Network Rail confirms the closure of Deepcar branch

The Deepcar freight-only branch in north Sheffield is no longer in use after Network Rail mothballed the line from September 29.

It is one of the last remaining sections of the old 1,500V DC Manchester-Sheffield-Wath (MSW) ‘Woodhead’ route - the first overhead electrified main line in the UK.

The decision, while not closing the Deepcar line, prevents traffic going up the branch. This includes Infrastructure Monitoring trains, which in turn means it is unlikely to reopen without a substantial business case and investment.

Network Rail confirmed the decision to close the line, adding: “There are no plans at the moment for Network Rail to take the line on.”

The rest of the MSW line was controversially closed on July 20 1981, by which time it had been freight-only east of Hadfield to Penistone and down to Wath from January 1970.

The line from Penistone to Sheffield via Deepcar remained open to passenger traffic (a diesel multiple unit service from Huddersfield) until May 1983, when the trains were diverted via Dodworth. This meant they could not only serve the conurbation of Barnsley, but also eliminated the need to reserve at Nunnery Junction (near Darnall in Sheffield).

That allowed BR to lift the track from Huddersfield Junction at Penistone to Deepcar. The intermediate stations at Wadsley Bridge, Oughtibridge and Deepcar were closed in the 1950s and 1960s, although the former was retained for occasional use for football trains serving Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough football ground (which ceased in 1994).

The eight-mile line has been freight-only since 1983, and only retained to serve Stocksbridge Steelworks. Three trips a day could run to the exchange siding at Stocksbridge in the early 1990s, but that traffic slowly declined and was down to one train a day in the early 2020s, worked by DB Cargo. While the steelworks remains open, it is no longer taking traffic by rail.

The last passenger train to Deepcar was on April 8 2023 - a UK Railtours charter from King’s Cross worked by 60015 and 66004.

There had been suggestions that the Deepcar branch would reopen as part of the Sheffield Supertram or a local heavy rail operation serving the three closed stations, but this seems unlikely due to costs.

The only remining sections for the MSW still open are the lines from Manchester Piccadilly to Glossop and Hadfield, which was converted from 1,500V DC to 25kV AC in 1984, and a short section form Penistone to West Silkstone Junction, which was returned to passenger use when the Huddersfield to Sheffield trains were rerouted via Barnsley.