The station 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, to Sheffield Victoria; it opened as Ashton and Hooley Hill on 11 November 1841, when the line opened as far as Godley Toll Bar. It was renamed Ashton in February 1842 and became Guide Bridge on 14 July 1845, when the line was extended to Sheffield.
The station had a four platform configuration originally, with a large office on the southern side. However, the southern (former slow line) platforms were decommissioned and the tracks were lifted in 1984–85; this was part of layout alterations associated with the changeover from 1500V DC to 25kV AC working on the Hadfield line, with demolition of the buildings following a few years later.[1] The area has been covered, with a section forming part of the car park, but some evidence remains of the previous two tracks. The junction at the country end of the station was also remodelled in 2011 to allow Stockport-Stalybridge Line trains to cross the junction at 30mph (max) rather than 15mph as previously.
The station was also where express services, to and from Manchester Central on the London Marylebone route, changed locomotives. Drawn by a Bo-Bo or Co-Co electric locomotive from Sheffield, a steam (or, in later years) diesel locomotive would take the train the final few miles to Manchester Central and vice versa. The Woodhead Line was busy with goods traffic, especially with coal traffic from South Yorkshire to Lancashire power stations. The station also accepted goods under British Railways Passenger freight service and had a licensed buffet.
There was a large marshalling yard about a mile east of Guide Bridge at Dewsnap, with a stabling point immediately to the east of the station, where engines could be fuelled. Guide Bridge was also where the local retail coal merchants transferred coal from British Rail coal wagons, carefully weighed into one hundredweight sacks for delivery to homes around Ashton, Audenshaw and Denton. Express passenger trains via the Woodhead line ceased operation on 5 January 1970, but Dewsnap sidings and Guide Bridge stabling point were busy until the final closure of the Woodhead Line east of Hadfield on 20 July 1981. The Class 76 electric locomotives were a frequent sight here, along with Class 25 and Class 40 diesel locomotives.
Arriva Trains Northern had plans to establish Guide Bridge as a major interchange station, coupled with hopes that the Woodhead line might reopen. Such aspirations failed to materialise when First TransPennine Express took over the franchise.
The southern platforms and station building in 1977; these have since been demolished
On 22 October 2006, a fire gutted the waiting room, footbridge and ticket office.[2] The fire has subsequently been attributed to arson and caused around £1m of damage to the station,[3] necessitating the demolition of the footbridge. This has not been rebuilt, so a lengthy walk out of the station and along the adjacent main road to change platforms is required.
In January 2009, the previously free car parking was abolished, with a daily charge of £3 being introduced. As a result, the once busy car park largely fell quiet. A subsequent review was taken, following complaints from neighbouring residents, with backing of local councillors; it investigated the redistribution of cars once parked on the ample station facility to the surrounding residential streets, with charging dismissed soon afterwards.[citation needed]
Parliamentary service
The station also lies on the Stockport-Stalybridge line, which used to be an hourly operation. It was almost entirely withdrawn in 1989, when trans-Pennine services between Manchester and Leeds were rerouted from Manchester Victoria to serve Manchester Piccadilly. In 2004, there was a 16:08 Fridays-only service from Stalybridge to Guide Bridge, whilst weekend engineering work was taking place in the Stockport area.[4]
Subsequent to this, the once-weekly parliamentary train on the route operated in the other direction; it left Stockport at 9:22 and calling at 9:37, on Fridays only.[5] This train was also unusual in that it arrived at Guide Bridge on the Manchester-bound platform before changing tracks after departure. Since the start of the summer 2018 timetable on 20 May, the service on this route has operated on Saturdays instead of Fridays, with a return working introduced. From the December 2023 timetable, it departs Guide Bridge at 08:37 for Stockport and arrives back at 09:19.[6]
Facilities
Ticket office
A new single-storey ticket office was commissioned in December 2014; it was built on the former island platform (now platform 1), as part of a £1.7million revamp of the station. Improved lighting, an extended car park to 140 spaces, CCTV cameras and bicycle storage lockers were also provided. The new facilities were opened officially by the Minister of State for Transport Baroness Kramer.[7]
The ticket office is open Monday to Saturday daytimes. The station also provides seating, shelters, toilets and customer information screens.[8]
Services
A Northern Trains Class 323 calling at the westbound platform
The general off-peak service at Guide Bridge consists of the following, in trains per hour/week (tph/tpw):[9]
In August 2023, it was revealed that the Woodhead Railway Heritage Group has submitted plans to create a museum to celebrate the Manchester to Sheffield rail link. The museum is housed in a former signalling and telecommunications building at the station. Network Rail has been carrying out renovation work on the building since 2020.[10]
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