Airport-Manchester Line
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| Airport-Manchester Line |
| Principal stations (Various through trains) |
The Airport-Manchester Line or Manchester Airport Line is a railway line in south Manchester. It runs from Manchester Piccadilly through to Manchester Airport, the fourth busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the biggest outside of the London region. The line is a part of the Styal Line, an early commuter line from Wilmslow to Manchester via Styal and Heald Green and four other suburban stations. The Styal Line was electrified in 1959 as part of the West Coast Main Line electrification scheme but ironically most of the trains now using the line are diesel powered. The branch to the airport leaves the Styal Line via a triangular junction between Heald Green and Styal.
Services are currently operated by:
- Northern Rail, whose trains come from Manchester Piccadilly to the Airport via selected suburban stops. These trains have usually departed from other stations in the North-West such as Blackpool North, Barrow-in-Furness, Windermere, all via Preston and Bolton. Also from Southport and Liverpool. All these trains come through from Manchester Oxford Road railway station to Platforms 13 and 14 at Manchester Piccadilly. From the south, its trains join from the Crewe to Manchester Line at Wilmslow.
- TransPennine Express, which run trains on this line through Manchester Piccadilly (main line terminal platforms). Their services are through services from across the north of England including Newcastle, Middlesborough, York and Leeds, and from Cleethorpes via Sheffield also serving Manchester suburban stations en route. Their trains also operate from Barrow-in-Furness, Windermere via Preston, Bolton and Platforms 13 and 14 at Manchester Piccadilly.
