Work on the Sheffield and Rotherham Railway commenced in February 1837, with Brightside Cutting being the first structure undertaken.[3] The station opened on 1 November 1838,[4] at the same time as the Sheffield and Rotherham Railway from Wicker station and had two platforms although four tracks went through. The two outside tracks were for freight use whilst the two inside tracks were used by both stopping and express trains. The station was just over 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Sheffield railway station, and 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south of Rotherham.[5] Brightside did not have any goods facilities, however, a goods yard and several sidings were located to the immediate south of the station.[6][7]
Despite the opening of Meadowhall Interchange in 1990, the station remained open until 1995.[8] A limited service had continued in its last three years and the station was closed, but all remaining trains could be caught at Meadowhall.[9]
Both platforms remain today albeit stripped of their features and in a bad state of repair; the standard South Yorkshire style bus shelters which had replaced the station buildings by the early 1980s were removed in early 2006. The footbridge remains open a public right of way from Dearne Street to Station Lane, however access to the platforms has been blocked off since the station's closure. Only three lines run through the station site; the line furthest east (the former up slow line towards Sheffield) has been removed.[10][11]
^Body, Geoffrey (1986). Railways of the Eastern Region. Vol. 1, Southern operating area. Wellingborough: Stephens. p. 145. ISBN0850597129.
^Tuffrey, Peter (2011). South Yorkshire railway stations : Adwick-le-Street to Wortley. Stroud: Amberley. p. 25. ISBN1445601222.
^Drake, James (1840). Drake's Road Book of the Sheffield and Rotherham Railway : with a visiter's guide to the towns of Sheffield and Rotherham. London: Hayward and Moore. p. 4. OCLC1110190681.
^Shannon, Paul (2019). British railway infrastructure since 1970 : an historical overview. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword. p. 61. ISBN1526734796.
^Yonge, John (1988). British rail track diagrams. Exeter: Quail Map Co. 15. ISBN0-900609-55-9.