![]() Stockport station in 2014 | |||||
General information | |||||
Location | Stockport, Metropolitan Borough of Stockport England | ||||
Grid reference | SJ892898 | ||||
Managed by | Avanti West Coast | ||||
Platforms | 6 (Numbered 0-3, 3a, 4) | ||||
Other information | |||||
Station code | SPT | ||||
Classification | DfT category B | ||||
History | |||||
Original company | Manchester and Birmingham Railway | ||||
Pre-grouping | London and North Western Railway | ||||
Post-grouping | London, Midland and Scottish Railway | ||||
Key dates | |||||
15 February 1843 | Opened as Edgeley | ||||
? | Renamed Stockport Edgeley | ||||
6 May 1968 | Renamed Stockport | ||||
Passengers | |||||
2018/19 | ![]() | ||||
Interchange | ![]() | ||||
2019/20 | ![]() | ||||
Interchange | ![]() | ||||
2020/21 | ![]() | ||||
Interchange | ![]() | ||||
2021/22 | ![]() | ||||
Interchange | ![]() | ||||
2022/23 | ![]() | ||||
Interchange | ![]() | ||||
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Stockport railway station serves the large market and industrial town of Stockport in Greater Manchester,England. It is located 6 miles south-east of Manchester Piccadilly,on a spur of the West Coast Main Line to London Euston.
The Manchester and Birmingham Railway opened in stages from Manchester and reached Stockport in 1840. The 5+1⁄2-mile (9 km) line ran from a temporary station in Manchester to another in Stockport at the north end of the uncompleted Stockport Viaduct. The temporary station, which was later renamed Heaton Norris, was Stockport's only station for more than two years. [1] After the viaduct was completed, the M&BR built a station at its southern end as an experiment. The decision was prompted by complaints that the first station was a long way from the industrial parts of town and even farther from the residential districts on the south side. The second station opened on 15 February 1843 as Edgeley. By 1844, it was the town's principal station. Heaton Norris, at the north end of the viaduct, closed in 1959. [1]
The station was operated by the London and North Western Railway and became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923. In 1948, British Railways ran the system.
Most lines into the station were electrified at 25 kV AC, using overhead wires, under the British Railways 1955 Modernisation Plan; however, not all of the local lines were electrified.
The station is positioned at high level above the valley of the River Mersey and with lifts that link a pedestrian underpass to central Stockport and Edgeley.
The station is staffed, has a ticket office and ticket machines, customer service points, shops, toilets, waiting rooms, lifts from the station subway and step-free access to the platforms. [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 received a share of £50m funding for improvements. [4]
Trains running north-west serve Manchester Piccadilly; some continue on to Manchester Oxford Road and beyond to Liverpool Lime Street via Warrington Central. There are no longer regular services from here to Bolton and points north (passengers should change at Piccadilly or Manchester Oxford Road).
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 southbound West Coast Main Line routes run via Cheadle Hulme. One continues via Macclesfield and Stoke-on-Trent to Birmingham New Street and London; the other via Wilmslow and Crewe for through services to London and Birmingham and via Shrewsbury and the Welsh Marches line to Cardiff, Carmarthen, Pembroke Dock and Milford Haven. Trains to Birmingham via Stoke-on-Trent continue to destinations in the south of England such as Bournemouth via Reading, and Bristol Temple Meads.
The Mid-Cheshire Line runs hourly westbound through Altrincham, Knutsford, Northwich to Chester.
The Stockport to Stalybridge Line, via Guide Bridge, no longer has a regular passenger service. It was reduced from an hourly shuttle service to a once a week, one direction only skeleton service in the early 1990s. It now has two services a week, one in each direction on Saturday mornings.
The main concourse opened in September 2004 in a development that included a new platform (platform 0) that only became fully operational at the beginning of March 2008. A pedestrian subway leads to the island platforms, which have a buffet and newsagent.
The Monday–Saturday off-peak service pattern in trains per hour (tph) is:
Preceding station | ![]() | Following station | ||
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Avanti West Coast | ||||
Transport for Wales Rail | ||||
CrossCountry | ||||
East Midlands Railway | ||||
Limited service | ||||
Limited service | ||||
Limited service | ||||
TransPennine Express | ||||
Limited service | ||||
Northern Trains | ||||
Northern Trains | ||||
Northern Trains | ||||
Northern Trains | ||||
Northern Trains Limited service | ||||
Terminus | Northern Trains Saturdays only | |||
Previous services | ||||
CrossCountry Peak Hours Only Monday-Saturday Only |
Platform 0 — Typically services to 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.
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 the weekly Parliamentary train from / 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.
It has been claimed that Stockport viaduct was built on condition that all passenger trains using it were required to stop at Stockport station. [13] [14] [15] Local MP Andrew Gwynne commissioned research into the issue and reported "Sadly no such Act of Parliament exists, although it is common currency in the town that it does. I made enquiries with the House of Commons Library and the Parliamentary Archives back at the time some intercity trains stopped using Stockport. It appears it is purely an urban myth." [16]
Passengers can board taxis from the taxi rank located immediately outside the station entrance. [17]
The bus stops immediately outside the station were previously served by the Metroshuttle free bus service. This service was withdrawn in 2019, [18] and as of 2020 the bus stops were only used by the infrequent service number 312 [19] and occasionally by rail replacement buses.
The station is a short walk from the former Stockport bus station, where most services could be accessed until its closure in August 2021. [20] Transport for Greater Manchester's Stockport Interchange, constructed on the site of the demolished bus station, [21] opened for passengers on 17 March 2024. [22] A bridge to improve the walking route between the two facilities was built as part of the development. [23]
Passengers can also use the bus stops on the nearby Wellington Road which are well-served by services, especially the 192 between Manchester Piccadilly and Hazel Grove, that are mostly operated by Stagecoach Manchester.
Stockport Interchange | |||||
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Metrolink station | |||||
General information | |||||
Location | Stockport, Stockport England | ||||
Coordinates | 53°24′18″N2°09′46″W / 53.405°N 2.1628°W | ||||
Other information | |||||
Status | Proposed station | ||||
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An extension to the Metrolink line from East Didsbury to Stockport was planned in 2004 and the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive applied for powers to build it. The project came to a halt when the Big Bang extension was stopped due to the loss of potential funding. [24] As a result, there is currently no tram interchange at Stockport station.
The proposed extension would have reused some of the former railway alignment, but some of it was built on or filled in after closure. This made re-opening more difficult and the proposed line would have included new infrastructure and street running sections to take it into Stockport. The line would have terminated at Stockport bus station. [24]
Manchester Piccadilly is the main railway station of the city of Manchester, in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, England. Opened originally as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchester Piccadilly in 1960. Located to the south-east of the city centre, it hosts long-distance intercity and cross-country services to national destinations including London, Birmingham, Nottingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth, Reading, Southampton and Bournemouth; regional services to destinations in Northern England including Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle and York; and local commuter services around Greater Manchester. It is one of 19 major stations managed by Network Rail. The station has 14 platforms: 12 terminal and two through platforms. Piccadilly is also a major interchange with the Metrolink light rail system with two tram platforms in its undercroft.
Birmingham International is a railway station known by code "BHI" in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the West Midlands of England, just east of Birmingham. It is on the Rugby–Birmingham–Stafford line 14 km (8.7 mi) east of Birmingham New Street railway station. BHI serves Birmingham Airport, the National Exhibition Centre, the Resorts World Arena, and Resorts World Birmingham.
Sheffield station is a combined railway station and tram stop in Sheffield, England; it is the busiest station in South Yorkshire, and the third busiest in Yorkshire & the Humber. Adjacent is Sheffield station/Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Supertram stop.
Crewe railway station serves the railway town of Crewe, in Cheshire, England. It opened in 1837 and is one of the most historically significant railway stations in the world.
Leeds railway station is the mainline railway station serving the city centre of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is located on New Station Street to the south of City Square, at the foot of Park Row, behind the landmark Queens Hotel. It is one of 20 stations managed by Network Rail. As of December 2023, it was the busiest station in West Yorkshire, as well as in Yorkshire & the Humber, and the entirety of Northern England. It is the second busiest station in the UK outside of London, after Birmingham New Street.
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Denton railway station serves the town of Denton in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, on the Stockport–Stalybridge line. It is served by two trains a week, one in each direction on Saturday mornings.
Stoke-on-Trent railway station is a mainline railway station serving the city of Stoke-on-Trent, on the Stafford to Manchester branch of the West Coast Main Line. It also provides an interchange between local services running through Cheshire, Staffordshire and Derbyshire.
Stafford railway station is a major interchange railway station in Stafford, Staffordshire, England, and is the second busiest railway station in Staffordshire, after Stoke-on-Trent. The station serves the market and county town, as well as surrounding villages. The station lies on the junction of the Trent Valley line, the Birmingham Loop/Rugby–Birmingham–Stafford line, and the West Coast Main Line.
Wolverhampton station is a railway station in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England on the Birmingham Loop of the West Coast Main Line. It is served by Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, Transport for Wales and West Midlands Trains services, and was historically known as Wolverhampton High Level. It is also a West Midlands Metro tram stop.
Heaton Chapel railway station serves the Heaton Chapel and Heaton Moor districts of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It is 4+1⁄2 miles (7.2 km) south of Manchester Piccadilly towards Stockport. It opened as Heaton Chapel & Heaton Moor in 1852 by the London & North Western Railway. It was renamed Heaton Chapel by British Rail on 6 May 1974.
Romiley railway station serves Romiley, in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It is sited at a junction of two parts of the Hope Valley Line, providing services between Manchester Piccadilly, New Mills Central and Sheffield, and also between Piccadilly and Rose Hill Marple.
Guide Bridge railway station serves Guide Bridge in Audenshaw, Greater Manchester, England, and is operated by Northern Trains. The station is 4+3⁄4 miles (7.6 km) east of Manchester Piccadilly on both the Rose Hill Marple and Glossop Lines.
The Stockport–Stalybridge line is a railway line in Greater Manchester, England, running north-east from Stockport to Stalybridge, via Guide Bridge. The line is used mainly by freight and empty stock workings, although it once had a frequent passenger service. In 1992, the service pattern reduced to a single weekly passenger train but, in 2018, this was increased to twice a week: one service in each direction on Saturday mornings. Services are operated by Northern, usually with a Class 150 diesel multiple unit. The line is intended to be electrified as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade.
Cheadle Hulme railway station is a station in Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester, England. It is operated by Northern Trains.
Reddish South railway station is a stop on the Stockport–Stalybridge Line in Reddish, Stockport, England. The station, used by only 26 passengers in 2013/14, is one of the quietest on the UK rail network. From May 1992 until May 2018, it was served by parliamentary services in order to avoid formal proceeding to close the line. Despite the low passenger numbers, the line itself is used regularly for freight traffic and empty stock transfers.
Altrincham Interchange is a transport hub in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England. It consists of a bus station on Stamford New Road, a Northern Trains-operated heavy rail station on the Mid-Cheshire Line, and a light rail stop which forms the terminus of Manchester Metrolink's Altrincham line. The original heavy rail element of the station was opened by the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway as Altrincham and Bowdon railway station in April 1881, changing to Altrincham railway station in May 1974. The Metrolink element opened in June 1992. The Interchange underwent a complete redevelopment, at a cost of £19 million, starting in mid-July 2013. The new bus station opened officially on 7 December 2014.
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Urban andsuburban rail plays a key role in public transport in many of the major cities of the United Kingdom. Urban rail refers to the train service between city centres and suburbs or nearby towns that acts as a main mode of transport for travellers on a daily basis. They consist of several railway lines connecting city centre stations of major cities to suburbs and surrounding towns.