It seems that if travellers try to book between Sheffield and Manchester they'll find their quickest journeys show as hourly on EMR via a change at Grindleford. Possibly not too good an idea? It doesn't point out the 600m steep (possibly icy) walk between the train and the main road near the Maynard Arms at Grindleford, or the minimal facilities for shelter on the station or by the road. It's not a good situation for anyone with heavy luggage or disability.
Second quickest is 2 hourly on the direct TPE bus substitute.
The alternating 2 hourly direct TPE train via Wakefield and Swinton takes longer and may not even appear in a search.
Feedback suggests there may be a lady stationed on the main road at Grindleford to direct people down to the station. There are no prominent notices (or any notices?) on the station directing people up to the main road, let alone warning how far it is. Maybe the lady goes down when a train is due but the report I had was that people were waiting by the station until regular station users told them they needed to go up to the road.
Apparently TPE's coach is good and probably the best option.
Access to Grindleford Station, especially in these icy conditions is not good, but at least the road down to the station is better surfaced and lit than it was in the past.
Around 35 years ago, in the early days of the hourly Liverpool-Norwich service, when they were Class 156 operated, I was travelling between Manchester and Alfreton on a very wet Saturday evening in early November. There were engineering works between Hathersage and Grindleford and we were due to board a replacement bus between those two stations. The train was very heavily loaded and I remember that there were a number of families returning to Sheffield, complete with pushchairs etc, from a day out in Blackpool as it was the last weekend of the illuminations. It had become obvious to the guard that the number of passengers on the train far exceeded the capacity of the replacement bus and so the train stopped at Edale where this was reported at the signal box.
On arrival at Hathersage, by then in pouring rain, the double decker bus was filled to capacity and I can remember standing with many others on the very crowded lower deck. On arrival at Grindleford, I remember everyone having to make their way down a very dark heavily potholed track to the station. There was just one member of staff who had a torch to help people with children and pushchairs to the waiting train. I often wondered how that would work today with health and safety to consider.
