Шеффилд, Аштон-андер-Лайн және Манчестер темір жолының тарихы

The Sheffield, Ashton under Lyne and Manchester Railway was an early British railway company which opened in stages between 1841 and 1845 between Sheffield and Manchester via Ashton under Lyne. The Peak District formed a formidable barrier, and the line's engineer constructed Woodhead Tunnel, over 3 mile (5 km) long. The company amalgamated with the Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway and Great Grimsby and Sheffield Junction Railway companies, together forming the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway in 1847. In the twentieth century the line carried an exceptionally heavy freight traffic, and it was electrified in 1954; at that time a new Woodhead Tunnel was driven. In 1974 the major part of the route was closed to passenger trains, leaving passenger operation continuing only on the Manchester–Hadfield section, and in 1981 the line east of Hadfield closed completely. The Manchester–Hadfield–Glossop section and a branch to Stalybridge remain in use.

At the end of the 18th century the need for improved transport links between Manchester and Sheffield, only 35 mile (56 km) apart but separated by the upland Peak District, was increasing. The canal route involved a long northwards detour through the Pennines, and the journey took eight days. In 1826 a land surveyor in Sheffield, Henry Sanderson, put forward a line to Manchester via Edale and a prospectus for a "Sheffield and Manchester Railway" was published in August 1830, with George Stephenson appointed to be the engineer. There were concerns about the severity of the gradients on this line, which would involve rope worked inclines. He suggested an alternative route, via Penistone, that would involve less tunnelling, and have gentler gradients which could be worked by locomotives, but this scheme too failed to attract support. After parliamentary expenses of £18,000 (18000.0 in 1837 is equivalent to about <calculated amount> in recent years), the line obtained its authorising Act of Parliament on 5 May 1837. The only opposition came from the Manchester and Birmingham Railway, with whom it was agreed that the line from Ardwick would be shared as it entered a joint station in Manchester at Store Street.

The state of the money market considerably improved in 1844–45, and the Railway Mania took hold. The directors of the SA&MR saw that expansion was the way forward for the company. On 15 April 1845 a shareholders' meeting approved the submission of bills for the Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway, which would connect the line to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and the Barnsley Junction Railway, which would run from near Penistone to Barnsley and connect with the North Midland Railway at Royston. The Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway, from Sheffield to Gainsborough, was already approved. Supplementing this list were proposals for lines from Wortley through Thorncliffe to Chapeltown, and from Dukinfield to New Mills and on to a junction with the Buxton line of the Manchester and Birmingham Railway. The Barnsley Junction Railway might be extended to Pontefract, and exploratory meetings were opened with the promoters of a Boston, Newark and Sheffield Railway, and of a Hull and Barnsley Junction Railway. Not all of these lines were later authorised. Of greatest significance was a meeting on 5 September 1845 between the SA&MR, the promoters of the Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway, and the Great Grimsby and Sheffield Junction Railway; the Grimsby Docks Company was included. The outcome was agreement to amalgamate the three concerns, forming a single railway connecting Manchester to Grimsby on the North Sea coast. The idea was developed and approved by Parliament on 27 July 1846, to be effective on 1 January 1847. The combined company would be named the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway. The short steeply graded line was enclosed within a tunnel for almost its entire length, and was known locally as the Fiery Jack. It was used for wagon transfer purposes. The through line required a better Sheffield station: a station was built, and opened on 15 September 1851, and named Victoria station. An express passenger train service was run from Manchester to London, from 1857, in association with the Great Northern Railway. A timing of 5 hours 20 minutes was operated, the same time as on the rival London and North Western Railway (successor of the Manchester & Birmingham Railway), although that company soon accelerated its services to a speed that the MS&LR and GNR service could not match. For a time there was bitter hostility from the LNWR with some underhand tactics employed by it to discourage use of the rival service.

There were a number of viaducts on the original line, although few survived into the 20th century in their original form. The principal engineering feature was Woodhead Tunnel. At 3 mile (5 km) in length it was the longest tunnel in the United Kingdom when built, and still the longest on the LNER system in 1947. It was originally planned to build a double track tunnel, but to economise a single track bore was made. The track rose at 1 in 201 towards the east. No less than 157 tons of gunpowder were used for blasting and eight million tons of water were pumped out, whilst the total quantity of excavation was , about half of this being drawn up the shafts. It was completed at a cost in the region of £200,000. The formal opening of the Woodhead tunnel and of the whole line between Manchester and Sheffield took place on 22 December 1845, more than seven years after the first ground had been broken. Special precautions were taken to ensure against accidents during operation through the tunnel. An SA&MR pilot engine was stationed at the tunnel and attached to the front of every train that passed through. On the front of the engine was fixed an argand lamp, with a large polished metal disc for reflection, so that a powerful beam of light was thrown forward on the track ahead. A contemporary newspaper account also stated that "Cooke & Wheatstone's patent magnetic telegraph was being fixed in the tunnel with an index, etc., at the stations at each end, capable of being worked by the station clerks." The single line through the Woodhead tunnel soon proved to be an acute bottleneck and in 1847 (after the formation of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway) work upon a second bore was begun. This new tunnel, which was to accommodate the up road (towards Manchester), was driven alongside the original one, it opened on 2 February 1852.

The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway was renamed the Great Central Railway on 1 August 1897. In 1923 most of the main line railways of Great Britain were "grouped" in to one or other of four new large companies. The Great Central Railway was a constituent of the new London and North Eastern Railway. In 1936 the LNER approved a scheme for electrifying the whole line from Manchester via Sheffield to , together with the branches from to , from to and from to and – a total of 74 mile (119 km). The system chosen was 1,500 V DC with overhead wires. All freight as well as passenger traffic was to be hauled by electric traction. For many years about 80 trains travelled through the tunnel each way, each day, of which 90% were loaded or empty coal workings and ventilation was a major problem. The decision to electrify was made as much to increase line capacity as any other consideration. Electrification work was well in hand before the advent of war in 1939 stopped it. In 1946–47 each bore of Woodhead Tunnel in turn was closed for 9 months for major repairs. However, following the nationalisation of railways in 1948, it was decided to close them permanently and bore a new double track tunnel alongside, with enough clearance for the overhead electrification catenary. The new tunnel was 3 mile (5 km) long. It was opened by the Minister of Transport on 3 June 1954. The two old tunnels were later sealed off, and they were later purchased by the Central Electricity Generating Board to carry power cables through the Pennines. On 5 January 1970 the passenger service between and over the Woodhead route was withdrawn; the electric commuter service from Manchester to Glossop and Hadfield continued in operation. Freight trains were withdrawn on the Woodhead route on 18 July 1981 and the line between Hadfield and Penistone was then closed completely. The line between Penistone and Sheffield remained in use by diesel Sheffield–Huddersfield trains, but with all intermediate stations including Sheffield Victoria having closed, trains had to reverse at Nunnery Junction to enter Sheffield Midland station. On 13 May 1983 these trains were diverted via and the ex Midland route; the track between Penistone and was lifted, however the line from Deepcar to Nunnery Junction remains, single track, to serve the Fox steelworks. On 10 December 1984, Manchester to Glossop and Hadfield electric trains started running at 25 kV AC (the same system as used on the West Coast Main Line which it adjoined) following conversion from the old 1500 V DC system. The system continues in use at the present day. The Stalybridge branch remains in use by local and express trains from Manchester Piccadilly to and .