Swinton railway station is a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

Swinton, South Yorkshire Swinton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, in South Yorkshire, England on the west bank of the River Don. It has a population of 15,559 (2011). The town is five miles north-northeast of the larger town of Rotherham and direct ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It has three platforms and a small

bus station A bus station or a bus interchange is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. While the term bus depot can also be used to refer to a bus station, it generally refers to a bus garage. A bus station is l ...

, and lies at the junction of the former

North Midland Railway The North Midland Railway was a British railway company, which opened its line from Derby to Rotherham (Masbrough) and Leeds in 1840. At Derby, it connected with the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway and the Midland Counties Railway at what ...

main line between

Rotherham Masborough Rotherham Masborough railway station was the main railway station for Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England from the 1840s until 1987, when most trains were rerouted via Rotherham Central. It had four platforms, with a large sandstone stati ...

and Leeds via Cudworth and the former

South Yorkshire Railway The South Yorkshire Railway was a railway company with lines in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Initially promoted as the South Yorkshire Coal Railway in 1845, the railway was enabled by an act of 1847 as the South Yorkshire Doncaster and ...

line to

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

History

There have been three stations on the North Midland Railway line at Swinton, the first of which, opened in 1840, built by the N.M.R. occupied the site of the present station, goods facilities occupying what is now the car park. This was replaced by a second station north of the present site, on the opposite side of the road bridge, built by the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...

. This station became known as Swinton Town to distinguish it from Swinton Central on the former

Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) was formed in 1847 when the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway joined with authorised but unbuilt railway companies, forming a proposed network from Manchester to Grimsb ...

line. It was served by stopping trains from Sheffield Midland to York and to Leeds City via Cudworth. The station closed in January 1968 with the rationalisation of local rail services in South Yorkshire. The original station buildings still remain at street level and are used for light industry.

Redevelopment and rebuilding

By the late 1980s it was realised that South Yorkshire railways had been cut back too far in the 1960s; in particular, Swinton/

Wath-upon-Dearne Wath upon Dearne (shortened to Wath or often hyphenated) is a town south of the River Dearne in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, north of Rotherham and almost midway between Barnsley and Doncaster. It had a po ...

/Kilnhurst lacked a station. The South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority put forward a four-year plan for the improvement of services and stations as part of their Rail Development Plan, this leading to the re-instatement of the "Swinton Curve", from the former North Midland Railway at Swinton to the former

at Mexborough West Junction, the building of a new station at Swinton and the re-routing of all passenger trains via this route. Immediately after reopening by

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

in 1990 it was unstaffed, but increased passenger usage led to the establishment in the 1990s of initially a small cabin staffed for the morning peak period only. The cabin later was replaced by a brick building for the ticket office, waiting room and toilet. It is also an interchange for local bus services to Wath and Manvers. The ticket office is now manned on Mondays to Saturday between 07:00 and 13:30. Outside these hours, passengers can buy tickets (or a permit to travel) from a ticket vending machine near the station entrance (card payments only). Shelters and passenger information screens are located on each platform, with a fully accessible footbridge linking the ticket hall with platforms 2 and 3.

Services

The station has a similar service level to neighbouring Rotherham Central, namely two trains per hour to

(one extending to Adwick), one per hour to

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

via Moorthorpe and three per hour to

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

. The thrice-daily Dearne Valley local service to

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

also calls. The station sits on the main North East - South West corridor which means various express services and freight trains pass through. Sundays have an hourly services to Doncaster and Leeds, two trains to York and two trains per hour to Sheffield. Services are generally formed of

Northern Trains Northern Trains, branded as Northern, (legally Northern Trains Limited) is a State-owned enterprises of the United Kingdom, publicly owned train operating company in England. It is owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT) ...

Class 150, Class 158 and Class 195 DMUs. Upon the May 2018 timetable change, Swinton no longer has direct trains to Scunthorpe or Lincoln, and the two

TransPennine Express TransPennine Express (TPE), legally First TransPennine Express Limited, is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operates the TransPennine Express franchise. It runs regional and inter-city rail services between the major ci ...

services that previously called here now pass through non-stop. The Hull stopping trains also ceased at the winter 2019 timetable change, so passengers now have to change at Doncaster for onward connections.

References

External links

{{South Yorkshire railway stations Swinton, South Yorkshire DfT Category E stations Railway stations in Rotherham Railway stations opened by British Rail Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1990 Reopened railway stations in Great Britain Northern franchise railway stations