Manchester South District Railway
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The Manchester South District Railway (MSDR) was a British railway company that was formed in 1873. It was formed by a group of landowners and businessmen in the south of Manchester, England, with the purpose of building a new railway line through the city's southern suburbs.
After some commercial difficulties, the MSDR line was eventually built by the Midland Railway and opened in 1880. A section of the line became part of the Cheshire Lines Committee and it was later absorbed into British Rail in 1948. The line was closed in the 1960s as part of the Beeching cuts. In the 2010s the line was partially reopened as part of the Manchester Metrolink network, and today forms the South Manchester Line.
History
The mid-19th century was a time of rapid expansion of Britain's railway network and new lines were being planned around major cities such as Manchester.
Manchester South District Railway Act 1873 | |
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Act of Parliament | |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 5 August 1873 |
Text of statute as originally enacted |
A group of landowners in South Manchester formed the Manchester South District Railway to develop a line through the local area. By creating a new rapid link to the economic centre of Manchester they hoped to attract prosperity to the growing outer districts. Their intended route would run from a planned junction at
Development of the delayed MSDR line was eventually made possible as a result of the fierce competition between two railway companies on the lucrative long-distance Manchester-London route. The first line between the two cities had been opened in 1840 by the
In its quest for its own independent line into the city, the MR considered an 1864 scheme of the Manchester and Cheadle Railway to build a railway line from Old Trafford to Heaton Mersey, passing through the suburbs of Old Trafford, Hough End and longside the River Mersey via Church of St James, Didsbury to a junction with the Stockport, Timperley and Altrincham Junction Railway. This proposal was eventually aborted, but the Manchester South District Railway's 1873 scheme emerged as a viable plan.
To build the line, the Midland tried to set up a
The Midland was also a partner in another joint railway, the Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) which was building its own railway terminus, Manchester Central. A new junction was constructed at Throstle Nest near Cornrook, connecting the new MSDR to the CLC's Liverpool–Manchester lines; this would enable trains from the MSDR line to run into central Manchester and terminate at Central Station. The Manchester South District Line opened on 1 January 1880. More importantly for the Midland, this development opened up a new long-distance route to the south, and the Midland Railway closed its operation at London Road station on 1 August 1880, moving all its services to Central Station.[5] Initially, trains terminated at a temporary Free Trade Hall Station until the main station opened in July 1880.
The new route proved successful, and the Midland ran express trains from Manchester Central to
On 1 October 1901 a new line was opened enabling the Midland to run trains along the MSDR via
From 1923, the MR was absorbed into the
Closure
When the former
After closure, the suburban stations fell derelict and were eventually demolished. Manchester Central was mothballed and eventually repurposed as an exhibition centre, the
Metrolink re-opening
The Manchester South District Line lay derelict for several decades. In 1984,
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The derelict MSDR line at West Didsbury in 2011
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Construction of West Didsbury tram stop (2011)
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The reopened MSDR line at Burton Road
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The new tram terminus at East Didsbury
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The Metrolink South Manchester Line
Route
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From its opening in 1880, local services were operated on the Manchester South District Line between Manchester and Stockport:[4]
- Manchester Central
- Chorlton-cum-Hardy
- Withington
- Didsbury
- Heaton Mersey.
- Stockport Tiviot Dale
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Stockport Tiviot Dale railway station c.1902
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Didsbury Railway Station c.1910
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Midland to Manchester
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Cheadle, Chorlton, Heaton Mersey & Northenden RJD 149
References
Citations
- ^ a b "Manchester South District Railway | Science Museum Group Collection". collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
- ^ Biggar, Robert, ed. (16 June 1877). "The Railway Times and Joint-Stock Chronicle". 40 (24): 542. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
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(help) - ^ Johnson 1993, pp. 5–7.
- ^ a b Dyckhoff 1999, p. 38.
- ^ Dyckhoff 1984, p. 9.
- ^ a b c d "Didsbury Station". www.disused-stations.org.uk. Disused Stations. Archived from the original on 20 May 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
- ^ a b c d Suggitt 2004.
- ^ Johnson 1993, p. 9.
- ^ Johnson 1993, p. 30.
- ^ Parkinson-Bailey 2000.
- ISBN 0-86317-164-8.
- ^ Kirby, Dean (23 May 2013). "First passengers travel on tram extension to East Didsbury". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
Sources
- Parkinson-Bailey, John (2000). Manchester: An architectural history. Manchester University Press.
- Dyckhoff, Nigel (1984), The Cheshire Lines Committee: Then and now, Shepperton: Ian Allan Ltd., ISBN 0711014108
- Dyckhoff, Nigel (1999), Portrait of the Cheshire Lines Committee, Shepperton: Ian Allan Publishing, ISBN 0711025215
- Johnson, E.M. (1993). The Midland route from Manchester. Foxline Publishing. ISBN 9781870119207.
- Suggitt, Gordon (2004). Lost Railways of Merseyside and Greater Manchester. Countryside Books. ISBN 978-1-85306-869-0.
External links
Lost Railways of South Manchester: South Manchester District Railway on