Stockport railway station

Stockport National Rail
Location
Place Stockport
Local authority Metropolitan Borough of Stockport
Grid reference SJ892898
Operations
Station code SPT
Managed by Virgin Trains
Number of platforms 6 (Numbered 0-3, 3a, 4)
DfT category B
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05   1.608 million
2005/06 Increase 2.011 million
2006/07 Increase 2.237 million
2007/08 Increase 2.439 million
2008/09 Increase 2.824 million
2009/10 Increase 2.933 million
2010/11 Increase 3.139 million
2011/12 Increase 3.313 million
2012/13 Increase 3.367 million
2013/14 Increase 3.505 million
2014/15 Decrease 3.411 million
History
Key dates Opened 15 February 1843 (15 February 1843)
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Stockport from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Stockport railway station in the town of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England is 8 miles south-east of Manchester Piccadilly station on the West Coast Main Line from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston.

History

44444 shunting just south of the station in 1950

The Manchester and Birmingham Railway, opened from Manchester to Stockport in 1840, was only 5.5 miles (8.9 km) long at the time and ran into a temporary station at each end. Stockport's stood at the north end of the uncompleted Stockport viaduct, a temporary station which was later renamed as Heaton Norris, and remained Stockport's only station for more than two years.[1] After the viaduct's completion, the M&BR decided to build a new station at the south end of the viaduct, on an experimental basis. The decision was prompted by complaints that the existing station was a long way from the industrial parts of town and even farther from the residential districts on the south side. The station was opened on the current site on 15 February 1843, under the name Edgeley. By 1844, it had become the principal station and the one at the north end of the viaduct eventually closed in 1959.[1] After operation by the London and North Western Railway, it became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway, in 1923.

The lines into the station were electrified at 25 kV AC, using overhead wires, under the British Railways 1955 Modernisation Plan.

Facilities

Main entrance

The station 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.

The station has many of the various facilities of a modern mainline station including full staffing during opening hours, a ticket office and ticket machines, customer service points, shops, toilets, waiting rooms and step-free access to the platforms with the use of lifts from the station subway.[2][3]

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 it is set to receive a share of £50m funding for improvements.[4] Some improvements to the station have begun with changes to the signs to make them clearer.

Services

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 Bournemouth via Reading and Bristol Temple Meads.

The Mid-Cheshire Line runs westerly through 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 weekday service pattern is as follows (tph = trains per hour):

Platform use

Platform 0
Stockport station Platform 3
Platforms 2 and 3

Platform 0 - Hazel Grove, Buxton, Sheffield, Norwich, Nottingham and Cleethorpes (opened 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.[5][6][7]

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.[8] Monday-Saturday Stops in the Cross Country services withdrawn in December 2008 were, however, reinstated at the May 2009 timetable change (Sunday calling patterns remained unchanged).[9]

The 07:49 Buxton to Manchester Piccadilly train also does not stop at Stockport.[10]

Additionally, the 18:57 service from London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly (which runs Thursdays & Fridays only) does not call at Stockport, calling only at Crewe and Manchester Piccadilly.[11][12]

References

  1. 1 2 Holt, Geoffrey O (1978). A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain. Volume 10: North West. David & Charles. pp. 117–119. ISBN 0715375210.
  2. ↑ National Rail Enquiries - Station facilities for Stockport Accessed 2014-06-03
  3. ↑ Stockport Station Plan Accessed 2014-06-03
  4. ↑ "£50m revamp for 'worst stations'". BBC News. 17 November 2009. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  5. ↑ Andrew Macfarlane (ed.). "Manchester–Buxton". Peaks and Plains by Rail. Railway Development Society. Norwich: Jarrold Colour Publications. p. 19. ISBN 0-7117-0429-5.
  6. ↑ "Concern over proposed train cuts". BBC News. 5 December 2007. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
  7. ↑ "Register your viaduct vote online for trains to stop". Stockport Express News Website. MEN. 26 March 2008. Archived from the original on 25 March 2008. Retrieved 26 March 2008.
  8. ↑ King, Ray (3 November 2008). "Downing St. snubs Stockport". Manchester Evening News (M.E.N. Media).
  9. ↑ Reinstatement Of Additional Rail Services For Stockport Stockport MDC press release; Retrieved 2009-04-23
  10. ↑ "Timetable 20, Manchester to Buxton" (PDF). Northern Rail. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  11. ↑ "Timetable B, London-Manchester" (PDF). Virgin Trains. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  12. ↑ "Off-Peak Restrictions from 2 January 2012" (PDF). Virgin Trains. Retrieved 13 January 2013.

External links

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Coordinates: 53°24′18″N 2°9′46″W / 53.40500°N 2.16278°W / 53.40500; -2.16278

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