Meadowhall Interchange is a transport interchange located to the north-east of the City of Sheffield, in South Yorkshire, England. It consists of a combined heavy rail station, tram stop, and bus and coach station. The second-busiest heavy rail station in the city in terms of passenger numbers, Meadowhall Interchange provides connections between National Rail services, the South Yorkshire Supertram light rail network, inter-city coach services and the city bus network.

The interchange was opened in 1990 by British Rail, within the Regional Railways sector, to serve the new Meadowhall shopping centre, which opened at the same time and is connected to the interchange by a pedestrian footbridge. The interchange is now owned by Network Rail and operated by Northern Trains, with additional services provided by TransPennine Express.

History Previous stations The first station to be named after the Meadowhall area, , was opened in 1868 by the South Yorkshire Railway on the Blackburn Valley Line from to Barnsley. Meadowhall and Wincobank closed in 1953; the track was eventually lifted and converted into a rail trail in 1987, although the station building survives in good condition.

Upon opening in 1990, Meadowhall Interchange effectively replaced the station at , located around further down the line towards . However, limited services continued to serve Brightside for several years after the opening of Meadowhall Interchange, with Brightside station finally closing in 1995.

Construction and opening

In 1989, the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive received a European Regional Development Fund grant for 50% of the cost of building the interchange.

It was constructed to serve the new Meadowhall shopping centre, which opened on 4 September 1990 on the former site of steelworks, in the Don Valley of north-east Sheffield. The interchange was constructed to the north of the shopping centre on the opposite bank of the river Don, with a pedestrian suspension bridge linking the interchange with the shopping centre. The heavy rail, and bus and coach stations opened in 1990.

The South Yorkshire Supertram light rail platforms opened on 21 March 1994. The section of line from Meadowhall to Fitzalan Square, in the city centre, was the first phase of the network to open.

Dropped HS2 plans Meadowhall Interchange was selected as the initial site for Sheffield's High Speed 2 station, with a high-level viaduct station planned to be constructed parallel to the M1 motorway's Tinsley Viaduct adjacent to the main line station. However, these plans were eventually dropped, with plans for High Speed 2 services to instead serve Sheffield station in the city centre.

As part of the plans, proposals were put forward for the construction of a new Supertram line from Meadowhall Interchange to in the south-west of the city.

Facilities There are no ticket barriers at the interchange. In addition to the ticket office, several ticket machines are located in the open-air concourse between platforms 2 and 3. The main waiting room, with toilet and baby changing facilities, is located at the end of the light rail platforms, opening onto platform 1, with an additional waiting room provided on platform 2.

A park and ride car park, with 307 spaces, is located behind platform 2; there are additional parking facilities available around the shopping centre.

A second concourse is located next to the bus and coach station; it contains toilets, ticket purchasing facilities and several small shopping outlets.

Layout

The interchange is located to the north of Meadowhall shopping centre, to which it is connected by a pedestrian footbridge, which provides the main entrance to the interchange. Additionally, entrances are located from Meadowhall Road into the bus station, on Barrow Road from the park and ride car park onto the heavy rail platforms, and from Tyler Street directly from street level onto the main concourse.

The ticket office for National Rail services is located off to the side of the footbridge which connects the interchange with the shopping centre. This footbridge continues over platforms 1 and 2, opening up onto a raised open-air concourse area from which platforms 2 and 3 can be accessed. A further footbridge from this central concourse provides access to platform 4 and the Tyler Street interchange entrance; platform 1 and the Supertram platforms are accessed directly by steps down from the main footbridge, opposite the ticket office.

The station is located immediately to the north-east of Station Junction, where the Dearne Valley Line diverges from the Hallam and Penistone Lines: Platforms 1 and 2 are a pair of side platforms located closest to the shopping centre on the Dearne Valley Line Platforms 3 and 4 are located on the other side of the central open-air concourse on the Hallam and Penistone Lines, laid out at a 45-degree angle to platforms 1 and 2.

The light rail platforms, numbered MEI1 and MEI2, are located immediately behind and parallel to platform 1; they are constructed in an island layout. Since the cessation of off-peak Purple Line services to the interchange, most tram services depart from platform MEI1.

There are a total of 16 stands at the bus and coach station, arranged into four main rows, each accessed by zebra crossings: Row A, consisting of stands A1 to A5, is located alongside the bus station concourse Row B, consisting of stands B1 and B2, is located as a small island between rows A and C Row C, consisting of stands C1 to C5 Row D, consisting of stands D1 to D4, are a pair of parallel island rows located at the side of the bus station closest to the heavy rail platforms.

The majority of inter-city bus and coach services depart from row A, while city bus services depart from rows B, C and D.

Services National Rail The interchange is served by two train operating companies, which provide the following general off-peak service pattern in trains per hour/day (tph/tpd):

Northern Trains: 6 tph to only 2 tph to (fast), via Barnsley Interchange and 1 tph to , via , continuing through to 1 tph to and , via Doncaster, and Hull Paragon Interchange 1 tph to , via Barnsley Interchange and 1 tph to Leeds (slow) via Rotherham Central, and 1 tph to Leeds (slow), via Barnsley Interchange, Wakefield Kirkgate and 1 tph to , via Sheffield, , and 1 tph to , via Sheffield, and 3 tpd to , via Rotherham Central and .

TransPennine Express: 1 tph to , via Sheffield and 1 tph to , via Doncaster, and .

South Yorkshire Supertram

Meadowhall Interchange is the terminus of the South Yorkshire Supertram's Yellow route.

Current off-peak tram services from the interchange consist of five trams per hour to , via the city centre. Additional services operate during the morning and evening peak to provide a ten-minute frequency.

Buses and coaches

Meadowhall Interchange is located a short distance from junction 34 of the M1 motorway, meaning it is more conveniently located for inter-city coach services than Sheffield Interchange in the city centre. As a result, many coach services for Sheffield call here instead of the city centre, particularly FlixBus services. To link passengers with Sheffield city centre, there are many bus services to/from Sheffield Interchange, including the X1, X2, X3 and X17.

Inter-city coach services are operated by FlixBus and National Express; destinations include London, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow, along with Gatwick and Heathrow Airports. It is also a major hub for local bus services, which are operated by First South Yorkshire and Stagecoach Yorkshire.

, the stand allocation is: StandRouteDestinationA1–Inter-city (Flixbus)A2–Inter-city (National Express}A3X1Sheffield, (First South Yorkshire)X2Sheffield, (First South Yorkshire)A465Buxton, (Stagecoach Yorkshire)X3Sheffield, (First South Yorkshire)X17Wirksworth, (Stagecoach Yorkshire)A5–Taxi rankB1–No services allocatedB270Sheffield, (TM Travel)70ASheffield, (First South Yorkshire)C1X1Maltby, (First South Yorkshire)X2Doncaster, (First South Yorkshire)C2X3Doncaster, (First South Yorkshire)C3–No services allocatedC4X17Barnsley, (Stagecoach Yorkshire)C518Sheffield, (First South Yorkshire)18ASheffield, (First South Yorkshire)D1137Rotherham, (Stagecoach Yorkshire)137ARotherham, (Stagecoach Yorkshire)D218Hillsborough, (First South Yorkshire)18AHillsborough, (First South Yorkshire)137Sheffield, (Stagecoach Yorkshire)D376Lowedges, (First South Yorkshire)76ALowedges, (First South Yorkshire)76ELowedges, (First South Yorkshire)D432Sheffield, (TM Travel)

Notes

References

External links