Ashburys railway station is in Openshaw,

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, on the Manchester-Glossop Line at its junction with the Hope Valley line and the freight line to Phillips Park Junction. It has been open since 1855 and is the nearest railway station to the City of Manchester Stadium.

History

It was built and opened by the

Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway The Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway was an early British railway company which opened in stages between 1841 and 1845 between Sheffield and Manchester via Ashton-under-Lyne. The Peak District formed a formidable barrier, and ...

on its line from Manchester Store Street station to

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, in 1855. First appearing in

Bradshaw's Guide ''Bradshaw's'' was a series of railway Public transport timetable, timetables and travel guide books published by W.J. Adams and later Henry Blacklock, both of London. They are named after founder George Bradshaw, who produced his first timet ...

in July, in November it was referred to as Ashburys for Openshaw, then in August 1856, as Ashburys for Belle Vue. There is no actual place of this name near this station. It was named after the Ashbury Railway Carriage & Iron Company which built it for £175 in 1855. This company flourished from 1841 until 1902 when it moved to Saltley in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, merging with the Metropolitan Amalgamated Railway Carriage & Wagon Company. Examples of its rolling stock survive to this day on preserved railways all over the world. It became part of the

Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) was formed in 1847 when the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway joined with authorised but unbuilt railway companies, forming a proposed network from Manchester to Grimsb ...

during mergers in 1847. That line changed its name to the

Great Central Railway The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the ...

in 1897. Joining the

London, Midland & Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...

during the

Grouping Grouping may refer to: * Muenchian grouping * Principles of grouping * Railways Act 1921, also known as Grouping Act, a reorganisation of the British railway system * Grouping (firearms), the pattern of multiple shots from a sidearm See also ...

of 1923, the station passed on to the

London Midland Region of British Railways The London Midland Region (LMR) was one of the six regions created on the formation of the nationalised British Railways (BR), and initially consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) lines in England, Wales and Northern Irela ...

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

in 1948. When Sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s, the station was served by

Regional Railways Regional Railways was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982 that existed until 1997, two years after privatisation. The sector was originally called ''Provincial''. Regional Railways was the most subsidised (per pas ...

under arrangement with the Greater Manchester PTE until the

privatisation of British Rail The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, it had been completed by 1997. The deregulation of the industr ...

. The main station buildings, subway and a third platform face survived until the end of the 1980s, but all have since been removed.

Electrification and signalling

The line was electrified at

25 kV AC Railway electrification systems using alternating current (AC) at are used worldwide, especially for high-speed rail. It is usually supplied at the standard utility frequency (typically 50 or 60Hz), which simplifies traction substations. The d ...

on 10 December 1984, replacing the 1500 V DC electrification inaugurated on 14 June 1954 by British Railways as part of the Manchester-Sheffield-Wath scheme via the

Woodhead Tunnel The Woodhead Tunnels are three parallel trans- Pennine long railway tunnels on the Woodhead Line, a former major rail link from Manchester to Sheffield in Northern England. The western portals of the tunnels are at Woodhead in Derbyshire and ...

. There was also a signal box here, which controlled the junctions and various sidings. The signal box, opened in 1906 by the

, closed in 2011, when control was transferred to the Manchester East signalling control centre. The new WCML North

Rail Operating Centre A rail operating centre (ROC) is a building that houses all signallers, signalling equipment, ancillaries and operators for a specific region or route on the United Kingdom's main rail network. The ROC supplants the work of several other signal ...

is located a short distance east of the station, next to the line to Guide Bridge. This opened in 2014 (one of 11 such centres either built or being planned in the UK) and will eventually control signalling across most of the routes across the North West England, including the northern end of the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

and the entire Manchester area network.

Future

Under the Greater Manchester TIF programme, Ashburys would have received improvements. However, despite TIF not going ahead, it is still to receive safety, security and passenger information improvements, when funding can be obtained. Other long term proposals include the Manchester - Marple Tram Train scheme, which was on a 'reserve list' of TIF schemes. Significant new infrastructure works would be required between Piccadilly and Ashburys station, known as 'Piccadilly Link'. It would be incorporated within a major

mixed-use development Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to some ...

by Grangefield Estates, known as 'Chancellor Place', around the former Mayfield Station site.

Facilities

The station is unstaffed and has no permanent buildings (other than standard waiting shelters) or ticket provision, so all tickets must be bought on the train or prior to travel. Train running information is provided by digital display screens and timetable posters. No step-free access is available, as the station is above street level and the only access offered is via staircase and footbridge. This is the nearest station to

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

's stadium City of Manchester Stadium as it is a 15-20 minute walk.

Services

Today, Ashburys is a station with two platforms served by half-hourly trains between and , plus certain services toward and .GB eNRT, May 2022 Edition, Tables 78 & 79 Other services frequently pass through the station without stopping. The station is operated by

Northern Trains Northern Trains, branded as Northern, (legally Northern Trains Limited) is a State-owned enterprises of the United Kingdom, publicly owned train operating company in England. It is owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT) ...

Notes

References

*Radford, B., (1988) ''Midland Though The Peak'' Unicorn Books * *
Station on navigable O. S. map

External links

{{Railway stations in Greater Manchester Railway stations in Manchester DfT Category F2 stations Former Great Central Railway stations Northern franchise railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1855