Fairfield railway station serves the Fairfield area of

Droylsden Droylsden is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, east of Manchester city centre and west of Ashton-under-Lyne, with a population at the 2011 Census of 22,689. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, in the ...

Tameside The Metropolitan Borough of Tameside is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in England. It is named after the River Tame, Greater Manchester, River Tame, which flows through the borough, and includes the towns of Ashton-under-Lyne, Aud ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

and is located east of

Manchester Piccadilly station Manchester Piccadilly is the principal railway station in Manchester, England. Opened as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchester Piccadilly in 1960. Located to the south-east of Manchester city ...

. It was opened by 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 ...

in 1892, when the

Fallowfield Loop The Fallowfield Loop is an off-road cycle path, pedestrian and horse riding route in the south of Manchester, England, which is one of the National Cycle Network routes and paths; it was developed and built by Sustrans, forming part of routes 6 ...

to Manchester Central opened; it replaced an earlier station that had opened on the line in 1841, west of the present site. For a suburban station, Fairfield has very low passenger usage.

History

Fairfield station, originally known as ''Fairfield for Droylsden'', was a junction with a pair of lines from the east breaking off and running to the south; this thereby facilitated a route, called the Fallowfield Loop, to Longsight, south Manchester and Manchester Central station. By means of a switchback to Gorton and Openshaw, this branch enabled the turning round of locomotives without need for a turntable in the area. This could have been invaluable for servicing both the Guide Bridge yards and the facilities of

Gorton Gorton is an area of Manchester in North West England, southeast of the city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 36,055. Neighbouring areas include Levenshulme and Openshaw. A major landmark is Gorton Monastery, a 19th-century Hi ...

and

Beyer, Peacock & Company Beyer, Peacock and Company was an English railway locomotive manufacturer with a factory in Openshaw, Manchester. Founded by Charles Beyer, Richard Peacock and Henry Robertson, it traded from 1854 until 1966. The company exported locomotives, ...

locomotive factories. The Fallowfield Loop line was closed to passenger services in July 1958 and to all traffic in 1988. The station currently has two platforms but, for many years, it had six, with two island platforms and two side platforms. Two were used for local services; two for Woodhead Line express services between Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield Victoria; and two for services and movements to

Reddish Electric Depot Reddish Electric Depot was an electric traction depot located in Reddish, Stockport, England. It was situated on the west side of the Fallowfield Loop line between Hyde Road and Levenshulme South stations; however, neither of the Reddish st ...

via the Fallowfield Loop. The station name was changed from ''Fairfield for Droylsden'' to ''Fairfield'' on 6 May 1974.

Facilities

The amenities offered at the unstaffed station are very basic, with no ticket provision or permanent buildings other than basic waiting shelters. Train running information is provided by telephone and timetable posters. No step-free access is provided, with only staircases in place to the main entrance from both platforms.

Services

At Fairfield, there is an hourly service to

Manchester Piccadilly Manchester Piccadilly is the principal railway station in Manchester, England. Opened as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchester Piccadilly in 1960. Located to the south-east of Manchester city ...

and towards Rose Hill Marple via Guide Bridge; the evening service is limited and there is no Sunday service.GB eNRT December 2016 Edition, Table 78 Manchester-Glossop Line trains do not serve Fairfield, running fast between and

Guide Bridge Guide Bridge is an area west of Ashton-under-Lyne, in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, Guide Bridge was built as a village around an eponymous bridge over the Ashton Canal. History Industries included Sco ...

References

External links

Droylsden Former Great Central Railway stations DfT Category F2 stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1841 Railway stations in Tameside Northern franchise railway stations {{GreaterManchester-railstation-stub