Stockport Railway Station
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Stockport railway station in
Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...
,
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 ...
, England, is 8 miles south-east of
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 ...
on 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 ...
to
London Euston Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city rail ...
.


History

The
Manchester and Birmingham Railway The Manchester and Birmingham Railway was built between Manchester and Crewe and opened in stages from 1840. Between Crewe and Birmingham, trains were worked by the Grand Junction Railway. The M&BR was merged into the London and North Western ...
opened in stages from Manchester and reached Stockport in 1840. The line ran from a temporary station in Manchester to another in Stockport at the north end of the uncompleted
Stockport Viaduct Stockport Viaduct carries the West Coast Main Line across the valley of the River Mersey in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England (). It is one of the largest brick structures in the United Kingdom and a major structure of the early railway age ...
. The temporary station, which was later renamed
Heaton Norris Heaton Norris is a suburb of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It is part of the Four Heatons, and neighbours Heaton Chapel, Heaton Mersey and Heaton Moor. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancash ...
, was Stockport's only station for more than two years. After the viaduct was completed, the M&BR built a station at its southern end as an experiment. The decision was prompted by complaints that the first station was a long way from the industrial parts of town and even farther from the residential districts on the south side. The second station opened on 15 February 1843 as Edgeley. By 1844, it was the town's principal station. Heaton Norris, at the north end of the viaduct, closed in 1959. The station was operated by the
London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...
and became part of the
London Midland and 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 ...
in 1923. In 1948,
British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
ran the system. Most lines into the station were electrified at 25 kV AC, using overhead wires, under the
British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
1955 Modernisation Plan Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...
; however, not all of the local lines were electrified.


Facilities

The station is positioned at high level above the valley of the
River Mersey The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed part ...
and with lifts that link a pedestrian underpass to central Stockport and Edgeley. The station is staffed, has a ticket office and ticket machines, customer service points, shops, toilets, waiting rooms, lifts from the station subway and step-free access to the platforms. In 2009, the station was identified as one of the ten worst category B interchange stations for mystery shopper assessment of fabric and environment and received a share of £50m funding for improvements.


Services


Current passenger routes

Trains running north-west serve ; some continue on to and beyond to , , , and . South-east from Stockport, express services run to and onwards to , and with local services running to and . The two southbound West Coast Main Line routes run via . One continues via and to and
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
; the other via and for through services to London and Birmingham and via and the Welsh Marches Line to
Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
, , and . Trains to Birmingham continue to destinations in the south of England such as via and . The Mid-Cheshire Line runs hourly westbound through , , to . The Stockport to Stalybridge Line, via
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 ...
, no longer has a regular passenger service. It was reduced from an hourly shuttle service to a once a week, one direction only skeleton service in the early 1990s. It now has two services a week, one in each direction on Saturday mornings. The main concourse opened in September 2004 in a development that included a new platform (
platform 0 Platform 0 is a platform number at various railway stations around the world. It is usually a result of constructing a new platform next to the existing platform 1. To avoid having to renumber and replace signage for all other platforms, as well a ...
) that only became fully operational at the beginning of March 2008. A pedestrian subway leads to the
island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...
s, which have a buffet and newsagent. The Monday–Saturday off-peak service pattern in trains per hour (tph) is:
Avanti West Coast Avanti West Coast is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership franchise. During November 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the Inter ...
*3 tph to *2 tph to via , calling alternately at and *1 tph to via and CrossCountry *1 tph to with some additional services at peak times *1 tph to via and of which 1 train per 2 hours continues to *4 tpd to via and ,
East Midlands Railway Abellio East Midlands Limited, trading as East Midlands Railway (EMR), is a train operating company in England, owned by Abellio, and is the current operator of the East Midlands franchise. History In March 2017, the Department for Transport a ...
*1 tph to via *1 tph to via and
TransPennine Express TransPennine Express (TPE), legally First TransPennine Express Limited, is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operates the TransPennine Express franchise. It runs regional and inter-city rail services between the major ci ...
*1 tph to *1 tph to via
Transport for Wales Rail Transport for Wales Rail Limited, branded as Transport for Wales and TfW Rail ( and ), is a Welsh publicly owned train operating company, a subsidiary of Transport for Wales (TfW), a Welsh Government-owned company. It commenced operations of t ...
*1 tph to *1 tph to / via and
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) ...
*6 tph to *1 tph to *1 tph to *1 tph to *1 tph to *1 tph to *1 tph to *1 train per week on Saturday to , via , and


Platform use

Platform 0 - Typically services to Hazel Grove, Buxton, Sheffield, Norwich, Nottingham and Cleethorpes (opened in 2003). Platform 1 - southbound services to Macclesfield, Crewe, Stoke-on-Trent and Alderley Edge. It is also signalled for use by trains in the Manchester direction. Platform 2 - southbound platform for services to Stoke-on-Trent, Chester, Crewe, Alderley Edge, services to South Wales, London, Bristol, Bournemouth, Paignton and Plymouth. Platform 3 - mainly used by Fast services to Manchester Piccadilly along with services to Manchester Airport, Liverpool Lime Street, Blackpool North, Preston, Salford Crescent, Bolton, Wigan, Southport and Barrow-in-Furness. Platform 3a - used by the weekly
Parliamentary train A parliamentary train was a passenger service operated in the United Kingdom to comply with the Railway Regulation Act 1844 that required train companies to provide inexpensive and basic rail transport for less affluent passengers. The act req ...
from / to Stalybridge. Platform 4 - mainly used by stopping services to Manchester Piccadilly along with services to Manchester Airport, Liverpool Lime Street, Blackpool North, Preston, Salford Crescent, Bolton, Wigan, Southport and Barrow-in-Furness.


Non-stopping trains

It has been claimed that Stockport viaduct was built on condition that all passenger trains using it were required to stop at Stockport station. Local MP
Andrew Gwynne Andrew John Gwynne (born 4 June 1974) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Denton and Reddish since 2005. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Shadow Minister for Public Health since 2021 and previousl ...
commissioned research into the issue and reported "Sadly no such Act of Parliament exists, although it is common currency in the town that it does. I made enquiries with the House of Commons Library and the Parliamentary Archives back at the time some intercity trains stopped using Stockport. It appears it is purely an urban myth."


Interchange with other transport modes


Taxi

Passengers can board taxis from the
taxi rank A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...
located immediately outside the station entrance.


Bus

The bus stops immediately outside the station were previously served by the
Metroshuttle free bus is a zero-fare bus system that operates in Greater Manchester. The system was first introduced in Manchester city centre in 2002, with three routes linking the city's major thoroughfares and stations with its main commercial, financia ...
free bus service. This service was withdrawn in 2019, and as of 2020 the bus stops were only used by the infrequent service number 312 and occasionally rail replacement buses. The station is a short walk from Stockport bus station where most services can be accessed. As part of
Transport for Greater Manchester Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is the public body responsible for co-ordinating transport services throughout Greater Manchester in North West England. TfGM is responsible for investments in improving transport services and facilities. ...
's ''Stockport Interchange'' project, a new bridge to improve the walking route between the two facilities is planned to be built. Passengers can also use the bus stops on the nearby Wellington Road which are well-served by services, especially the 192 between Manchester Piccadilly and Hazel Grove, that are mostly operated by .


Tram

An extension to the Metrolink line from
East Didsbury Didsbury is a suburban area of Manchester, England, on the north bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 26,788. Within the boundaries of the Historic counti ...
to Stockport was planned in 2004 and the
Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive was the public body responsible for public transport in Greater Manchester between 1974 and 2011, when it became part of Transport for Greater Manchester. SELNEC PTE Until 1969, the conurbati ...
applied for powers to build it. The project came to a halt when the ''Big Bang'' extension was stopped due to the loss of potential funding. As a result, there is currently no tram interchange at Stockport station. The proposed extension would have reused some of the former railway alignment, but some of it was built on or filled in after closure. This made re-opening more difficult and the proposed line would have included new infrastructure and street running sections to take it into Stockport. The line would have terminated at Stockport bus station.


See also

* Stockport Tiviot Dale railway station


References


Further reading

*


External links

{{coord, 53, 24, 21, N, 2, 9, 45, W, type:railwaystation_region:GB, display=title Railway stations in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport DfT Category B stations Former London and North Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1843 Railway stations served by CrossCountry Railway stations served by East Midlands Railway Northern franchise railway stations Railway stations served by TransPennine Express Railway stations served by Transport for Wales Rail Railway stations served by Avanti West Coast 1843 establishments in England Proposed Manchester Metrolink tram stops Stations on the West Coast Main Line Transport in Stockport