Plumley railway station serves the village of

Plumley Plumley is a village and civil parish in Cheshire, England, with a population of 643 at the 2011 census. There are two public houses, The Golden Pheasant and The Smoker. Plumley railway station is on the Mid-Cheshire Line and has regular ser ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county 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 ...

. The station is 20½ miles (33 km) east of

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

on the Mid-Cheshire Line 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 ...

History

The station was opened as ''Plumbley railway station'' on 1 January 1863 as part of the

Cheshire Midland Railway The Cheshire Midland Railway was authorised by an Act of Parliament, passed on 14 June 1860, to build a railway from Altrincham on the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway (MSJAR) to Northwich. History The 1860 Act was promoted b ...

. The station was renamed to ''Plumley'' on 1 February 1945. Goods traffic started from 1 May 1863, the goods yard was to the north of the station and was equipped with a 5-ton crane. The goods yard closed on 3 February 1963. There was an additional station west of Plumbley called ''Plumbley West Platform'' which opened for passengers around 1915 but was closed by September 1926. As of the December 2008 timetable, there were two additional weekday peak services to and from Stockport. On Sundays, a two-hourly service to Chester and Manchester was introduced, with the latter continuing to

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

, via

Wigan Wallgate Wigan Wallgate railway station is one of two railway stations serving the town centre of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. The station serves two routes, the Manchester-Southport Line and the Manchester- Kirkby Line. It is 16 miles north-w ...

and

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

. Prior to the new service, trains to Manchester had not operated on Sundays since the early 1990s. Passengers had to change at

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

on to the

Manchester Metrolink Manchester Metrolink (branded locally simply as Metrolink) is a tram/ light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. The network has 99 stops along of standard-gauge route, making it the most extensive light rail system in the United Kin ...

to continue their journeys. Services beyond Manchester were terminated in the May 2010 timetable change, with all current trains now calling at Manchester Piccadilly and no further. Additional weekday peak services to/from Stockport were suspended in 2020.

Facilities

The station is unstaffed and has basic amenities only (waiting shelters, CIS displays and timetable poster boards). A ticket vending machine is in place for purchase of tickets or promise to pay coupons and for the collection of pre-paid tickets. A public telephone is also provided to offer train running information. The main building is now privately owned and used as commercial premises. Step-free access is available to both platforms.

Service

The station gets one train per hour westbound to

and one train per hour eastbound to

Monday to Saturday. 18 trains per day run to Chester, with 17 running towards Manchester. On Sundays, there is a two-hourly service each way, with 7 trains in each direction. The majority of services are run by

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

Class 150 trains, with some Class 156's also serving the station. There have been repeated plans for a half-hourly service in each direction - it was a part of the 2015 franchise agreement - though this has been repeatedly delayed due to capacity constraints between Stockport and Manchester and is yet, as of January 2022, to be implemented.

Proposed future developments

As part of Northern's proposed December 2022 timetable (which focuses on additional services within the Manchester area), an additional 4 trains per day between Chester and Stockport (2 in each direction) have been proposed during peak hours on Mondays to Saturdays. These services are aimed at those who are commuting to and/or working in Manchester and Stockport. This change will increase the number of trains departing Chester on the line to 20 per day, with the number departing Stockport also increased to 20 per day. The 2 hourly Sunday service will remain the same, at 7 trains per day. >

References

External links

Mid-Cheshire Community Rail Partnership
Railway stations in Cheshire DfT Category F2 stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1863 Former Cheshire Lines Committee stations Northern franchise railway stations {{NorthWestEngland-railstation-stub