Barnsley Interchange

A 1912 Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram showing (left) railways in the vicinity of Barnsley. The present station is shown here as L&Y STA, on the line coloured blue.

The 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 Manchester and Leeds Railway (M&LR) near Horbury, with the Sheffield and Rotherham Railway near Brightside, 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 (SYD&G). 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 Mexborough. 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 Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) opened a line from Penistone to Barnsley.[1][2][3]

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 (LYR, successor to the M&LR), and the Great Central Railway (GCR, successor to the MS&LR and SYD&G). At the 1923 grouping, the GCR became part of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), whilst the LYR formed part of the new London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS), as did the Midland Railway (MR). The LYR and MR each contributed one station in Barnsley to the LMS, and since the ex-MR station was already distinguished as Barnsley Court House, 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.[3]

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 (and continue northwards to Wakefield & Leeds). Subsequently, on 13 June 1960, Barnsley Exchange was renamed Barnsley.[3]

South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive rebuilt the station in 2007 to improve interchange with bus services, and the redesign won a Civic Building award.[4]

Station sign

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 (with vending machines for drinks and snacks) is located on platform 2, with a fully accessible footbridge (equipped with lifts) 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.[5]

In 2013 it was used as a filming location in Channel 4's cult drama series Utopia.[6]

The station platforms in 1998.

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 bound to Leeds. Two are express services, calling only at Wakefield Kirkgate en route to Leeds whilst the third is an all-stations local that runs via Castleford. On Sundays, the service reduces to one express service and one stopping service to Leeds each hour. Two northbound Sunday services from Nottingham to Leeds extend to Carlisle via the Settle-Carlisle Line.[7]

On the Penistone line, there is an hourly service northbound to Huddersfield, now provided seven days a week.[8]

Southbound there are four trains per hour (2 fast and 2 stopping). Two of these services terminate at Sheffield whilst one fast train carries on to Nottingham and the other fast service runs through to Lincoln Central (now laying foundations for the Northern Connect service, cutting out all stops between Sheffield and Worksop to reduce journey times). The service drops to three per hour (one fast & two stopping) on Sundays.

From the near future, the Leeds to Lincoln Central via Sheffield and Retford will transfer to the new Northern Connect brand, using brand new trains with WiFi. Furthermore, services to Nottingham will also be cut from Barnsley, this service will join Northern Connect and operate a new route via Wakefield Westgate with less stops on the Erewash Valley Line. Northern Trains have stated that the frequency of express services between Sheffield and Leeds via Barnsley will be maintained when the Nottingham service ends.[9]

In May 1999, Midland Mainline commenced a daily weekday service to London St Pancras.[10][11] The service was withdrawn by East Midlands Trains on 5 September 2008.[12]

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Wombwell		Northern Trains Hallam Line		Darton
		Northern Trains Penistone Line		Dodworth
Meadowhall		Northern Trains Leeds-Nottingham		Wakefield Kirkgate
		Northern Trains Leeds-Lincoln
	Future Services
Meadowhall		Northern Connect Leeds - Lincoln		Wakefield Kirkgate

Barnsley Interchange
Location	Eldon Street North, Barnsley town centre Barnsley (S70 1SE) United Kingdom
Owned by	South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive
Operated by	Travel South Yorkshire
Bus stands	24
Bus operators	CT Plus Powell's, Globe Coaches, National Express, Stagecoach Yorkshire, TM Travel, Waterson Coaches
Construction
Parking	No
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	20 May 2007

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 (formerly Interchange 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.

As of February 2021, the stand allocation is:

Stand	Route	Destination
A1	2	Sheffield, Moor Market      via Worsbrough, Birdwell, Hoyland, Chapeltown , Ecclesfield, Lane Top, the Northern General Hospital, Fir Vale and Sheffield Interchange (Stagecoach)
	X17	Matlock      via Meadowhall , Sheffield Interchange , Woodseats, Whittington Moor, Chesterfield , Walton, Holymoorside, Stone Edge and Kelstedge (Stagecoach Gold)
A2	66	Elsecar      via Birdwell, Hoyland Common, Hoyland and Jump (Stagecoach)
A3	7	Hoyland      via Worsbrough Bridge, Blacker Hill and Platts Common (Stagecoach)
	67, 67a, 67b, 67c	Wombwell      via Worsbrough Common, Worsbrough, Birdwell, Tankersley, Hoyland, Jump and Cortonwood (Stagecoach)
	94, 94a	Denby Dale      via Gawber, Barnsley Hospital, Higham and Cawthorne (Globe & Stagecoach)
A4	23a	Deepcar      via Gilroyd, Thurgoland, Wortley and Stocksbridge (Stagecoach)
	24, 24a	Ingbirchworth      via Gilroyd, Thurgoland and Penistone (Stagecoach & TM Travel)
	96	Wakefield      via Gawber, Barnsley Hospital, Kexbrough and West Bretton (Globe)
A5	20	Penistone      via Silkstone, Hoylandswaine and Cubley (Stagecoach)
	21, 21a	Crow Edge      via Gilroyd, Silkstone, Silkstone Common , Oxspring, Cubley, Penistone and Millhouse Green (Stagecoach)
	22	Gilroyd      via Pogmoor and Dodworth (Stagecoach)
A6	93	Woolley Colliery      via Gawber, Barnsley Hospital, Barugh Green, Darton and Mapplewell (Stagecoach)
	95, 95a	Kexbrough      via Gawber, Barnsley Hospital, Wilthorpe, Barugh Green and Darton (Stagecoach)
A7	43, 44	Pogmoor      via Worsbrough Common, Barnsley Hospital and Kingstone (Stagecoach)
A8	12	Athersley South      via Honeywell and Smithies (Stagecoach)
A9	11	Athersley North      via Smithies and New Lodge (Stagecoach)
A10	1	Staincross      via Smithies, New Lodge and Mapplewell (Stagecoach)
A11	–	no services allocated
A12	–	no services allocated
A13	57	Royston      via Monk Bretton and Carlton (Stagecoach)
	59, 59a	Wakefield      via Monk Bretton, Carlton, Royston, Notton, Newmillerdam and Sandal & Agbrigg (Stagecoach)
A14	27, 27a, 27b	Wombwell      via Shafton, Brierley, Grimethorpe and Darfield (Stagecoach)
	28, 28c	Pontefract      via Cudworth, Shafton, Grimethorpe, Brierley and Hemsworth (Stagecoach)
A15	36	South Elmsall      via Monk Bretton, Cudworth, Shafton, Brierley, Hemsworth and South Kirkby (Watersons)
	38	Grimethorpe      via Cundy Cross, Lundwood, Cudworth and Shafton (Watersons)
A16	32	Cudworth      via Hoyle Mill, Cundy Cross and Lundwood (Stagecoach)
A17	6	Worsbrough Dale      via Kendray (Stagecoach)
A18	22X	Rotherham      via Wombwell , Wath-upon-Dearne , Manvers, Rawmarsh and Parkgate (Stagecoach)
	222	Cortonwood      via Stairfoot and Wombwell (Stagecoach)
	226	Thurnscoe      via Stairfoot, Wombwell , Wath-upon-Dearne , Bolton-upon-Dearne and Goldthorpe (Stagecoach)
A19	X19	Doncaster      via Darfield and Goldthorpe (Stagecoach)
	X20	Doncaster      via Wombwell , Old Moor, Manvers, Mexborough , Conisbrough and Warmsworth (Powell's)
A20	218, 218a	Rotherham      via Darfield, Goldthorpe , Bolton-upon-Dearne , Manvers, Mexborough , Swinton , Kilnhurst and Rawmarsh (Stagecoach)
	219, 219a	Doncaster      via Ardsley, Darfield, Great Houghton, Thurnscoe , Goldthorpe , Barnburgh, Harlington and Sprotbrough (Stagecoach)
A21	X10	Leeds      via New Lodge, Mapplewell, Darton and Kexbrough (Stagecoach)
A22	–	no services allocated
A23	–	National Express intercity coach services and rail replacement bus services
A24	–

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Barnsley Interchange.

• Train times and station information for Barnsley Interchange from National Rail
• Travel South Yorkshire website