Chorlton is a stop on the South Manchester Line (SML) and Airport Line of the Metrolink light-rail system in

Chorlton-cum-Hardy Chorlton-cum-Hardy is a suburban area of Manchester, England, southwest of the city centre. Chorlton ward had a population of 14,138 at the 2011 census, and Chorlton Park 15,147. By the 9th century, there was an Anglo-Saxon settlement her ...

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. It was built as part of Phase 3a of the network's expansion, and opened on 7 July 2011 on a section of the former

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 ...

railway.

History

Railway station

Chorlton-cum-Hardy railway station opened on 1 January 1880 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 ...

on 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 ...

. It later became Cheshire Lines Committee and closed on 2 January 1967 as part of the Beeching Axe, though the line through Fallowfield remained open to freight until the 1980s. Until the mid-20th century the station yard supplied coal to the district. Land to the north-east of the track originally acquired for the purpose of doubling it was eventually sold off for development. The station was mentioned in the 1964 song " Slow Train" by

Flanders and Swann Flanders and Swann were a British comedy duo. Lyricist, actor and singer Michael Flanders (1922–1975) and composer and pianist Donald Swann (1923–1994) collaborated in writing and performing comic songs. They first worked together in a scho ...

, which was written to lament the loss of stations resulting from the Beeching cuts: Chorlton station was subsequently demolished and a

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headqu ...

(originally Safeway) supermarket and car park built in its place, although the track bed remained extant to the side of the supermarket and part of one of the platforms survives next to the supermarket building. The derelict line became overgrown until 2001, when the track bed of the old Fallowfield Loop Line branch running east of Chorlton towards Alexandra Park and was converted to 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 ...

cycle track A cycle track, separated bike lane or protected bike lane (sometimes historically referred to as a sidepath) is an exclusive bikeway that has elements of a separated path and on-road bike lane. A cycle track is located within or next to the r ...

. The route is run by

Sustrans Sustrans is a United Kingdom-based walking, wheeling and cycling charity, and the custodian of the National Cycle Network. Its flagship project is the National Cycle Network, which has created of signed cycle routes throughout the United K ...

and forms part of Routes 6 and 60 of the

National Cycle Network The National Cycle Network (NCN) is the national cycling route network of the United Kingdom, which was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout Britain, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the cha ...

. The remaining Cheshire Lines Committee lines from Chorlton from Manchester Central towards Disbury remained disused and overgrown for another 10 years.

Manchester Metrolink station

Proposals to link Chorlton to a light rail system had been put forward since the 1980s, – publicity brochure but remained unfunded for over 20 years. The extension that was originally proposed would have taken over the disused tracks of the Cheshire Lines Committee as far as East Didsbury. In 2006, it was announced that the first phase of the "Big Bang" Metrolink expansion project (Phase 3A) would go ahead, including the extension to St Werburgh's Road. Following the rejection of the Greater Manchester Transport Innovation Fund in a public referendum in 2008, extension of the line to East Didsbury (Phase 3B) was completed with funding from national and local government. Construction of the line began in April 2009 and it opened in July 2011. The first services towards East Didsbury began in June 2013.

Services

Chorlton is served by the three lines;

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

to East Didsbury,

Shaw and Crompton Shaw and Crompton is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which contains the town of Shaw and lies on the River Beal at the foothills of the South Pennines. It is located north of Oldham, south ...

to East Didsbury and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

to Manchester Airport. Each line operates at a frequency of one tram every 12 minutes providing a combined frequency of approximately one tram every 4 minutes in both directions. On the Rochdale to East Didsbury line, the last evening north-bound services (the last 2–3 dependent on day of week) terminate at

Manchester Victoria Manchester Victoria station in Manchester, England is a combined mainline railway station and Metrolink tram stop. Situated to the north of the city centre on Hunts Bank, close to Manchester Cathedral, it adjoins Manchester Arena which was co ...

. Before the East Didsbury extension was completed in May 2013, southeast bound services terminated at St Werburgh's Road. An extension from there to Manchester Airport was opened on 3 November 2014. St Werburgh's road acts as the

interchange station An interchange station or a transfer station is a train station for more than one railway route in a public transport system that allows passengers to change from one route to another, often without having to leave a station or pay an additiona ...

for services between the East Didsbury and Manchester Airport forks of the line. Northbound trams from Manchester Airport terminate at

station.

Service pattern

*12 minute service to with double trams in the peak *12 minute service to with double trams in the peak *12 minute service to

with single trams (every 20 minutes before 6 am) *6 minute service to with double trams in the peak *12 minute service to with single trams (every 20 minutes before 6 am)

Connecting bus routes

Chorlton station is served by several bus services either outside the stop or in Chorlton centre.

Stagecoach Manchester Stagecoach ManchesterCompanies House extract company no 2818654

service 85 both stop outside the stop and run eastbound to Manchester the 85 terminates nearby at Chorlton bus station. Stagecoach/service 168 also stops outside and runs from Chorlton to

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 ...

via

Fallowfield Fallowfield is a suburb of Manchester, England, with a population at the 2011 census of 15,211. Historically in Lancashire, it lies south of Manchester city centre and is bisected east–west by Wilmslow Road and north–south by Wil ...

Longsight Longsight is an inner city suburb of Manchester, England, located south of the city centre. It is bounded by Ardwick and West Gorton to the north; Levenshulme to the south; and Chorlton-on-Medlock, Victoria Park and Fallowfield to the west ...

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 Hig ...

and

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 ...

. M travel service 276, which also stops outside, runs to

Withington Community Hospital Withington Community Hospital is a hospital in south Manchester, England, managed by the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. History Originally known as the Chorlton Barlow Moor Work House, the hospital was purpose-built in 1854–55 a ...

and to Trafford General Hospital via Stretford. Other services that stop nearby are Stagecoach service 24, which runs to Stockport and MediaCityUK, Stagecoach services 23/23A/25, which also run to Trafford Centre and Stockport, and Stagecoach service 86, which runs to Manchester.

Gallery

File:Remains of Chorlton cum Hardy railway station.JPG, The derelict station awaiting redevelopment File:Cheadle, CHorlton, Heaton Mersey & Northenden RJD 149.jpg, 1914 map of South Manchester railways File:Metrolink extension to Chorlton.jpg, Metrolink construction work on the line near Chorlton File:Metrolink phase south manchester line.png, Map of the planned South Manchester line extensions File:ChorltonStationOct2010.jpg, October 2010

References

* Butt, R. V. J. (1995) ''The Directory of Railway Stations''. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens.

External links

Metrolink stop information

Chorlton area map
– map of the plans (Urban Transport Technology)
Chorlton-cum-Hardy railway station in Disused Stations database
{{Greater Manchester Metrolink stations Tram stops in Manchester Former Cheshire Lines Committee stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1880 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1967 Manchester South District Line Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 2011 Beeching closures in England Tram stops on the East Didsbury to Rochdale line 1880 establishments in England 1967 disestablishments in England 2011 establishments in England