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Hope Valley Line

Principal stations and landmarks (Manchester Airport Line) Manchester Piccadilly Sheffield and Midland Joint Section Southern Branch Stockport Hazel Grove Change for Buxton Line Disley Tunnel (To Chinley) Northern Branch Ardwick Ashburys Northern Branch via Guide Bridge Gorton Fairfield Guide Bridge Change for Glossop Line, Stockport-Stalybridge Line Hyde North Hyde Central Woodley (to Romiley) Northern Branch Via Brinnington Belle Vue Ryder Brow Reddish North Brinnington Bredbury Romiley either Rose Hill Marple via Rose Hill Marple Spur or Marple Strines New Mills Buxworth Chinley Dore and Chinley section Cowburn Tunnel Edale Hope Bamford Hathersage Grindleford Totley Tunnel Dore Sheffield

The Hope Valley Line is a railway line in England linking Sheffield with Manchester. It was completed in 1894.

From Sheffield, trains head down the Midland Main Line to Dore, where the Hope Valley Line branches off to run through the Totley Tunnel (the second longest in England).

It emerges in the stunning scenery of the Hope Valley of Derbyshire, where it passes through the railway stations of Grindleford, Hathersage, Bamford, Hope and Edale before entering the two-mile-long Cowburn Tunnel.

From the western portal of the tunnel, the line runs through Chinley, then splits. The northern branch runs via New Mills toward Manchester Piccadilly. The southern branch passes through the Disley Tunnel before merging with the Buxton line and then heading to Stockport to join the main line to Manchester.

Passenger services on the line are currently operated by Northern Rail (previously First North Western), Central Trains and TransPennine Express.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Sheffield and Midland Joint Section 1.2 Dore and Chinley 1.3 Recent history

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 Ambergate and Millers Dale. 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 Bredbury. When Manchester Central was opened by the Cheshire Lines Committee, a new line was built through Heaton Mersey. This third route was closed along with Manchester Central, apart from the section through Disley Tunnel to Hazel Grove, where it now joins the old LNWR line into Stockport.

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 Buxton. However, the "Dore and Chinley Railway" 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 in 1884 and work began in 1888.

The 21 mile-long line took six years to build. The terrain through Hope Valley and Edale was easy enough by Midland standards, but at each end there were formidable obstacles, negotiated by means of the Totley and Cowburn Tunnels.

At the time of the Beeching review the line was running in competition with the recently modernised route through the Woodhead Tunnel, and its closure was suggested. On appeal, British Rail were required to keep the Hope Valley line open to passenger traffic, and so instead shut the Woodhead route to passengers (and then subsequently to freight also).

edit Railway lines in Northern England:
Main lines:	Cross-Country Route · East Coast Main Line · Midland Main Line · West Coast Main Line  Chester-Manchester Line  · Hope Valley Line · Liverpool-Manchester Lines  · Manchester-Preston Line · Settle-Carlisle Railway
Commuter lines:	Airedale Line · Blackburn-Bolton Line · Caldervale Line · Mid-Cheshire Line · Dearne Valley Line    East Lancashire Line · Glossop Line · Hallam Line · Harrogate Line · Huddersfield Line Kirkby Branch Line    Lancaster-Heysham Line · Leeds-Bradford Lines · Liverpool-Wigan Line  · Manchester Airport Line    Manchester-Southport Line · Northern Line · Oldham Loop Line · Northallerton-Eaglescliffe Line    Ormskirk Branch Line · Pontefract Line · Sheffield-Hull Line · Sheffield-Lincoln Line · Stockport-Stalybridge Line    Wakefield Line · Wharfedale Line · Wirral Line · York & Selby Lines · York-Scarborough Line
Rural lines:	Barton Line · Borderlands Line · Buxton Line · Cumbrian Coast Line · Doncaster-Lincoln Line    Durham Coast Line · Esk Valley Line · Tees Valley Line · Furness Line · Hull-York Line ·   Oxenholme-Windermere Line · Penistone Line · Ribble Valley Line · Newcastle and Carlisle Railway    Yorkshire Coast Line