Marple railway station

Marple
The station in 2015
Location
Place	Marple
Local authority	Stockport
Operations
Station code	MPL
Managed by	Northern
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	D
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	0.308 million
2006/07	0.314 million
2007/08	0.335 million
2008/09	0.427 million
2009/10	0.407 million
2010/11	0.414 million
2011/12	0.422 million
2012/13	0.438 million
2013/14	0.475 million
2014/15	0.455 million
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	Transport for Greater Manchester
History
Key dates	Opened 1865
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Marple from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Marple railway station serves Marple, in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The station is 8.9 miles (14.3 km) south east of Manchester Piccadilly on the Hope Valley Line and opened in 1865 by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway. It is managed and served by Northern.

The other station serving Marple is Rose Hill railway station.

History

Marple railway station was built by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) on the extension of its Hyde branch to New Mills, opening to the public on 1 July 1865.

The line was built in conjunction with the Midland Railway's extension of its line to Millers Dale, thus it was also used by the latter's trains from London to Manchester Store Street (later called London Road, now Piccadilly). Until the Midland moved to Manchester Central, in 1880, as a member of the Cheshire Lines Committee, Marple was where carriages for Liverpool would be attached or detached.

At the time it had extensive station buildings, the Midland waiting room having upholstered seats and a coal fire in an attractive fireplace for cold winter days. It was rebuilt in 1970, with the MS&L facilities being demolished, and new brick buildings replacing the Midland's offices.

From Marple to Romiley, the line passes through Marple Tunnel to the junction with the short branch to Rose Hill Marple, then over the 308-yard (282 m) long stone viaduct that crosses the River Goyt and the Peak Forest Canal. Alongside the viaduct is the Marple Aqueduct, which carries the Peak Forest Canal over the River Goyt.

Agatha Christie's Miss Marple

It is common folklore that Agatha Christie used the name of the station for her character "Miss Marple", as she frequently passed through the station when visiting her family in the area. Agatha Christie's sister, Margaret, married James Watts and they lived at Abney Hall, Cheadle, Greater Manchester. The Watts owned land at the Upper House Kinder Estate in Hayfield, which is found on the edge of the Peak District and further down the railway line from Marple. The link to Marple has been further endorsed by a fan letter response written by Agatha Christie which confirms that she was at an auction at Marple Hall where she bought two Jacobean chairs. It was at this visit to Marple Hall that the author confirms she named the detective after Marple. On 5 July 2015 to celebrate the Miss Marple like to the town a plaque was unveiled by Mathew Prichard, the grandson of Agatha Christie, and 10 specially commissioned Miss Marple book covers were installed at Marple Railway Station.

Services

Marple railway station from the footbridge

The station is well served by trains to and from Manchester Piccadilly on weekdays, with two services per hour during the daytime (reducing to hourly in the evening).^[1] There were formerly three per hour before the December 2010 timetable change, but one was then diverted to neighbouring Rose Hill to give both stations the same level of service. One serves all local stations as far as Ashburys, whilst the other runs non-stop beyond Reddish North. These run via Bredbury. There are two services per hour eastwards to New Mills on weekdays (hourly in the evenings) and a two-hourly extension along the Hope Valley to Sheffield. Some peak hour services also originate or end their journeys here.

On Saturdays, one service per hour starts and terminates here (with the latter running via Hyde Central), whilst the other continues through to Sheffield.

Sundays see a two-hourly service in the morning and evening in each direction, increasing to hourly in the afternoons.

Tickets to and from Rose Hill are valid on board all Manchester Piccadilly bound trains from Marple Station.

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Strines		Northern Rail Hope Valley Line		Romiley

Future

As part of Manchester's Transport Innovation Fund bid in 2008, which would see a weekday peak time congestion charge introduced on roads into the city centre in order for a £3bn injection into the region's public transport, Marple would have seen an increase to four services per hour in both directions throughout the day to Manchester Piccadilly. The line would have effectively been run as a metro-style operation, offering users of Marple and other stations along the route the ease of showing up without needing to know exact departure times. However, no "station improvements" are planned, despite the comparatively high usage of this suburban station. The rejection of the TIF plans in a public referendum in December 2008 (by a 4 to 1 majority) led to the plans being abandoned in April 2010.^[2]

Notes

1. Northern Timetable 22 - Manchester to New Mills Central and Rose Hill www.northernrail.org; Retrieved 1 April 2016
2. "C-charge: A resounding 'NO'"Ottewell, David, Manchester Evening News 19 April 2010; Retrieved 1 April 2016

External links

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

Coordinates: 53°24′04″N 2°03′25″W / 53.401°N 2.057°W