Styal line
This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2021) |
Styal line Airport line | |||
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standard gauge | |||
Electrification | 25 kV AC overhead | ||
Operating speed | 70 mph speed restriction | ||
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The Styal line is a suburban
Opened in 1909, by the
Journeys into Manchester on the line have risen sharply since the 1990s and the opening of Manchester Airport station in 1993 fuelled an increase in express services from Northern England and beyond. 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.[3]
Between May 2018 and December 2022, the line operated on a
History
In the early twentieth century, the line between Manchester London Road (now called Piccadilly station) and
In the 1950s, as part of
In the 1970s, the Styal line was included in a proposal to create an underground railway across
In 1993, a short
In 2006, the platforms at Mauldeth Road, Burnage, East Didsbury and Gatley stations were all reconstructed, as well as access improvements at Heald Green; patronage on the line increased after this investment. At the time, most platforms were future-proofed and extended to allow six carriage operation; however, it was not until 2019, with the arrival of the Class 195 and Class 331 units, that this platform capacity was fully utilised on Northern routes to Liverpool (Mauldeth Road) and Blackpool North (Burnage, East Didsbury and Gatley) which operate with six coaches.[citation needed]
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. 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 train crew 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 station 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.[citation needed]
Stations
Styal line stations (with 5 year patronage statistics) | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Station | Image | Location | National services | Annual entry/exit (millions) 1997/98[10] |
Annual entry/exit 1999/00[10] |
Annual entry/exit 2004/05[10] |
Annual entry/exit 2009/10[10] |
Annual entry/exit 2014/15[10] |
Annual entry/exit 2019/20[10] |
Mauldeth Road | Ladybarn | Northern Trains | 87,054 | 82,723 | 118,566 | 239,796 | 321,878 | 305,762 | |
Burnage | Burnage | Northern Trains | 71,774 | 70,803 | 92,908 | 158,674 | 186,778 | 213,780 | |
East Didsbury | Didsbury | Northern Trains Transport for Wales |
87,893 | 86,832 | 124,511 | 272,656 | 254,256 | 296,966 | |
Gatley | Gatley | Northern Trains TransPennine Express |
121,459 | 130,086 | 151,681 | 238,096 | 309,926 | 338,506 | |
Heald Green | Heald Green | Northern Trains | 191,537 | 204,190 | 245,950 | 379,956 | 497,988 | 482,318 | |
Manchester Airport | Ringway | Northern Trains TransPennine Express Transport for Wales |
1,132,740 | 1,259,513 | 1,576,260 | 2,620,252 | 3,460,854 | 5,747,000 | |
Styal | Styal | Northern Trains | 679 | 1,332 | 3,719 | 2,206 | 5,668 | 21,670 | |
Total | 1,693,136 | 1,835,479 | 2,313,595 | 3,911,609 | 5,037,348 | 7,406,002 |
Services
Stopping services
All stations on the line are served by two stopping services per hour operated by Northern Trains: one runs between Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Airport and the other runs between Manchester Piccadilly and Crewe. On Sundays, this is reduced to one train per hour which runs between Liverpool Lime Street and Wilmslow. These services are usually operated by a Class 323 electric multiple unit (EMU).
The busier stations (East Didsbury, Gatley and Heald Green) are served by an additional third express train every hour. Early morning, late evening and peak services sometimes make additional stops to provide additional services; for example, Gatley is served by a Blackpool North train at 07:43 on Sunday mornings.
Mauldeth Road, Burnage and Heald Green are served exclusively by Northern Trains.
East Didsbury is also served by Transport for Wales Rail and Gatley is also served by TransPennine Express services.[11]
Styal line off-peak services (as of December 2021) | |||||||
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Station | tph | Stopping service | Express service | Additional express service | |||
Mauldeth Road | 2 | Half hourly Manchester Airport to Liverpool Lime Street calling at all stations on the Styal line |
|||||
Burnage | 2 | ||||||
East Didsbury | 3 | ) | Manchester Airport to Barrow-in-Furness/Windermere
| ||||
Gatley | 3 | Manchester Airport to Barrow-in-Furness/Windermere |
) | ||||
Heald Green | 3 | Manchester Airport to Blackpool North |
Manchester Airport to Barrow-in-Furness/Windermere
| ||||
Manchester Airport |
7 | to Barrow-in-Furness, Blackpool North and Llandudno | to Redcar Central, Edinburgh and Glasgow Central | ||||
Styal | 1 |
Express services
Transport for Wales Rail run a limited weekday service from the Airport to Chester, as an extension of their route between North Wales and Manchester Piccadilly, using Class 175 units.[citation needed]
See also
- Airport Line (Manchester Metrolink); Metrolink tram line also serving Manchester Airport.
References
- Haywood, Russ (2009). Railways, Urban Development and Town Planning in Britain: 1948-2008. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 9780754673927. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
- ^ Haywood 2009, p. 237.
- ^ "Commons Transport Select Committee - Memorandum by the Greater Manchester Branch of the Institute of Logistics and Transport (REN 40)". HM Government. 11 July 2003. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
Increased TransPennine services to Manchester Airport: these presently reverse out of bay platforms on the eastern side of Piccadilly, with consequent waiting delays for through passengers from the west, and then cross West Coast Main Line and local tracks to reach the Styal (Airport) line approach to Slade Lane junction, on the extreme west of the layout.
- ^ "Timetable recast: too much, too quickly". Railway Gazette. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
- ^ "Manchester Recovery Task Force Public Consultation" (PDF). Department for Transport. September 2021.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
- ISBN 9780521264808. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
- ^ Haywood 2009, p. 261.
- ^ Brook, Richard; Dodge, Martin (2012). Infra_MANC (PDF). CUBE Gallery. p. 131. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
- ^ Haywood 2009, p. 210.
- ^ Office of Rail Regulation. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
- ^ Table 85 National Rail timetable, December 2022
- ^ "Timetables | Download timetables | TransPennine Express". TransPennine Express. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
- ^ "New Rolling Stock for London Midland and for First TransPennine Express". London Midland. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2022.