Barnsley Interchange


Barnsley Interchange is a combined rail and bus station in the centre of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. It was first opened in 1850 as Barnsley Exchange railway station and is north of Sheffield. It is on the Hallam and Penistone Lines, both operated by Northern Trains. On 20 May 2007, the new bus station and refurbished railway station were officially opened by Travel South Yorkshire, with the combined facility renamed to Barnsley Interchange.

Earlier history

The Wakefield, Huddersfield and Goole Railway|Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley, Wakefield, Huddersfield & Goole Railway] was formed in 1846 with the aim of providing access to the South Yorkshire coalfield. It was to link the Leeds Railway">Leeds railway station">Leeds Railway near Horbury, with the Sheffield and Rotherham Railway near, by way of Barnsley. Whilst the railway was still at the planning stage, it was split in two at Barnsley, the northern portion being leased to the M&LR and the southern to the South Yorkshire, Doncaster & Goole Railway. The northern section opened first, and Barnsley station was opened with the line on 1 January 1850. The route of the southern section was changed, and instead, is connected to the SYD&G line near. This section opened on 1 July 1851, and Barnsley then became a through station, although the two sections of line were operated by different railways. On 1 July 1854, the Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway">Sheffield Midland railway station">Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway opened a line from to Barnsley.
Each of these railway companies went through various takeovers and amalgamations, until the early 20th century, when the station at Barnsley was co-owned by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, and the Great Central Railway. At the 1923 grouping, the GCR became part of the London and North Eastern Railway, whilst the LYR formed part of the new London, Midland and Scottish Railway, as did the Midland Railway. The LYR and MR each contributed one station in Barnsley to the LMS, and since the ex-MR station was already distinguished as, the LMS renamed the former LYR station to Barnsley Low Town on 2 June 1924. Just two months later, on 1 August 1924, it was again renamed, this time to Barnsley Exchange.
Barnsley Court House station closed on 19 April 1960, following the commissioning of a new chord line south of the town near Quarry Junction that linked the former SYR route down the Blackburn Valley with the ex-Midland Railway line from Sheffield Midland, allowing services on the latter route to serve the station. Subsequently, on 13 June 1960, Barnsley Exchange was renamed Barnsley.. At this time a second platform was added.
The station was rebuilt and extended in 1992, then, in 2007, South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive integrated the rail station with the bus station, hence the hence the name change to Interchange. The redesign won a Civic Building award.

Facilities

The station is fully staffed throughout the day, with the booking office open from 06:00 to 19:30 Mondays to Saturdays and from 08:45 to 19:00 on Sundays. There are several self-service ticket machines provided for use outside these times and for collecting advance purchase tickets, located on the platform 2 side of the foot-bridge, and outside the ticket office. In the main building on platform 1, there is a waiting room and toilets. A separate waiting room is located on platform 2, with a fully accessible footbridge linking them; there is step-free access from the entrance and bus station to all platforms. Train running information is provided by automated announcements, digital display screens and timetable posters. There are a number of shops a short walk over the footbridge to the bus station, these include a newsagents, Lloyds Pharmacy, Coopland Bakery and a Subway restaurant.

In popular culture

In 2013 it was used as a filming location in Channel 4's cult drama series Utopia.

Rail services

Rail services operate frequently through Barnsley Interchange station. On the Hallam line during the day from Monday to Saturday, there are three trains per hour northbound to. Two are express services, calling only at Wakefield Kirkgate en route to Leeds whilst the third is an all-stations local that runs via. On Sundays, the service reduces to one express service and one stopping service to Leeds each hour. One northbound Sunday service from Sheffield to Leeds extends to via the Settle & Carlisle line.
On the Penistone line, there is an hourly service northbound to Huddersfield, now provided seven days a week.
Southbound there are four trains per hour. Two of these services terminate at Sheffield whilst one fast train carries on to Nottingham and the other fast service runs through to Lincoln. The service drops to three per hour on Sundays.
In May 1999, Midland Mainline commenced a daily weekday service to London St Pancras. The service was withdrawn by East Midlands Trains on 5 September 2008.

Bus services

The new Barnsley Interchange was opened on 20 May 2007 by Secretary of State for Transport Douglas Alexander. The new building forms the entire new complex of Barnsley Interchange. Rail and bus users exit the interchange via the new car park or, for the town centre, the new entrance and exit is on Eldon Street. It has 24 bus stands.
The bus station features the latest in technology such as the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive scheme of "Your Next Bus", tracking buses with GPS to check what time they are due to arrive and depart. Several shops occupy retail units within the interchange, including Lloyd's Pharmacy, GT News, Cowpuccino Espresso Bar, Cooplands and a Subway.
Work has since been completed on the link road, Schwäbisch Gmünd Way, which was renamed in honour of Barnsley's twin town in Germany. That enables buses to enter or leave the Interchange quickly, without having to use the busy level crossing at Jumble Lane.
, the stand allocation is:
StandRouteDestination
A12Sheffield, Moor Market
A1X17Matlock
A266Elsecar
A37Hoyland
A367, 67a, 67b, 67cWombwell
A394, 94aDenby Dale
A423aDeepcar
A424, 24aIngbirchworth
A496Wakefield
A520Penistone
A521, 21aCrow Edge
A522Gilroyd
A693Woolley Colliery
A695, 95aKexbrough
A743, 44Pogmoor
A812Athersley South
A911Athersley North
A101Staincross
A11–no services allocated
A12–no services allocated
A1357Royston
A1359, 59aWakefield
A1427, 27a, 27bWombwell
A1428, 28cPontefract
A1536South Elmsall
A1538Grimethorpe
A1632Cudworth
A176Worsbrough Dale
A1822XRotherham
A18222Cortonwood
A18226Thurnscoe
A19X19Doncaster
A19X20Doncaster
A20218, 218aRotherham
A20219, 219aDoncaster
A21X10Leeds
A22–no services allocated
A23–National Express intercity coach services and rail replacement bus services
A24–National Express intercity coach services and rail replacement bus services