Meadowhall Interchange rail platforms opened on 21 March 1994. The section of line from Meadowhall to Fitzalan Square, in the city centre, was the first phase of the network to open. Meadowhall Interchange was selected as the initial site for Sheffield's High Speed 2 station, with a high-level viaduct station planned to be constructed parallel to the M1 motorway's Tinsley Viaduct adjacent to the mainline station. However, these plans were eventually dropped, with plans for High Speed 2 services to instead serve Sheffield station in the city centre. As part of the plans for High Speed 2, proposals were put forward for
Valley Park Retail Area to a development company who split it in to different stores with DFS as the main anchor store . Valley Park Retail park was completed in 1996 The retail area is the main shopping park and includes big name stores such as DFS, which has operated on the same site since 1996. A branch of Philip Green's Arcadia Group Outfit chain is located in the park. Other stores include Sports Direct, Next, Boots and B&Q. B&Q's store is in a separate warehouse and has its own car park. The leisure park opened in late 1995/early 1996 with Megabowl and Ritz