List of railway stations in Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester, a metropolitan county in North West England, has a public rail network of 130 route miles (209 km) and 92 National Rail stations.[1]^[a] Transport for Greater Manchester is responsible for specifying fares and service levels of train services operating in the county.[2] The Northern train operating company provides most of these services.[3] The four main railway stations in Manchester city centre are Piccadilly, Victoria, Oxford Road and Deansgate which all form part of the Manchester station group.

For main railway termini in Manchester, see Manchester station group.

Manchester Piccadilly

Manchester Victoria

Stockport

Manchester Airport

Bolton

Wigan Wallgate

Rochdale

Stalybridge

Altrincham

Cheadle Hulme

Ashton-under-Lyne

Marple

Horwich Parkway

Bury

Railways in Greater Manchester

  Primary route

  Secondary route

  Rural route

  Goods only

  Heritage railway

  Metrolink

  Disused railway

Most services run to or through one of Manchester city centre's major stations, Manchester Victoria and Manchester Piccadilly. The network is effectively divided into two operating halves based on these stations,[2] although the opening of a connecting line in 1988 improved operational flexibility by joining the north and south halves.[4] This was further improved by the Ordsall Chord (opened to traffic on 10 December 2017).

Services radiate northwards from Manchester Victoria, providing stopping services to West Yorkshire and Liverpool as well as local suburban services to Rochdale and Wigan.[2] The south side's services radiate from Manchester Piccadilly and run to Manchester Airport, south Manchester, Cheshire, Staffordshire, Leeds, North East England, London and other major destinations.[2]

The region's rail network started to develop during the Industrial Revolution, when it was at the centre of a textile manufacturing boom.[5] Manchester was at the forefront of the railway building revolution during the Victorian era. The world's first passenger railway, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, opened on 15 September 1830.[2] Its original terminus, Liverpool Road railway station, was closed to passengers in 1844, but still exists and is the oldest surviving passenger station in the world.[6] Since the Beeching Axe many of Greater Manchester's stations have closed and many station facilities have been removed. Others, however, have been converted to the Manchester Metrolink, Greater Manchester's light-rail network, or preserved as part of the East Lancashire Railway heritage route.^[b] The expansion of the Metrolink is set to continue at least through 2020, with the planned opening of the Trafford Park Line.[7][8] In October 2009, nine stations on the former Oldham Loop Line closed for conversion,[9] and future plans include the use of tram-trains to allow Metrolink to serve existing National Rail stations.[10]

Manchester Piccadilly, the principal station for the City of Manchester and busiest station in Greater Manchester by number of passengers.

Heavy rail commuter line map

In preparation for the 2002 Commonwealth Games Manchester Piccadilly, the principal station for the City of Manchester, was extensively redeveloped and as a consequence has been voted as having the highest customer satisfaction rating of all the main stations in the United Kingdom.[11] As of 2013, Manchester Victoria is under renovation with the construction of a new £20 million roof while Oxford Road will see redevelopment as a result of the Northern Hub plan in 2014. The construction of the Ordsall Chord linked Greater Manchester's three busiest stations for the first time in December 2017.

Railway stations currently in use

Station (and code)	Borough	Managed by	Lines served	Year opened	Platforms	Station users 2015/16[12]	Station users 2016/17[12]	Station users 2017/18[12]
Altrincham (ALT)	Trafford	Northern	Mid-Cheshire Line	1881[13]	2 + 2 Metrolink^[c]	507,592	568,734	458,230
Ardwick (ADK)	Manchester	Northern	Glossop Line Hope Valley Line	1842[13]	2	896	860	882
Ashburys (ABY)	Manchester	Northern	Glossop Line Hope Valley Line	1846[13]	2	87,136	98,472	90,950
Ashton-under-Lyne (AHN)	Tameside	Northern	Huddersfield Line	1846[14]	2	361,946	386,720	324,674
Atherton (ATN)	Wigan	Northern	Manchester to Southport Line	1888[14]	2	436,000	338,164	295,810
Belle Vue (BLV)	Manchester	Northern	Hope Valley Line	1875[13]	2	10,340	11,456	9,990
Blackrod (BLK)	Bolton	Northern	Manchester to Preston Line	1841[14]	2	555,594	609,150	549,876
Bolton (BON)	Bolton	Northern	Manchester to Southport Line Ribble Valley Line Manchester to Preston Line TransPennine North West West Coast Main Line	1838[14]	5	2,866,316	3,240,136	2,950,294
Bramhall (BML)	Stockport	Northern	Stafford to Manchester Line	1845[14]	2	289,976	302,912	297,848
Bredbury (BDY)	Stockport	Northern	Hope Valley Line	1875[13]	2	211,006	214,500	215,798
Brinnington (BNT)	Stockport	Northern	Hope Valley Line	1977[15]	2	78,548	79,512	83,442
Broadbottom (BDB)	Tameside	Northern	Glossop Line	1842[13]	2	143,514	158,652	163,904
Bromley Cross (BMC)	Bolton	Northern	Ribble Valley Line	1848[14]	2	291,754	360,602	311,434
Bryn (BYN)	Wigan	Northern	Liverpool to Wigan Line	1869[14]	2	150,632	154,298	153,272
Burnage (BNA)	Manchester	Northern	South TransPennine Styal Line	1910[13]	2	204,120	223,780	220,096
Castleton (CAS)	Rochdale	Northern	Caldervale Line	1875[13]	2	148,262	170,024	167,114
Chassen Road (CSR)	Trafford	Northern	Manchester to Liverpool Line	1934[14]	2	48,020	50,430	49,210
Cheadle Hulme (CHU)	Stockport	Northern	Crewe to Manchester Line Stafford to Manchester Line	1845*[16]	4	785,174	861,360	870,058
Clifton (CLI)	Salford	Northern	Manchester to Preston Line	1847[14]	2	116	352	280
Daisy Hill (DSY)	Bolton	Northern	Manchester to Southport Line	1888[14]	2	336,540	298,322	285,998
Davenport (DVN)	Stockport	Northern	Buxton Line Hope Valley Line	1858[13]	2	285,066	296,366	297,996
Deansgate (DGT)	Manchester	Northern	Liverpool to Manchester Lines Manchester to Preston Line Stafford to Manchester Line TransPennine North West	1849[13]	2 + 3 Metrolink	390,445	420,938	419,696
Denton (DTN)	Tameside	Northern	Stockport to Stalybridge Line	1851[14]	2	74	144	70
East Didsbury (EDY)	Manchester	Northern	South TransPennine Styal Line	1909[13]	2	267,548	279,966	264,000
Eccles (ECC)	Salford	Northern	Liverpool to Manchester Lines	1830[14]	2	161,298	190,518	162,820
Fairfield (FRF)	Tameside	Northern	Hope Valley Line	1841[13]	2	24,554	33,968	37,860
Farnworth (FNW)	Bolton	Northern	Manchester to Preston Line	1838[14]	2	13,166	38,408	36,922
Flixton (FLI)	Trafford	Northern	Liverpool to Manchester Lines	1873[14]	2	103,654	130,442	132,528
Flowery Field (FLF)	Tameside	Northern	Glossop Line	1985[15]	2	197,330	222,152	223,832
Gathurst (GST)	Wigan	Northern	Manchester to Southport Line	1855[14]	2	86,976	97,870	92,888
Gatley (GTY)	Stockport	Northern	South TransPennine Styal Line	1909[13]	2	320,370	356,506	346,242
Godley (GDL)	Tameside	Northern	Glossop Line	1986[17]	2	73,182	82,954	90,164
Gorton (GTO)	Manchester	Northern	Glossop Line Hope Valley Line	1842[13]	2	100,864	113,322	115,774
Greenfield (GNF)	Oldham	Northern	Huddersfield Line	1849[14]	2	338,694	369,826	332,332
Guide Bridge (GUI)	Tameside	Northern	Glossop Line Hope Valley Line Stockport to Stalybridge Line	1846[13]	2	297,324	337,902	335,774
Hag Fold (HGF)	Wigan	Northern	Manchester-Southport Line	1987[15]	2	51,582	50,212	44,708
Hale (HAL)	Trafford	Northern	Mid-Cheshire Line	1862[13]	2	179,812	178,392	157,688
Hall i' th' Wood (HID)	Bolton	Northern	Ribble Valley Line	1986[15]	2	116,428	157,280	142,832
Hattersley (HTY)	Tameside	Northern	Glossop Line	1978[17]	2	64,320	78,956	88,926
Hazel Grove (HAZ)	Stockport	Northern	Buxton Line Hope Valley Line	1857[14]	2	650,952	707,426	717,048
Heald Green (HDG)	Stockport	Northern	South TransPennine Styal Line TransPennine North West	1909[13]	2	474,766	507,318	489,672
Heaton Chapel (HTC)	Stockport	Northern	Buxton Line Crewe to Manchester Line Stafford to Manchester Line	1852[14]	2	757,190	837,228	835,032
Hindley (HIN)	Wigan	Northern	Manchester to Southport Line	1848[14]	2	333,462	346,424	310,344
Horwich Parkway (HWI)	Bolton	Northern	Manchester to Preston Line	1999[13]	2	599,916	639,192	580,308
Humphrey Park (HUP)	Trafford	Northern	Liverpool to Manchester Lines	1984[18]	2	35,070	35,614	34,866
Hyde Central (HYC)	Tameside	Northern	Hope Valley Line	1858[13]	2	81,512	97,422	101,984
Hyde North (HYT)	Tameside	Northern	Hope Valley Line	1862[13]	2	43,992	48,644	48,680
Ince (INC)	Wigan	Northern	Manchester to Southport Line	1863[14]	2	21,150	24,536	23,132
Irlam (IRL)	Salford	Northern	Liverpool to Manchester Lines	1893[14]	2	305,590	362,358	343,886
Kearsley (KSL)	Bolton	Northern	Manchester to Preston Line	1838[14]	2	15,512	34,908	36,752
Levenshulme (LVM)	Manchester	Northern	Buxton Line Crewe to Manchester Line Stafford to Manchester Line	1843[13]	2	512,654	592,638	576,854
Littleborough (LTL)	Rochdale	Northern	Caldervale Line	1839[13]	2	391,896	411,078	420,880
Lostock (LOT)	Bolton	Northern	Manchester to Preston Line	1988[15]	2	232,442	276,514	242,986
Manchester Airport (MIA)	Manchester	TransPennine Express	North TransPennine South TransPennine Styal Line TransPennine North West	1993[15]	4 + 2 Metrolink	3,632,308	4,241,292	4,644,526
Manchester Oxford Road (MCO)	Manchester	Northern	Chester to Manchester Line Liverpool to Manchester Lines Manchester to Preston Line North TransPennine Stafford to Manchester Line TransPennine North West	1849[13]	5	7,961,843	8,583,649	8,558,308
Manchester United (MUF)	Trafford	Northern	Liverpool to Manchester Lines	1935[13]	1	N/A Only open on matchdays	N/A Only open on matchdays	N/A Only open on matchdays
Manchester Piccadilly (MAN)	Manchester	Network Rail	Buxton Line Chester to Manchester Line Crewe to Manchester Line CrossCountry Glossop Line Hope Valley Line Liverpool to Manchester Lines Manchester to Preston Line Mid-Cheshire Line North TransPennine Stafford to Manchester Line Styal Line TransPennine North West Welsh Marches Line West Coast Main Line	1842[13]	14 + 2 Metrolink	25,792,700	27,807,063	27,724,962
Manchester Victoria (MCV)	Manchester	Northern	Caldervale Line Huddersfield Line Manchester to Liverpool Line Manchester to Preston Line Manchester to Southport Line Ribble Valley Line	1844[13]	6 + 4 Metrolink	7,630,480	8,226,407	8,202,118
Marple (MPL)	Stockport	Northern	Hope Valley Line	1862[13]	2	454,858	470,158	480,132
Mauldeth Road (MAU)	Manchester	Northern	South TransPennine Styal Line	1909[13]	2	356,798	398,882	379,964
Middlewood (MDL)	Stockport	Northern	Buxton Line	1879[14]	2	27,950	24,824	25,226
Mills Hill (MIH)	Rochdale	Northern	Caldervale Line	1985[15]^[d]	2	310,032	330,628	293,408
Moorside (MSD)	Salford	Northern	Manchester to Southport Line	1888[14]	2	40,654	47,662	45,794
Moses Gate (MSS)	Bolton	Northern	Manchester to Preston Line	1838[14]	2	10,354	21,882	19,030
Mossley (MSL)	Tameside	Northern	Huddersfield Line	1849[14]	2	306,150	322,114	301,408
Moston (MSO)	Manchester	Northern	Caldervale Line	1872[13]	2	71,732	68,174	55,688
Navigation Road (NVR)	Trafford	Northern	Mid-Cheshire Line	1931[13]	1^[e]	107,168	106,208	95,418
Newton for Hyde (NWN)	Tameside	Northern	Glossop Line	1841[13]	2	176,812	180,436	175,770
Orrell (ORR)	Wigan	Northern	Kirkby Branch Line	1848[14]	2	84,456	90,918	90,178
Patricroft (PAT)	Salford	Northern	Liverpool to Manchester Lines	1830[14]	2	49,468	73,596	86,744
Pemberton (PEM)	Wigan	Northern	Kirkby Branch Line	1848[14]	2	60,302	64,682	69,676
Reddish North (RDN)	Stockport	Northern	Hope Valley Line	1875[13]	2	174,334	196,906	210,024
Reddish South (RDS)	Stockport	Northern	Stockport to Stalybridge Line	1859[14]	1	38	94	104
Rochdale (RCD)	Rochdale	Northern	Caldervale Line	1839[13]	3 + 2 Metrolink	1,134,418	1,247,330	1,236,316
Romiley (RML)	Stockport	Northern	Hope Valley Line	1862[13]	2	301,172	328,722	338,342
Rose Hill Marple (RSH)	Stockport	Northern	Hope Valley Line	1869[13]	1	145,366	159,106	174,306
Ryder Brow (RRB)	Manchester	Northern	Hope Valley Line	1985[15]	2	27,078	30,266	30,182
Salford Central (SFD)	Salford	Northern	Manchester to Preston Line Manchester to Southport Line Ribble Valley Line	1838[13]	2	411,830	483,104	627,852
Salford Crescent (SLD)	Salford	Northern	Manchester to Preston Line Manchester to Southport Line Ribble Valley Line TransPennine North West	1987[15]	2	955,878	1,148,814	1,141,368
Smithy Bridge (SMB)	Rochdale	Northern	Caldervale Line	1985[15]	2	149,152	167,822	166,542
Stalybridge (SYB)	Tameside	TransPennine Express	Huddersfield Line North TransPennine Stockport to Stalybridge Line	1845[13]	5	1,128,900	1,150,886	1,150,310
Stockport (SPT)	Stockport	Avanti West Coast	Buxton Line Crewe to Manchester Line CrossCountry Hope Valley Line Mid-Cheshire Line South TransPennine Stafford to Manchester Line Stockport to Stalybridge Line West Coast Main Line	1843[13]	6	3,586,032	3,781,718	3,853,208
Strines (SRN)	Stockport	Northern	Hope Valley Line	1866	2	26,074	26,332	24,052
Swinton (SNN)	Salford	Northern	Manchester to Southport Line	1887[14]	2	132,684	137,362	138,412
Trafford Park (TRA)	Trafford	Northern	Liverpool to Manchester Lines	1904[14]	2	61,512	64,712	54,870
Urmston (URM)	Trafford	Northern	Liverpool to Manchester Lines	1873[14]	2	324,402	380,586	375,140
Walkden (WKD)	Salford	Northern	Manchester to Southport Line	1888[13]	2	339,942	300,710	283,572
Westhoughton (WHG)	Bolton	Northern	Manchester to Southport Line	1848[14]	2	129,344	194,752	177,092
Wigan North Western (WGN)	Wigan	Avanti West Coast	Blackpool to Liverpool Line Liverpool to Wigan Line West Coast Main Line	1838[13]	6	1,380,716	1,620,278	1,583,812
Wigan Wallgate (WGW)	Wigan	Northern	Kirkby Branch Line Manchester to Southport Line	1896[13]	3	1,576,106	1,493,308	1,459,698
Woodley (WLY)	Stockport	Northern	Hope Valley Line	1862[14]	2	53,856	60,882	63,556
Woodsmoor (WSR)	Stockport	Northern	Buxton Line Hope Valley Line	1990[15]	2	232,954	253,746	273,890

See also

• List of closed railway stations in Greater Manchester
• Transport in Manchester

Footnotes

^a The total of 98 given at www.gmpte.com excludes Reddish South and Denton, which have one service per week, but includes Dean Lane, Failsworth, Hollinwood, Oldham Werneth, Oldham Mumps, Derker, Shaw and Crompton, New Hey and Milnrow, which closed on 3 October 2009.

^b Of the stations on the East Lancashire Railway operational as of the 2015 season, three (Bury Bolton Street, Heywood and Summerseat) are located within Greater Manchester.[19]

^c Two other platforms are used by Manchester Metrolink services.[20][21]

^d Originally opened in 1839 and closed in 1842. Reopened 25 March 1985 on the same site.[15]

^e One other platform is used by Metrolink services.[22]

References

1. GMPTE (Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive) (n.d.). "GMPTE - Trains". gmpte.com. Archived from the original on 15 December 2006. Retrieved 13 September 2007.
2. Roughley, Malcolm (1986). Railways in Greater Manchester (1974-1986); Volume One. M.R. Roughley. ISBN 0-9511246-0-9.
3. "Network Map" (PDF). Northern Rail Network Map. FWT (part of the Cook Hammond & Kell Group). 22 March 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 April 2008. Retrieved 13 September 2008.
4. Sanderson, Kathy (1989). "Manchester–Glossop–Hadfield". In Andrew Macfarlane (ed.). Peaks and Plains by Rail. Railway Development Society. Norwich: Jarrold Colour Publications. p. 42. ISBN 0-7117-0429-5.
5. Clarke, John (1976). Railways: It Happened Round Greater Manchester. Greater Manchester Council.
6. "About us". Science and Industry Museum. 2008.
7. "Metrolink second city crossing 'vital' for Manchester". BBC News. 8 June 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
8. "Trafford Park Line". TFGM Website. 12 January 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
9. "Oldham Loop rail line closure" (PDF). GMPTE information poster. Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive. September 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
10. Charlotte Cox (22 January 2015). "Transport bosses reveal plans to use special 'tram-train' to connect Stockport to Metrolink system". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
11. "Revamped station tops train poll". BBC. bbc.co.uk. 2 August 2007. Retrieved 1 December 2007.
12. "Station usage". Office of Rail Regulation. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
13. Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
14. Brackenbury, Allan (2005). Railway passenger stations in Greater Manchester: a chronology. Cheadle: Railway and Canal Historical Society North West Group.
15. Alan Bevan, ed. (1998). A—Z of Rail Reopenings. Railway Development Society. Warwick: Warwick Printing Company. ISBN 0-901283-13-4.
16. Reid, T. D. W.; Lee, Irene (1979). Cheadle in 1851. Stockport Libraries. p. 40. ISBN 0-905164-00-8.
17. Sanderson, Kathy (1989). "Manchester–Glossop–Hadfield". In Andrew Macfarlane (ed.). Peaks and Plains by Rail. Railway Development Society. Norwich: Jarrold Colour Publications. p. 34. ISBN 0-7117-0429-5.
18. Macfarlane, Andrew (1989). "Manchester–Warrington–Liverpool". In Andrew Macfarlane (ed.). Peaks and Plains by Rail. Railway Development Society. Norwich: Jarrold Colour Publications. p. 43. ISBN 0-7117-0429-5.
19. "Timetables and Information 2015". East Lancashire Railway. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 July 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
20. "Station Facilities for Altrincham". National Rail Enquiries website. ATOC (Association of Train Operating Companies) Ltd. 2008. Retrieved 10 September 2008.
21. "Metrolink in the City Centre". Light Rail Transit Association website. Tony Williams, Manchester Area Officer, Light Rail Transit Association. 14 August 2008. Archived from the original on 31 December 2008. Retrieved 19 September 2008.
22. "Station Facilities for Navigation Road". National Rail Enquiries website. ATOC Ltd. 2008. Retrieved 10 September 2008.