The South Manchester Line (SML) is a
tram
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
line of 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 Ki ...
in
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...
running from
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 ...
city centre to
Didsbury. The line was opened as far as St. Werburgh's Road in 2011 and then to East Didsbury in 2013 as part of phase three of the system's expansion, and runs entirely along a former railway trackbed.
Route
![South Manchester Line](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/South_Manchester_Line.png)
From Manchester city centre, the line follows the
Altrincham Line
The Altrincham Line is a tram line of the Manchester Metrolink running from Manchester to Altrincham in Greater Manchester. Originally a railway line, it was, along with the Bury Line, converted into a tramway during 1991–92, as part of the fir ...
as far as , after which it diverges south-east on a grade separated junction, passing the Trafford Metrolink tram depot. The line then continues south-east along a former railway alignment serving stops at , and . This stretch is shared with trams on the
Airport Line, which diverges south just after St Werburgh's Road.
The line then continues south-east serving stops at , , and , to its terminus at , which is a short distance away from
East Didsbury railway station
East Didsbury is a suburban railway station in south Manchester, England. On the Styal Line between Longsight (Slade Lane Junction) and Wilmslow, it is served by - and trains operated by Northern Trains, - services operated by Transport for ...
.
History
Pre-Metrolink
![Midland to Manchester](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Midland_to_Manchester.jpg)
The line was originally a suburban railway, the
Manchester South District Railway
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 two ...
(MSDR), which was opened by the
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...
in 1880, in order to allow Midland Railway expresses from London to reach station. The line ran south from Manchester Central to . The line was partially transferred to the ownership of the
Cheshire Lines Committee
The Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) was formed in the 1860s and became the second-largest joint railway in Great Britain. The committee, which was often styled the Cheshire Lines Railway, operated of track in the then counties of Lancashire a ...
in 1891, and remained in their ownership until nationalisation in 1948.
From the beginning, the line carried both a regular local service between Manchester Central and Stockport Tiviot Dale (these were known as the South District trains), trains to , and long distance Midland Railway expresses to London, running via and .
[
In 1892 the Fallowfield Loop Line was opened, from Chorlton to ; this had been built by the ]Manchester, Sheffield and 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 ...
(MSLR) so that trains from their main line between Manchester and Sheffield, via
Woodhead, could access Manchester Central Station.[
In 1901 the Midland Railway opened a new line between and ]New Mills
New Mills is a town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England, south-east of Stockport and from Manchester at the confluence of the River Goyt and Sett. It is close to the border with Cheshire and above the Torrs, a deep gorge cut t ...
via . The new line was built to provide a faster route to the south for express services, avoiding Stockport Tiviot Dale. From this date, many South District services ran to Cheadle Heath, which was provided as an interchange station so that passengers could transfer between long distance and local trains. Express services were using the new route by July 1902.[
Local passenger traffic on the line went into sharp decline in the 1950s and 60s, leading to the closure of Tiviot Dale station, and withdrawal of the local South District services in January 1967. Express trains continued to run until May 1969, when Manchester Central station was closed, after this, the line between Chorlton and Cheadle Heath was closed, and the track lifted in 1970. The route between Manchester and Chorlton which formed part of the Fallowfield Loop Line, continued in use by freight trains until 1989, when the track was lifted.][
]
Partial reopening as a Metrolink line
Proposals to reopen the line for light rail use had been made in the 1980s, but the necessary funding only materialised in the 2000s, to reopen the line as far as East Didsbury as part of the third phase
Third phase is the term for a stable emulsion which forms in a liquid–liquid extraction when the original two phases (aqueous and organic) are mixed.
The third phase can be caused by a detergent (surfactant) or a fine solid. While third phase is ...
of the system's expansion, which also included new lines to Oldham and Rochdale, Ashton-under-Lyne
Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, east of Manche ...
and Manchester Airport.
Clearance work started in October 2008, and the first stage; the 1.8 miles (3 km) from to was opened on 7 July 2011.[
The second stage, the 2.8 miles (4.5 km) from St Werburgh's Road to East Didsbury was opened on 23 May 2013.]
Proposed future development
![Metrolink map proposals](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Metrolink_map_proposals.svg)
Stockport extension
2004 proposal
An extension to the line from East Didsbury to Stockport was planned in 2004, and GMPTE applied for powers to build it. However, the process came to a halt when the ''big bang'' extension was stopped.
The proposed extension would have reused some of the former railway alignment. However some of it was built on or filled in after closure, making re-opening more difficult, so the proposed line would have included some new infrastructure and street running sections to take it into Stockport. In these plans, the line would have terminated at Stockport bus station.[
]
Tram-train proposal
Stockport MBC
Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council is the local authority for the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The council is currently run by a Liberal Democrat minority administration. At the 2022 local elections, the ...
commissioned a study from the firm Atkins into the potential for the use of tram-train
A tram-train is a type of light rail vehicle that meets the standards of a light rail system (usually an urban street running tramway), but which also meets national mainline standards permitting operation alongside mainline trains. This all ...
s on local railway lines in the area, which would be able to use both existing Metrolink lines, and existing heavy rail lines. The report, published in January 2015, proposed that the line from East Didsbury could be extended via a link to existing railway lines into both Stockport railway station
Stockport railway station in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England, is 8 miles south-east of Manchester Piccadilly on the West Coast Main Line to London Euston.
History
The Manchester and Birmingham Railway opened in stages from Manchester an ...
, and to Hazel Grove railway station.
Services
As of February 2017, the following services operate on the East Didsbury Line:
*A 12-minute interval service from East Didsbury to .
*A second service operates every 12 minutes from East Didsbury, terminating at . This service operates during Monday to Saturday daytimes and early evenings.
These two services combined mean that trams operate every six minutes between central Manchester and East Didsbury during Monday to Saturday daytimes.
References
External links
LRTA entry on this line
{{Manchester Metrolink stations
Manchester Metrolink lines
Transport in Manchester
Former railway lines converted to Manchester Metrolink lines