Rail passengers warned as nine days of major works set to begin this weekend – with cancellations and diversions impacting Chesterfield, Derby, Matlock, Alfreton, Ilkeston, the Peak District and Sheffield

From Saturday, March 16 to Sunday, March 24, East Midlands Railway (EMR) will be operating a reduced services on its Liverpool – Nottingham – Norwich route that runs between Sheffield and Manchester, and on the Sheffield/Derby – London St Pancras line.

The Hope Valley Railway Upgrade is a major rail improvement being completed by Network Rail throughout 2024. The work will provide extra track capacity and remove bottleneck areas along the route between Manchester and Sheffield. This capacity will allow passenger trains to overtake slower moving freight and give more options for us to keep customers moving should things go wrong.

The scheme impacts multiple EMR routes, with the start of the work area located near Dore and Totley station. Throughout the 9-day blockade, if you are travelling on the Liverpool Lime Street – Nottingham – Norwich route, rail replacement buses will be in place for part of your journey.

If you are travelling on the Sheffield/Derby – London St Pancras route, a diversion will be in place, increasing journey times by up to 20 minutes.

There will be no direct services between Nottingham and Matlock during this period, apart from Sunday, March 17. Customers travelling to Matlock from Nottingham will need to change at Derby, and there will be a few minutes of added connection time at Derby.

This work will also affect Sheffield station, with a much smaller number of platforms available for longer distance trains only. This means Northern trains may be diverted, with some journeys replaced by buses.

Buses will replace Northern trains between:

Sheffield to New Mills via the Hope Valley.

Sheffield, Dronfield and Chesterfield.

Moorthorpe to York via Pontefract Monkhill.

Gainsborough Lea Road to Cleethorpes via Gainsborough Central and Brigg.

Northern trains will not be running between Sheffield and Nottingham, but East Midlands Railway trains will call additionally at Alfreton, Langley Mill and Ilkeston during this time.

TransPenine Express trains will be diverted via Huddersfield, with replacement buses running between Sheffield and Manchester Piccadilly. CrossCountry trains will be diverted between Sheffield and Chesterfield.

Passengers were urged to check their full journey before travelling. The full details of the works and the changes to EMR services can be found here.