha Engel.

Service

From 14 December 2008 Northern Rail started running a new hourly Express Service from Leeds to Nottingham calling at Wakefield Kirkgate, Barnsley, Meadowhall Interchange, Sheffield, Dronfield, Chesterfield, Alfreton and Langley Mill. Most of these services call at Dronfield.^[1] Class 158 train units are used on this service.^[2]

A small number of peak time East Midlands Trains Local Liverpool - Norwich services stop, however Mainline services from Leeds, Sheffield and London run through at high speed, but do not stop. Interchange with Mainline services can be made at Sheffield and Chesterfield.

References

1. ^ "Northern Rail New Leeds Services". Northern Rail. http://www.northernrail.org/news/45. 
2. ^ "Picture of Northern Rail Class 158 Route Learning at Chesterfield". Paul Greenwood. http://paul-greenwood.fotopic.net/p50297788.html. 

External links

• Friends of Dronfield Station

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Chesterfield		Northern Rail Nottingham-Leeds		Sheffield
		East Midlands Trains Norwich-Liverpool Limited Service
		East Midlands Trains Midland Main Line Limited Service

Coordinates: 53°18′4.6″N 1°28′8.2″W / 53.301278°N 1.468944°W / 53.301278; -1.468944