The line from Leeds opened on 1 July 1840, and a corresponding service with trains form Sheffield was established. The first train from Leeds was scheduled to arrive at Masbrough 0945, but the train from Sheffield saw no sign of the Leeds train. Having left at 8 am, it arrived at 1030 due to weather conditions. The Sheffield portion of the train was attached at the back of the Leeds train, and it then progressed south. The train arrived in Derby at 1.15 pm. Popular railway travel for citizens of Sheffield arrived on Monday 28 September 1840 when the NMR ran a half-price excursion to Leeds. On the first day this operation, 61 carriages were pulled by 5 locomotives.