South Yorkshireman
The South Yorkshireman is a British named passenger train. In its modern version it is one of four named expresses operated by East Midlands Railway, and runs between Sheffield and London St Pancras.
The original South Yorkshireman was a train in the post-WW2 era from Bradford via Sheffield Victoria to London Marylebone over the Great Central Main Line.
1940s, 1950s
[edit]The South Yorkshireman was started by British Railways in May 1948. It left Bradford Exchange daily at 10:00, returning from London at 16:50, and calling at Huddersfield, Sheffield, and Leicester; in some years at least, also at Halifax, Brighouse, Penistone, Nottingham, Rugby and Aylesbury. It was not a particularly fast service even by the standards of that era, the down train taking 5 hours 30 minutes to get from London to Bradford. It usually had nine coaches including a restaurant car, and was often hauled by a Gresley A3 Pacific. The train continued running until 1960, when all long-distance expresses on the former Great Central route were withdrawn.[1][2][3][4]
Present day
[edit]The South Yorkshireman in its current form started on 15 December 2008. The service was named as part of an East Midlands Trains competition to name two new crack express trains.[5]
The southbound South Yorkshireman is the 07:46 departure from Sheffield to London St Pancras. The northbound service leaves St Pancras at 17:55 for Sheffield.
The service is provided by an 7-car Class 222 Meridian
The up (southbound) train in 2010 has an end-to-end journey time of 2 hours 24 minutes. The down (northbound) train takes 2 hours 9 minutes.
Stations served
[edit]The South Yorkshireman currently[when?] calls at (southbound):
- Sheffield
- Chesterfield
- Derby
- Long Eaton
- East Midlands Parkway
- Loughborough
- Leicester
- London St Pancras
The South Yorkshireman currently[when?] calls at (northbound):
Other named trains
[edit]East Midlands Railway operates three other named trains called:
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Hawkins, Mac (1991). The Great Central then and now. Newton Abbott: David & Charles. pp. 10, 132. ISBN 0-7153-9326-X.
- ^ British Railway Journal, vol. 5, issue 45.
- ^ Leicester Central train departures June to September 1957, British Railways.
- ^ Named Trains, Britishrailways.info.
- ^ "Passengers and staff name two new business trains for Sheffield". East Midlands Trains. 9 October 2008.
External links
[edit]- East Midlands Trains website
- National Rail Enquires website - main web portal for UK train fares, times and other travel information