"The South Yorkshire Railway was a railway company with lines in the south of the West Riding of Yorkshire, England.
Initially promoted as the South Yorkshire Coal Railway in 1845, the railway was enabled by an act of 1847 as the South Yorkshire Doncaster and Goole Railway Company which incorporated into it the permitted line of the Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley, Wakefield, Huddersfield and Goole Railway south of Barnsley, the River Dun Navigation, and Dearne and Dove Canals; and had permission for a line from Swinton to Doncaster and other branches. On 10 November 1849 the first section of line opened between Swinton and Doncaster, with the remainder opening in the early 1850s.
In 1850 the company formally amalgamated with its canal interests, forming the South Yorkshire Railway and River Dun Company, in context generally referred to as the "South Yorkshire Railway".
As well as extensive colliery traffic, the company's tracks eventually supported a passenger service between Barnsley and Doncaster; a branch line from Wombwell to Sheffield through the Blackburn valley; and services beyond Doncaster to Thorne and Keadby.
The South Yorkshire Railway was absorbed by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway in 1864."
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Stairfoot Station
Stairfoot railway station was a railway station on the South Yorkshire Railway's main line between Mexborough and Barnsley. It was situated between Wombwell Central and Barnsley. The station was intended to serve the communities of Ardsley and Stairfoot, South Yorkshire, England.
The original station, which was called Ardsley, was situated close by the point where the Doncaster - Barnsley main road (A635) joins with the Rotherham - Barnsley road (A633) and was opened on 1 July 1851. It suffered a temporary closure between 1856 and April 1858 and was closed on 1 December 1871, being replaced by a new station built in the "Double Pavilion" style favoured by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway.
The station was the scene of an accident on 12 December 1870, when a goods train divided, the rear section rolling backwards towards the platforms and colliding with stationary passenger train, killing 15 passengers and injuring 59 more.
In due course the area around Stairfoot became a complex set of railway junctions and fly-overs. Joining the South Yorkshire Railway's line was a junction to the Barnsley Coal Railway, built in two sections to reach the West Riding and Grimsby Railway's main line at Notton, to the south of Wakefield. There was also a connection to the Hull and Barnsley Railway at Cudworth, whilst at a higher level the road and rail junctions were crossed by the Midland Railway line between Wombwell and Cudworth.
The station, which suffered heavily from bus competition, closed on 16 September 1957."
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These days the line has been converted to a 'rails to trails' cycling and hiking route. It is used to form part of the long distance trail 'The Trans Pennine Trail'. The main part of the route is from Southport on the West Coast to Hornsea on the East Coast. However this section forms part of a north south link from York to Chesterfield.