Guide Bridge railway station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Guide Bridge | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Place | Audenshaw |
| Local authority | Tameside |
| Operations | |
| Station code | GUI |
| Managed by | Northern Rail |
| Platforms in use | 2 |
| Annual entry/exit 04/05 | 0.130 million ** |
| History | |
| Key dates | Opened 1846 |
| National Rail - UK railway stations | |
| ** based on sales of tickets in 2004/05 financial year which end or originate at Guide Bridge. Disclaimer (PDF) | |
Guide Bridge railway station serves Guide Bridge a part of Audenshaw, Tameside in Greater Manchester, England and is operated by Northern Rail.
Contents |
[edit] History
Originally known as "Ashton and Hooley Hill", it was renamed "Ashton" in February 1842 and became "Guide Bridge" around July 1845. It was built by the Sheffield, Ashton-Under-Lyne and Manchester Railway on its new line from Ardwick Junction, near to the Manchester and Birmingham Railway's terminus at Store Street, (now Piccadilly) to Sheffield , opening on November 11th, 1841 as far as Godley Toll Bar and finally reaching Sheffield (Victoria) on July 14th, 1845
With the electrification of the Manchester - Sheffield (via Woodhead) line in the early 1950's, Guide Bridge, already a major centre of railway operations, increased in importance. Express trains called here, as well as EMU trains between Manchester London Road and the north Derbyshire towns of Glossop and Hadfield. The Woodhead Line was busy with freight traffic, especially with coal traffic from South Yorkshire to Lancashire power stations. There was a large marshalling yard about a mile east of Guide Bridge at Dewsnap. There was also a stabling point immediately to the east of Guide Bridge station where engines could be fueled. After the closure of Gorton Depot, Guide bridge became a booking on point for traincrews. Express passenger trains via the Woodhead line ceased operation on January 5th, 1970, but Dewsnap sidings and Guide Bridge stabling point were busy until the final closure of the Woodhead line ( east of Hadfield ) on July 20th, 1981. The Class 76 electric locomotives were a frequent sight here, along with Class 25, Class 40 and numerous others classes of diesels.
On the 22 October 2006 a fire gutted the waiting room, footbridge and ticket office.[1] The fire caused around £1m of damage to the station and the foot bridge will be demolished and removed. The blaze has been attributed to arson. British Transport Police are trying to trace two young men in connection with the incident, who boarded the 1917 GMT Manchester Piccadilly to Glossop train on Friday 10 November.
The youths are about 15-20 years old. One was wearing a distinctive checked jacket and the other was wearing a dark jacket with a hood.
Detectives believe they had been shopping that afternoon in the Arndale Centre in Manchester as they were holding carrier bags.
Police say they are not suspects but may have vital information in the case.
Anyone with information is urged to contact British Transport Police or Crimestoppers.
[edit] Future
This station will become a stop of the Grand Union Railway, a proposed railway company running between London Euston and Bradford.
[edit] Service
The current service at Guide Bridge consists of a half hourly Manchester Piccadilly - Hadfield EMU service and an hourly (DMU) service between Piccadilly and Rose Hill Marple. There is no Sunday service on the Rose Hill line.
The Stockport-Stalybridge Line DMU service, which had been an hourly operation, was almost entirely withdrawn when Trans Pennine services between Manchester and Leeds were re-routed from Manchester Victoria to serve Manchester Piccadilly in 1989. There is now an 1143 Saturdays only "service" from Guide Bridge to Stalybridge. Ironically, Trans Pennine trains are routed through Guide Bridge but do not stop here.
The former TransPennine franchise holder, Arriva, had plans to establish Guide Bridge as a major interchange station, coupled with hopes that the 'Woodhead' line might re-open. Such aspirations seem to have fallen by the wayside, however, since FirstGroup plc took over the Trans Pennine franchise.
[edit] References
- Radford, B., (1988) Midland Though The Peak Unicorn Books
- ^ Railway station damaged in blaze. BBC News. BBC (22 October 2006). Retrieved on 2006-10-24.
[edit] External links
- Train times and station information for Guide Bridge railway station from National Rail
- Street map and aerial photo of Guide Bridge railway station from Multimap.com
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hyde North | Northern Rail (Hope Valley Line) |
Fairfield | ||
| Flowery Field | Northern Rail (Manchester-Glossop Line) |
Fairfield | ||
| Denton | Northern Rail (Stockport-Stalybridge Line) |
Stalybridge | ||
