Rotherham Central railway station is in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The station was originally named "Rotherham", becoming "Rotherham and Masborough" in January 1889 and finally "Rotherham Central" on 25 September 1950.
The station has retained its "Central" suffix, despite being the only railway station in Rotherham since the closure of in 1988.
History
thumb|left|The station in 2004 before renovation
This is the fourth station to be built, within the town centre, on the line from . The first, a single platform terminus was built on what became the coal yard by the South Yorkshire Railway (SYR). Today this approximates to the land off Brinsworth Street below the bridge which carries the Inner Relief Road over the railway. The SYR could not gain permission to pass below the already built line of the Sheffield and Rotherham Railway, opened in 1838. A few years later and following amalgamation into the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR), a scheme was developed to fill the South Yorkshire Navigation, a canal already owned by that railway company and divert its course into the nearby River Don. As the Navigation already passed below the Sheffield and Rotherham line this would solve the problem, although until recent years the line was prone to flooding. The SYR already had a single line from Mexborough, on its Barnsley to Doncaster line, towards Rotherham, running alongside the canal but only as far as the pottery and brickworks at Kilnhurst, leaving a gap of almost between. When the through line was completed a new, although temporary Rotherham station was built in the cut with access from the road above named "Amen Corner". This served the town from 1 August 1868. The line between Rotherham and Mexborough opened for goods traffic on 13 March 1871; passenger services began on 3 April 1871 but these continued to use the temporary station until the permanent Rotherham Central station was opened on 1 February 1874. This was an elongated affair with staggered platforms and a large stone main building adjacent to the "Statutes Fair Ground" (now the site of Rotherham's main police station). Originally the access was from Main Street, at the Sheffield end, and College Road, at the Doncaster end. In January 1889 this station was renamed Rotherham and Masborough. with a temporary station entrance being constructed, expected to come into operation during March. The temporary station opened on Friday 9 July and the old travel centre demolished a month later. After being dogged by delays, the new station buildings and platforms opened for public use on Friday 24 February 2012.
Tram-train
Rotherham Central is also served by the South Yorkshire Supertram tram-train, running two services per hour between in Sheffield and Parkgate in Rotherham. The service opened in 2018.
Planned new station
In September 2023 Rotherham Council announced plans to build a new station and tram stop in the Parkgate area.
In February 2025, it was announced this new station would be named 'Rotherham Gateway', and serve regional, mainline and tram services in the Parkgate area of Rotherham, including trains to Leeds and York. It is planned to open in 2031.
Services
National Rail
Currently, the station has an hourly service on weekdays to Doncaster (most of these extended through to Adwick) and hourly to Wakefield and , along with two trains per hour to Meadowhall and Sheffield. Three trains per day operate in each direction to York via the Dearne Valley Line.
On Sundays, the station is served by an hourly service to Doncaster, a train every hour to Leeds (previously, it was every 2 hours) and usually two trains per hour to Sheffield. There is no Sunday service to Pontefract Baghill and York.
TransPennine Express operates a very limited service from the station. There is one train per day westbound from to Manchester and Liverpool in the early morning, Monday to Saturday. There are no eastbound or evening services which call at the station.
The line through Rotherham Masborough railway station survives, and is used by fast passenger services between Sheffield and Leeds/York to bypass Rotherham Central station. Freight services using the "Old Road", the original North Midland Railway line to reach Chesterfield, avoiding Sheffield also traverse this route.
The 2019 United Kingdom floods caused severe disruption to train and tram-train services running through the station, as the station and lines in the area were flooded. The tram-train service, and the Sheffield to Leeds (via Moorthorpe) route were both suspended.
South Yorkshire Supertram
Rotherham Central stop opened on the local Supertram network here on 25 October 2018, and currently operates two tram-trains per hour northward to Parkgate and southward to in Sheffield city centre. The trams are low-floor, meaning they have to call at their own separate low-level platforms. They are numbered 3 & 4, and located to the south of the station. They are connected to the main National Rail platforms via ramps.