Penistonerailway station is a railway station which serves the town of Penistone, in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. Train services are provided by Northern Trains. The current station opened in 1874, replacing a station solely on the Woodhead Line dating from the line's opening by the Sheffield, Ashton-Under-Lyne and Manchester Railway in 1845. The railway station currently only serves the Penistone Line. The line connects Huddersfield with Sheffield, via Barnsley, with an hourly train in each direction. There is a voluntary organisation which supports and promotes community involvement along the line called the Penistone Line Partnership. Penistone station is the site of the one of the two remaining passing loops on the Barnsley to Huddersfield line, allowing trains coming from Sheffield and Huddersfield to pass each other. However, the sections either side of it are each single trackthat northwards to Clayton West junction and having been singled in 1969, whilst that to has been so since reopening in 1983. The loop was formerly controlled from the distinctive elevated ex-GCR Huddersfield Junction signal box south of the station until 1998, when control was transferred to the new Barnsley PSB and the box closed. Immediately north of the station, the line crosses the Don valley on an imposing 98 ft high stone viaduct of 29 arches.
History
Woodhead Line
Until 5 January 1970, Penistone station also served passenger trains on the electrified Woodhead Line from Sheffield Victoria to Manchester Piccadilly. Electric trains started in 1954, previously the service was steam operated. The line was entirely closed west of Penistone towards Hadfield on 17 July 1981 making Penistone station no longer a junction, but the location of the former Woodhead Line platforms is still visible. The electricity supply to the Woodhead Line was controlled from a large building adjacent to Penistone station, which is still standing. Trains from Huddersfield continued to use the old main line down the Don Valley to Sheffield until May 1983, when they were diverted via Barnsley over the former SYR route. This had been disused for some years but was refurbished to passenger standards in less than three months once South Yorkshire PTE agreed to continue funding the Penistone end of the route.
Doncaster Line
Prior to 1959 Penistone was also the terminus of local trains from Doncaster via Barnsley and the Dearne Valley. These trains were timed to connect with Sheffield-Manchester trains at Penistone. This route was opened in 1854.
The station is unstaffed but has a ticket machine on the Huddersfield bound side. The main buildings still stand, but these are in private commercial use. Waiting rooms are provided on each platform, along with digital display screens, automated announcements and timetable poster boards to offer train running information. Level access is possible to both platforms, but the National Rail page for the station states that neither platform is accessible for wheelchair users due to the barrow crossing at the south end of the station having gaps in its surface.
Services
On Monday to Saturday, trains operate every hour in each direction towards Huddersfield and via. On Sundays, these run every two hours each way. In 2009, Alliance Rail proposed to run a 4 trains-per-day service between Huddersfield and London Kings Cross, via Worksop, Sheffield and Penistone, giving Penistone a direct train to London 4 times a day.
