Sandbach railway station serves the town of
Sandbach
Sandbach (pronounced ) is the name of a historic market town and a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. The civil parish contains four settlements: Sandbach itself as the largest, Elworth, Ettiley Heath a ...
in
Cheshire,
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 miles (8 km) north-east of
Crewe on the
Crewe to Manchester Line
Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston, ...
.
Although the station is named ''Sandbach'', it is sited in the local residential suburb of
Elworth
Elworth is a village in the county of Cheshire, located in the North West of England, and is a suburb of the town of Sandbach, located approximately one mile eastward.
Elworth is known for its industrial past, having historically been the home ...
on the A533 road, which links the town with
Middlewich
Middlewich is a town in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, east of Chester, east of Winsford, southeast of Northwich and northwest of Sandbach. The population at the 2011 Census was 13,595 ...
and
Northwich.
History
Sandbach was a double junction on the
LNWR
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 L ...
and later
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 ...
line from
Crewe to
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 ...
. For many years, Sandbach was a junction for the single line branch to Middlewich and
Northwich railway station
Northwich railway station serves the town of Northwich in Cheshire, England. The station has two platforms and is located on the Mid-Cheshire line southwest of Manchester Piccadilly.
History
The first railway to reach the town was the Che ...
; opening on 1 July 1868, it closed for passenger service in January 1960, but it still carries freight on a daily basis. Even earlier, the
North Staffordshire Railway
The North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) was a British railway company formed in 1845 to promote a number of lines in the Staffordshire Potteries and surrounding areas in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and Shropshire.
The company was based ...
branch from Kidsgrove to Sandbach via Lawton Junction ceased passenger service in July 1930 and closed to freight traffic in 1964.
Services
On Mondays to Saturdays during the daytime, there are two trains per hour to Crewe southbound, with one per hour to
Manchester Piccadilly and one per hour to
Liverpool Lime Street
Liverpool Lime Street is a terminus railway station and the main station serving the city centre of Liverpool. Opened in August 1836, it is the oldest still-operating grand terminus mainline station in the world. A branch of the West Coast ...
northbound. The Piccadilly service operates via
Stockport (calling at all stations en route) and the Liverpool service travels via
Styal and
St Helens Junction (calling at most stations en route). There is an hourly service during the evening in each direction via Stockport.
On Sundays, there is a two-hourly service in each direction, northbound via Stockport.
Sandbach has three platforms:
*Platform 1 for southbound trains to Crewe.
*Platform 2 for northbound services to Manchester Piccadilly and Liverpool Lime Street.
*Platform 3 is bidirectional, which used on weekday mornings and as required.
Facilities
The station has a ticket office on platform 1; this is staffed part-time on Mondays to Saturdays only (Monday - Friday 06:30 - 13:00, Saturday 07:20 - 13:50).
Outside these times, tickets must be purchased prior to travel or on board the train. A waiting room on platforms 2 and 3 is open at the times the station is staffed, whilst there are shelters on both sides. Train running details are offered via timetable posters, digital CIS displays and by telephone. No step-free access is available, as the footbridge to platforms 2 and 3 does not have ramps and the Crewe platform has steps from the car park.
References
Further reading
*
External links
Crewe-Manchester Community Rail Partnership
Sandbach
Railway stations in Cheshire
DfT Category E stations
Former London and North Western Railway stations
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1842
Northern franchise railway stations
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