Rotherham Gateway: council says proposed mainline station 'can lift town's economy'

Returning mainline rail services to Rotherham is the “single biggest thing we can do to lift the prospects” of the town’s economy, council leader Chris Read has said. 

The councillor was speaking at the launch of the campaign for Rotherham Gateway yesterday, a new two-platform mainline train station in Parkgate to connect with fast services from Leeds, Sheffield and Doncaster. It would cut the journey time to Leeds to just half an hour. At the moment, it takes an hour to go the short 30-mile journey. 

Rotherham Central and the city centre would be connected by Gateway with a tram-train link, bus services and active travel options.

Rotherham Council hopes to open the new station by the late 2030s, and believes it will bring 1,000 highly-skilled jobs and crowd in more than £1bn of private investment. 

It would build on successes in the borough, with the area already having the biggest productivity growth in the country over the last two decades.

Coun Read said the £300m project will “transform our rail connectivity, create a thousand jobs and facilitate thousands of new homes”. 

“It could be the single biggest thing we can do to lift the future prospects of Rotherham’s economy," he added.

The council is currently coming up with a detailed design of the station, including the tram-train link and bus stop.

The Department for Transport is currently reviewing the outline business case, and the council hopes funding will be released to put together a full business plan.

South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard has already committed £11.35m of devolved funding towards the full business case. 

He told The Yorkshire Post: “It’s a project that I’m really excited about. 

“The investment that is potentially going to go into Rotherham as a result of the mainline station and everything else besides is hugely exciting.

“I’m right behind the project and I know the council have put in a huge amount of work.

“We’re talking to the Government about what they might be able to do, if we can get that motoring then it’s a huge opportunity, not just for Rotherham but the whole of South Yorkshire.”