Rose Hill Marple railway station

Rose Hill Marple railway station is in Marple in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, England. The station, which opened in 1869, is the last surviving stop on the former Macclesfield, Bollington and Marple Railway ("MB&MR"). It is connected via a short branch to the Hope Valley Line. The original line to Macclesfield closed in January 1970, leaving Rose Hill Marple as the terminus of the route. Daily services run to Manchester Piccadilly, except on Sundays.

Rose Hill Marple
View looking toward the buffer stop. Prior to 1970, the line continued south towards Macclesfield.
Location
Place	Marple
Local authority	Stockport
Coordinates	53.396°N 2.076°W / 53.396; -2.076
Grid reference	SJ950887
Operations
Station code	RSH
Managed by	Northern Trains
Number of platforms	1
DfT category	E
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15	0.155 million
2015/16	0.145 million
2016/17	0.159 million
2017/18	0.174 million
2018/19	0.211 million
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	Transport for Greater Manchester
History
Original company	Macclesfield, Bollington and Marple Railway
Pre-grouping	Macclesfield Committee
Post-grouping	Macclesfield Committee
2 August 1869	Opened as Marple (Rose Hill)
?	Renamed Rose Hill (Marple)
?	Renamed Rose Hill Marple
National Rail – UK railway stations
Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Rose Hill Marple from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

The station provides access to the Middlewood Way, which follows the preserved route of the disused MB&MR.

History

The station opened on 2 August 1869. Originally named Marple (Rose Hill), it was later renamed Rose Hill (Marple), before the current form Rose Hill Marple was adopted.[1]

A 1909 Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram showing (right) railways in the vicinity of Rose Hill (lower right)

It was built on the Macclesfield, Bollington and Marple Railway, with dual tracks and thus two platforms. The second southbound platform (now removed, as the line is operated as a single track 'long siding') had simply a waiting shelter. The remaining station building previously provided an indoor waiting area and was only recently brought back into use in 2007 with a new ticket window operating weekday mornings.

In January 1970, the route south to Bollington and Macclesfield was closed to all traffic; the majority of travellers between Macclesfield and the City of Manchester preferring to use the faster West Coast Main Line route via Stockport instead. Though it had also been listed for closure in the 1963 Beeching Report, Rose Hill itself avoided a similar fate due to its high levels of commuter traffic toward Manchester Piccadilly.[2]

Subsequent diesel services to and from Manchester Piccadilly originally alternated between the two available routes - one train running via Bredbury, followed by a train travelling via Hyde and Guide Bridge. In the late 1990s, the services to the two railway stations in Marple were streamlined, with most Rose Hill services now running via Hyde and most Marple services running via the more direct Bredbury line.

From 13 December 2010, Rose Hill Marple gained an extra second service per hour off-peak due to the diversion of a service which previously turned back at Marple railway station. Daytime Monday to Saturday there are a half-hourly services to Manchester Piccadilly via Hyde, with some peak period additional trains via Bredbury. The evening service from the station is limited (just two departures after 19.15)[3] and there is no Sunday service.

Most services since the late 1980s have been operated with British Rail Class 142 'Pacer' Diesel Multiple Units but, given their withdrawal from service in 2019/20, are now run by British Rail Class 150s.

In July 2020, Northern informed local residents that services between Manchester and Rose Hill Marple will not operate between early September and mid December 2020.[4] This will leave Woodley, Hyde North and Hyde Central, as well as Rose Hill, without service for around four months.

Facilities

Rose Hill is a 'Park & Ride' station.[5]

The station has a ticket office open on weekday mornings until 12:30pm. There is also a ticket machine at the station. The covered area provides a shelter with a three-seater bench. The original waiting room can be accessed during ticket office opening hours.

Railway Road gives access to Middlewood Way, a "linear park" and trail for walkers, cyclists and horse-riders, which follows the line's previous route to Macclesfield. The initial section of this route was tarmacked and given street lighting in 2006 to encourage its use by residents of local residential developments in reaching the station and Stockport Road.

In addition to exposed railings around the station area, three secure bicycle lockers are provided at the North end of the platform, which require a 'BLUC' key for use.[6]

Future planning

As part of Manchester's Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) bid, which would have seen a weekday peak time congestion charge introduced on roads into the city centre, Rose Hill was among the stations listed to receive station improvements and improved services from the proposed £3bn injection into the region's public transport. This scheme was dropped after the plans were rejected substantially in a public referendum in December 2008.

Rose Hill Marple has been touted as a suitable terminus for a new Metrolink tram service to the area, with possible routes being either a simple conversion of the existing line to Manchester or a new link into Stockport town centre via Bredbury and Portwood. The latter would provide an Eastern extension from the proposed Western link into Stockport town centre from Didsbury, linking together many towns in the borough along the Goyt and Mersey rivers.[7] Despite heavy road traffic from private cars and buses, the local centres of Marple, Romiley and Bredbury have not been linked to their borough centre of Stockport by a direct passenger rail route since January 1967.

References

1. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. pp. 155, 199. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
2. Marshall, John (1981). Forgotten Railways: North West England. David & Charles. p. 30. ISBN 978-0715380031.
3. Northern Rail Timetable 22: Manchester to Rose Hill and New Mils Central, 19 May to 7 December 2013 www.northernrail.org; Retrieved 2013-08-20
4. "Save the Rose Hill Marple Service to Piccadilly". William Wragg MP. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
5. "National Rail Enquiries - Station facilities for Rose Hill Marple". Nationalrail.co.uk. 24 November 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
6. "BLUC - Bike Locker Users Club". Stockport Council. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
7. "Regeneration". Archived from the original on 2 May 2008.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)

External links

• Train times and station information for Rose Hill Marple railway station from National Rail
• Episode 4 of Beeching's Tracks broadcast on BBC Four on 11 December 2008

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Romiley		Northern Trains Hope Valley Line Mondays-Saturdays only		Terminus
	Disused railways
Romiley		Great Central Railway & North Staffordshire Railway Macclesfield, Bollington and Marple Railway		High Lane