Hale railway station

The station was opened as Peel Causeway by the Cheshire Midland Railway (CMR) on 12 May 1862 when the railway opened from Altrincham to Knutsford. The CMR was amalgamated into the Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) on 15 August 1867. The station became Peel Causeway for Hale on 1 January 1899, and on 1 January 1902 it was renamed Hale. The station was served by passenger trains from Manchester Central to Northwich and Chester Northgate. The CLC remained an independent entity, as a joint London, Midland and Scottish Railway and London and North Eastern Railway operation after the Grouping of 1923, until the creation of British Railways (BR). The station then passed on to the London Midland Region of British Railways on nationalisation on 1 January 1948. When Sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s, the station was served by Regional Railways under arrangement with the Greater Manchester PTE (Now Transport for Greater Manchester) until the Privatisation of British Railways.

Hale railway station in 1988 looking north from the level crossing with the signal box near left.

Monday to Saturday there is generally an hourly service from Hale via Stockport to Manchester Piccadilly eastbound (although some morning peak trains terminate at Stockport), and to Chester westbound. There is an additional hourly service in peak hours only (in peak direction only).

All services are operated by Northern Trains, who operate Class 142, Class 150 and Class 156 trains on the route. The current ageing rolling stock is expected to be modernised following the removal of all Pacer trains in the country by 2020. This will allow for less crowded, smoother and cleaner services for passengers using the station.

Typical Monday to Saturday service pattern as of May 2018:[1]

xx:13 (platform 2) service to Chester.

xx:56 (platform 1) service to Manchester Piccadilly.

Sundays see a roughly two-hourly service both ways (7tpd to Chester & 8tpd to Manchester).

The station has a ticket office at Platform 1, which is open on weekday mornings. Digital station information boards are in operation on both platforms, and there are station announcements. There is a station car park on either side of the level crossing. The station has a Victorian feel to it with the station canopies and footbridge. Much of the station building on Platform 1 is now a vet surgery, and the station building on Platform 2 is now a health clinic. The signal box is not in use any more. Located in the heart of Hale, the station is close to shops and many restaurants.

• Listed buildings in Hale, Greater Manchester

Griffiths, R.Prys (1978). The Cheshire Lines Railway. The Oakwood Press.

• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2013). Chester Northgate to Manchester. Middleton Press. figs. 69-73. ISBN 9781908174512. OCLC 892704846.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hale railway station.

• Train times and station information for Hale railway station from National Rail
• Mid-Cheshire Community Rail Partnership

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Ashley		Northern Trains (Mid-Cheshire Line)		Altrincham