Stockport railway station

Stockport railway station (also known as Stockport Edgeley and Edgeley^[1]) is in Greater Manchester, England, 8 miles south-east of Manchester Piccadilly station on the West Coast Main Line from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston. It was opened on 15 February 1843 by the Manchester and Birmingham Railway, following completion of the large railway viaduct just to its north. After operation by the London & North Western Railway, it became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923, who renamed it Stockport Edgeley, to differentiate it from Stockport Tiviot Dale, which closed in 1967. It is high above the valley of the river Mersey in which Stockport lies, and is linked to both central Stockport and Edgeley by a pedestrian underpass. In 2009 the station was identified as one of the ten worst category B interchange stations for mystery shopper assessment of fabric and environment, and is set to receive a share of £50m funding for improvements.^[2] Some improvements to the station have begun, with changes to the signs to make them clearer.

Current passenger routes

Trains running north-west all serve Manchester Piccadilly, with some continuing to Manchester Oxford Road and beyond to Liverpool, Preston, Blackpool, Wigan, Southport and Barrow-in-Furness.

South-east from Stockport, express services run to Sheffield and onwards to Cleethorpes, Nottingham and Norwich with local services running to Hazel Grove and Buxton.

The two southern (West Coast Main Line) routes are via Cheadle Hulme. The first continues via Macclesfield and Stoke-on-Trent to London and Birmingham and the second via Wilmslow and Crewe also with through services to London and Birmingham as well as via Shrewsbury and the Welsh Marches Line to Cardiff, Carmarthen, Pembroke Dock and Milford Haven. Many trains to Birmingham continue to destinations in the south of England such as Reading.

The Mid-Cheshire Line runs westerly to Altrincham, Knutsford, Northwich and Chester.

The line running north-east from Stockport via Guide Bridge to Stalybridge no longer has a regular passenger service, being reduced in the early 1990s from an hourly shuttle service to a once a week, one direction only skeleton service. (See Stockport to Stalybridge Line).

The main concourse was opened in September 2004, as part of a development including a new platform (platform 0). This platform had been dubbed by many as "The white elephant" because it was hardly ever used and the new track which was installed was rusting. However, at the beginning of March 2008 platform 0 came into operation mid-timetable. A pedestrian subway leads to the two older island platforms, which include a buffet and newsagent.

The service pattern is as follows:

• Northern Rail
  • 1tph to Preston
  • 6tph to Manchester Piccadilly (one continues to Preston)
  • 1tph to Chester
  • 2tph to Crewe
  • 2tph to Alderley Edge (one continues to Crewe)
  • 1tph to Stoke-on-Trent via Macclesfield
  • 2tph to Hazel Grove (one continues to Buxton)
  • 1tph to Buxton
• Virgin Trains
  • 3tph to Manchester Piccadilly
  • 2tph to London Euston via Stoke-on-Trent
  • 1tph to London Euston via Crewe
• East Midlands Trains
  • 1tph to Liverpool Lime Street
  • 1tph to Norwich via Sheffield and Nottingham
• Arriva Trains Wales
  • 1tph Manchester Piccadily
  • 1tph to Milford Havern/Carmarthen via Shrewsbury
• First Transpenine Express
  • 1tph to Manchester Airport via Manchester Piccadilly
  • 1tph to Cleethorpes
• CrossCountry Trains
  • 2tph to Manchester Piccadilly
  • 1tph to Bristol Temple Meads via Stoke-on-Trent and Birmingham New Street
  • 1tph to Bournemouth via Stoke-on-Trent and Birmingham New Street

Platform use

Platform 0 - Hazel Grove, Buxton, Sheffield, Norwich, Nottingham and Cleethorpes (built in 2003).

Platform 1 - Southbound services to Macclesfield, Crewe, Stoke-on-Trent and Alderley Edge. It is also signalled for use by trains in the Manchester direction and is used by services to Southport on Sundays.

Platform 2 - Southbound platform for services to Stoke-on-Trent, Chester, Crewe, Alderley Edge, services to South Wales, London, Bristol, Bournemouth, Paignton and Plymouth.

Platform 3 - Mainly used by Fast services to Manchester Piccadilly along with services to Manchester Airport, Liverpool Lime Street, Blackpool North, Preston, Salford Crescent,Bolton, Wigan, Southport and Barrow-in-Furness.

Platform 3a - used by a small number of services to Wigan and Southport as well as the once per week Parliamentary train to Stalybridge.

Platform 4 - Mainly used by stopping services to Manchester Piccadilly along with services to Manchester Airport, Liverpool Lime Street, Blackpool North, Preston, Salford Crescent, Bolton, Wigan, Southport and Barrow-in-Furness.

Non-stopping trains

It is often claimed that the building of Stockport’s railway viaduct was on the condition that any passenger train using the structure is required to stop at Stockport station.^[1][3][4] However, no verifiable reference or copy of this law has been produced.

The draft December 2008 West Coast Main Line timetable drawn up by the Department for Transport had Arriva CrossCountry's Manchester to Bristol via Birmingham trains passing through Stockport without stopping. This resulted in a 2,600 signature petition against such a move. However, the government did not change its mind.^[5] Stops in the Cross Country services withdrawn in December 2008 were, however, reinstated at the May 2009 timetable change.^[6]

References

External links

• Train times and station information for Stockport railway station from National Rail