Styal Line

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

In the 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 its new electrification scheme, and in 1959 the line was electrified. Following the Styal Line tests, it was decided to adopt the 25 kV system across the whole Great Britain rail network outside the Southern Region.[4] There was half-hourly electric service (Monday - Saturday) between Manchester Oxford Road and Alderley Edge operated by Class 304 EMUs.[5] Services were extended to Altrincham when the M&SJR was re-electrified at 25 kV 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.[6]

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.[7] 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 2006, the platforms at Mauldeth Road, Burnage and East Didsbury stations were all reconstructed, as well as access improvements at Gatley and Heald Green. Patronage on the line increased after this investment.

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 most services on the line 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 northbound. However, the only services on the junction southbound are either freight or a Transport for Wales service which doesn't stop at either stations and only operates on Sundays. This route can also be used for diversions if the Stockport route is closed for engineering work or is blocked due to an operational incident.

• Airport Line (Manchester Metrolink); Metrolink tram line also serving Manchester Airport.

• Haywood, Russ (2009). Railways, Urban Development and Town Planning in Britain: 1948-2008. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 9780754673927. Retrieved 19 June 2018.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Styal Line.

• Greater Manchester Strategic Rail Study Final Report June 2001