Stafford to Manchester Line

Stafford-Manchester Line
250px A Virgin Class 390 and CrossCountry Class 221 at Stoke-on-Trent railway station
Overview
System	National Rail
Locale	Cheshire Greater Manchester Staffordshire Stoke-on-Trent West Midlands (region) North West England
Operation
Opened	1848
Owner	Network Rail
Operator(s)	East Midland Trains London Midland Northern Rail Virgin Trains CrossCountry
Technical
Line length	53.9 miles (86.7 km)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge

Stafford to Manchester Line
Legend
Manchester Piccadilly Huddersfield Line Glossop Line Longsight A6 road Rushford Styal Line Levenshulme Fallowfield Loop Line Heaton Chapel Stockport to Stalybridge Line Heaton Norris Stockport, Timperley & Altrincham Jn Rly via Stockport Tiviot Dale Stockport to Chester | to Whaley Bridge Disley cutoff via Cheadle Heath Cheadle Hulme Crewe to Manchester Line Bramhall Poynton Poynton (Midway) Adlington Prestbury Tunnel 273 yd  250 m  Prestbury Hibel Road Tunnel 343 yd  314 m  Macclesfield Beech Bridge Macclesfield Hibel Road Macclesfield, Bollington and Marple Railway   Macclesfield North Rode Churnet Valley Line Congleton Upper Junction Biddulph Valley Line Congleton Mow Cop and Scholar Green Crewe to Derby Line Potteries Loop Line Kidsgrove Harecastle North Tunnel 130 yd  119 m  Harecastle South Tunnel 1766 yd  1615 m  Chatterley Potteries Loop Line Pinnox branch Longport Potteries Loop Line Etruria Stoke to Market Drayton Line Stoke-on-Trent Stoke–Leek line to Leek Crewe to Derby Line to Derby Whieldon Road Halt Mount Pleasant Halt Sideway Halt A50 road Trentham Park Branch Line Trentham Wedgwood Barlaston Stone to Colwich Line Stone M6 motorway West Coast Main Line via Crewe Norton Bridge Bridgeford Great Bridgeford to Newport (Salop) | to Uttoxeter Stafford West Coast Main Line via Trent Valley Line West Coast Main Line via Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line

The Stafford to Manchester Line is a branch of the West Coast Main Line (Network Rail Route 18) serving Stafford, Norton Bridge, Stone, Stoke-on-Trent, Kidsgrove, Congleton, Macclesfield, Cheadle Hulme, Stockport and Manchester.

Train services

Virgin Trains

Virgin Trains operate inter-city services between London Euston via the Colwich spur to Manchester Piccadilly. With only two services between London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly going via Stone.

CrossCountry

CrossCountry services operate between Birmingham New Street / The South Country and Manchester Piccadilly. Between Cheadle Hulme (where it joins the Crewe to Manchester Line) and Manchester, the line forms part of Network Rail Route 20.

London Midland

Local services between Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent (calling at Stone) are operated by London Midland, as part of the London-Crewe service started in December 2008. Between 2004 and 2008 there was no stopping service on the route, with a replacement bus service taking its place. However Wedgwood, Barlaston and Norton Bridge stations are still without a train service although they were never officially closed and are still served by rail-replacement bus services.

Northern Rail

Frequent local services between Stoke-on-Trent and Manchester are operated by Northern Rail.

East Midland Trains

The Derby to Crewe Line operated by East Midland Trains shares the Stafford to Manchester Line between Stoke-on-Trent and Kidsgrove.

History

The line was completed in 1848 and incorporated the main line of the North Staffordshire Railway from the junction with the London and North Western Railway at Norton Bridge via its principal station at Stoke-on-Trent to Macclesfield where it made a running junction again with the LNWR, which had its own station at Macclesfield (Hibel Road), which was closed by British Rail. The North Staffordshire Railway became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923.

Electrification

The line was electrified at 25 kV AC, using overhead wires under the BR 1955 Modernisation Plan.