Altrincham Interchange is a

transport hub A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles and/or between mode of transport, transport modes. Public transport hubs include train station, railway stations, metro station, rapid transit stations, bus ...

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, England, owned and managed by the

Bee Network The Bee Network is an integrated transport network for Greater Manchester, comprising bus, tram, cycling and walking routes. Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is expected to have commuter rail services joining the network in 2028. Initial ...

. It consists of a

bus station A bus station, bus depot, or bus interchange is a structure where city buses or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. A bus station is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the roadside, where buses can st ...

on Stamford New Road, a

Northern Trains Northern Trains, Trade name, trading as Northern, is a British train operating company that operates Commuter rail, commuter and Inter-city rail, medium-distance intercity services in the North of England. It is owned by DfT Operator for the Dep ...

-operated

heavy rail Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas: Rapid transit A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid acceleratio ...

station on the

Mid-Cheshire Line The Mid-Cheshire line is a railway line in the north-west of England that runs from Chester railway station, Chester to Edgeley Junction in Stockport; it connects Chester with , via . After Chester Northgate railway station, Chester Northgate ...

, and a

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

stop which forms the terminus of

Manchester Metrolink Manchester Metrolink is a tram/light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. The network has List of Manchester Metrolink tram stops, 99 stops along of standard-gauge route, making it the Transport in the United Kingdom#Trams and light ra ...

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 fi ...

. The original heavy rail element of the station was opened by the

Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway The Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway (MSJ&AR) was a suburban railway which operated an route between Altrincham in Cheshire and Manchester London Road railway station (now Manchester Piccadilly station, Piccadilly) in Manches ...

as Altrincham and Bowdon railway station in April 1881, changing to Altrincham railway station in May 1974. The Metrolink element opened in June 1992. The Interchange underwent a complete redevelopment, at a cost of £19 million, starting in mid-July 2013. The new, redeveloped interchanged opened on 7 December 2014. The interchange joined the

on 5 January 2025, who operate the local buses and the Metrolink trams from the interchange. The trains running through Altrincham will join the

by 2030.

History

Altrincham Station entrance-Geograph-5694376

BR multiple unit at Altrincham station - geograph

The station was opened on 3 April 1881 as Altrincham & Bowdon by the

(MSJAR) to replace Altrincham (1st) railway station on Stockport Road and Bowdon station on Lloyd Street/Railway Street which both closed that day. All platforms were through, with Nos. 1 and 2 (nearest to the town) being used by the MSJAR. 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 and ...

(CLC) trains from Manchester Central to

Northwich Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane, east of Chester, south of Warrington and south of Ma ...

and Chester Northgate used platforms 3 and 4. The CLC also operated a service from via to Altrincham, latterly using

Sentinel Sentinel may refer to: Places Mountains * Mount Sentinel, a mountain next to the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana * Sentinel Buttress, a volcanic crag on James Ross Island, Antarctica * Sentinel Dome, a naturally occurring granit ...

steam railcars, but this service ceased in late 1939. The station 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 London and North Eastern Railway, LNER, Great Western Railway, GWR and Southern Railway (UK), SR. The London, Midland an ...

during the

Grouping Grouping generally refers to the creation of one or more groups, or to the groups themselves. More specifically, grouping may refer to: * Shot grouping in shooting sports and other uses of firearms * the use of symbols of grouping in mathemati ...

of 1923. The station then passed on to the

London Midland Region of British Railways The London Midland Region (LMR) was one of the six regions created on the formation of the nationalised British Railways (BR), and initially consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) lines in England, Wales and Northern Irela ...

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...

in 1948. Since 6 May 1974, the station has been named Altrincham. In 1975 a new booking office was opened on platform 4 to serve the car park on the site of the former goods yard. Also in 1975, work began to convert the former station forecourt on Stamford New Road into a bus station, and the Victorian glass-covered canopy over the station entrance was demolished. The new combined Altrincham Interchange bus/rail station was opened in November 1976. When Sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s, the station was served by Regional Railways under arrangement with the

Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) was the Passenger transport executive, public body responsible for public transport in Greater Manchester between 1974 and 2011, when it became part of Transport for Greater Manchester. SE ...

until the

privatisation of British Rail The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the Rail transport in Great Britain, railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, the process was largely compl ...

. Regional Railways electric trains between Manchester and Altrincham ceased serving the station on 24 December 1991. The former electric train platforms (1 and 2) reopened for use by Metrolink on 15 June 1992. A new roof for platform 1 costing £180,000 was installed in 2006. This platform had been uncovered since glazed panels were removed in 2003 due to safety concerns. The new roof is made of coated steel with clear panels to let in the light. The interchange joined the

on 5 January 2025. The

operate the local buses and the Metrolink) from the interchange, and will operate the trins running through the station by 2030. The station clock tower on Stamford New Road, erected in 1880, is a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

structure.

Redevelopment

The Interchange was redeveloped in 2013-15 by

Laing O'Rourke Laing O'Rourke is a multinational construction company headquartered in Dartford, England. It was founded in 1978 by Ray O'Rourke. It is the largest privately owned construction company in the United Kingdom. History The company was founded by ...

. The project was partly funded by the Local Sustainable Transport Fund. The interchange reopened on 7 December 2014, integrating Bus, Rail and Metrolink services again, although the lifts and some roofing in the railway station was not completed until 2015.

Services

Altrincham Interchange has four rail platforms. Two bay platforms are used for Metrolink services. Two further through platforms accommodate train services on the line between and via . Altrincham Interchange also has 5 bus stands, lettered as Stand A, Stand B, Stand C, Stand D and Stand E, used for picking up bus passengers. Most bus passengers are dropped off at one of 2 laybys located north of Stand A. There is also an extra layby opposite to stand C, however, it is not used for passengers.

Rail

There is a basic hourly service in each direction on the

Mid-Cheshire line The Mid-Cheshire line is a railway line in the north-west of England that runs from Chester railway station, Chester to Edgeley Junction in Stockport; it connects Chester with , via . After Chester Northgate railway station, Chester Northgate ...

on Mondays to Saturdays with two peak extras to/from , as of April 2025. The services run every 2 hours on Sundays, as of April 2025. The rail services are set to join the

by 2030.

Metrolink

There are frequent Metrolink services from Altrincham. The

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...

service runs daily. The first tram, on Mondays to Saturdays, runs at 05:48. These services typically run every 12 minutes. On Mondays to Thursdays, the last tram leaves Altrincham at 23:36. Late at night, extra services run from

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

, with the last running at 00:36. On Fridays and Saturdays, the service extends to

Etihad Campus Etihad Campus is an area of Sportcity, Manchester which is mostly owned and operated by Manchester City F.C., Manchester City. The campus includes the City of Manchester Stadium, Etihad Stadium, the Academy Stadium, City Football Academy (CFA) ...

from 8pm. The service continues to run every 12 minutes until 23:36, where it runs at 00:00, and 00:24. Extra services run from

late at night, with the last service leaving

at 01:09. All Piccadilly services extend to

on Sundays and public holidays, with the first tram at 06:51 and the last tram at 23:36, running every 15 minutes. Like Mondays to Saturdays, there are some extra late night services from

. The last of these services runs at 00:21. There is also an

to Bury service, which runs every 12 minutes from 7am to 8pm on Mondays to Fridays, and from 9am to 6:30pm on Saturdays. This service doesn't run on Sundays. This route usually operates via Market Street. Passengers can use the

service at other times, when that service is running, and change trams at

Piccadilly Gardens Piccadilly Gardens is a green space in Manchester city centre, England, on the edge of the Northern Quarter. It takes its name from the adjacent street, Piccadilly, which runs across the city centre from Market Street to London Road. The ga ...

to continue towards Bury. At times with both a Bury and a Piccadilly service, stations between Altrincham and

are served every 6 minutes. Altrincham is in Metrolink fare zone 4.

Bus services

Many local bus services operate from

. Most of these are

services, however, there are also external bus companies running services from Altrincham to outside of Greater Manchester. All Bee network currently cost £2 for a single / "hopper" ticket as of April 2025 and other services leaving Greater Manchester cost £3 for a single ticket, as of April 2025. Bee Network Services: 11 - Altrincham to Stockport (Stand B/C) 245 - Altrincham to Trafford Centre (Stand E) 247 - Altrincham to Trafford Centre (Stand C) 249 - Altrincham to Wythenshawe (Stand E) 263 - Altrincham to Manchester (Piccadilly Gardens) (Stand D) 279 - Altrincham to Lymm (Stand C) 280 - Altrincham to Dunham Woodhouses (Stand A) 281 - Altrincham to Sale (Manor Avenue) (Stand A) 282 - Altrincham to Oldfield Brow (Stand A) 283 - Altrincham / Hale Barns Circular (Stand A) 284 - Altrincham / Hale Barns Circular (Stand A) 285 - Altrincham / Timperley Circular (Stand A) 286 - Altrincham / Timperley Circular (Stand A) 287 - Altrincham to Bowdon Vale (Stand A) 288 - Altrincham to Manchester Airport (Stand B/C) 370 - Altrincham to Stockport (Stand B/C) 371 - Altrincham to Stockport (Stand B/C) Other Services: 5 - Altrincham to Warrington (Warrington's Own Buses) (Stand B) 88 - Altrincham to Knutsford (some services continue onto Macclesfield as the 87, with through tickets available) (D&G Bus) (Stand C)

Taxi services

There is also a

taxi rank A taxicab stand (also called taxi rank, cab stand, taxi stand, cab rank, or hack stand) is a queue area on a street or on private property where taxicabs line up to wait for passengers. Operation Stands are normally located at high-traffic l ...

, located on Stamford New Road.

References

* * *

External links

Metrolink Times and Stop Information

Altrincham Metrolink area map

Bus information
for Altrincham Interchange from

Transport for Greater Manchester Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is a local government body responsible for co-ordinating transport services throughout Greater Manchester in North West England. It is an executive arm of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), ...

Mid-Cheshire Community Rail Partnership

Altrincham Interchange updates
{{Buildings and structures in Trafford Borough Railway stations in Trafford DfT Category C2 stations Tram stops in Trafford Former Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1881 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1991 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1992 Railway stations served by Northern Bus stations in Greater Manchester Altrincham 1881 establishments in England Tram stops on the Altrincham – Bury route Tram stops on the Altrincham – Piccadilly/Etihad Campus route