Styal Line

Styal Line
A Northern Rail train at Mauldeth Road in 2013
Overview
System National Rail
Status Operational
Locale Greater Manchester
Cheshire
North West England
Termini Manchester Piccadilly
Wilmslow
Stations 9
Operation
Opened 1909
Owner Network Rail
Technical
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map
Manchester Piccadilly Manchester Metrolink
Hope Valley line
Crewe–Manchester line,
Buxton line and
Stafford–Manchester line
Mauldeth Road
Burnage
East Didsbury Manchester Metrolink
Gatley
Heald Green
Manchester Airport Manchester Metrolink
Manchester Airport
Styal
Crewe–Manchester line
 Wilmslow
 Crewe–Manchester line

The Styal Line is a suburban commuter railway line in the UK which runs through south Manchester and north-east Cheshire. It commences at Slade Lane Junction, about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) south of Manchester Piccadilly, and runs 19 kilometres (12 mi) south to Wilmslow. It was opened in 1909 by the London and North Western Railway company[1] and takes its name from the Cheshire station of Styal, which is the last stop before the junction at Wilmslow.

Patronage into Manchester on the eight commuter stations has risen sharply since the 1990s and the line has an hourly freight service from Trafford Park to Felixstowe and Southampton. The opening of the Manchester Airport railway station in 1993, fuelled an increase in express services from around Northern England and beyond, with the line now regularly serving trains from TransPennine Express and Transport for Wales to and from the Airport. As a result, it is now one of the most congested lines on the National Rail network with services frequently susceptible to delays and cancellations.[2]

History

When operated by British Rail, the line was served by Class 304 trains

In early twentieth century the line between Manchester London Road (now called Piccadilly station) and Stockport became unable to cope with the increasing traffic. To solve the problem, a new route avoiding Stockport was constructed by the London and North Western Railway. It ran from Slade Lane Junction (located in Longsight, Manchester) to Wilmslow through what was then mainly a rural area. The primary purpose was to provide a bypass for express trains, but a few wooden stations were built on the line to encourage suburban development. In practice, very few expresses latterly used the line, as it was necessary for most trains to serve the important station at Stockport. The line opened in 1909, and from 1923 was operated by the London Midland and Scottish Railway.

In the 1950s, as part of British Rail's Modernisation Plan, the British Transport Commission identified the Styal Line as a suitable test track to prove the its new electrification scheme, and in 1959 the line was electrified. Following the Styal Line tests, it was decided to adopt the 25kV system across the whole Great Britain rail network outside the Southern Region.[3] There was half-hourly electric service (Monday - Saturday) between Manchester Oxford Road and Alderley Edge operated by Class 304 EMUs.[4] Services were extended to Altrincham when the M&SJR was re-electrified at 25kV AC in 1971, and operated in this way until the line between Altrincham and Manchester was transferred to Manchester Metrolink in 1990.

In the 1970s, the Styal Line was included in a proposal to create an underground railway across Manchester City Centre. The Picc-Vic tunnel was planned to connect the two major mainline railway termini, Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Victoria and would have enabled Styal Line trains to run directly across the city to Bolton and Bury. The Picc-Vic scheme was abandoned in 1977 due to funding difficulties.[5]

In 1993, a short spur line to Manchester Airport was opened, leaving the Styal line between Heald Green and Styal. Initially, services ran via Heald Green only, until a triangular junction was added a few years later, providing a link towards Styal.[6] Many services were then diesel powered until 2014. The introduction of Class 350s by First TransPennine Express on the Edinburgh-Manchester Airport line in December 2013 and introduction of Class 319s by Northern Rail in early 2015 has curtailed the use of diesel trains on the line allowing for a 100 mph service compared with 75 mph limit for many diesel trains.

In recent years, usage of the line has surged with growing commuter patronage along with non-stopping services which use the line between Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Airport. Nowadays the majority of services operate via the airport, however there are a couple of services each day (mainly long distance trains) which take the direct route from Styal to Heald Green, that is to say from Heald Green South Junction to Heald Green North Junction, for traincrew route knowledge retention purposes. This route can also be used for diversions if the Stockport route is closed for engineering work.

Services

Services are currently operated by:

See also

References

  • Haywood, Russ (2009). Railways, Urban Development and Town Planning in Britain: 1948-2008. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 9780754673927. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  1. ↑ Haywood 2009, p. 237.
  2. ↑ "Timetable recast: too much, too quickly". Railway Gazette. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 2018-08-13.
  3. ↑ Gourvish, T. R.; Blake, N. (1986). British Railways 1948-73: A Business History. Cambridge University Press. pp. 625–6. ISBN 9780521264808. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  4. ↑ Haywood 2009, p. 261.
  5. ↑ Brook, Richard; Dodge, Martin (2012). Infra_MANC (PDF). CUBE Gallery. p. 131. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  6. ↑ Haywood 2009, p. 210.
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