Railway line in Greater Manchester and Cheshire, England
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Styal line Airport line
A Northern Rail Class 323 at Mauldeth Road in 2013
Overview
Status
Operational
Owner
Network Rail
Locale
Greater Manchester Cheshire North West England
Termini
Manchester Piccadilly
Wilmslow
Stations
9
Service
System
National Rail
Rolling stock
Primarily: Class 185 Class 195 Class 197 Class 323 Class 331 Class 397
Ridership
7.4 million per year
History
Opened
1909
Technical
Track gauge
1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification
25 kV AC overhead
Operating speed
70 mph speed restriction
Route map
(Click to expand)
Styal Line
Legend
to Oxford Road & Victoria
Manchester Piccadilly
Hope Valley line
Buxton line
Stafford–Manchester line
Crewe–Manchester line
Mauldeth Road
Burnage
East Didsbury
Gatley
Heald Green
Manchester Airport
Manchester Airport
Styal
Crewe–Manchester line
Wilmslow
Crewe–Manchester line
This diagram:
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The Styal line is a suburban commuter railway line which runs through south Manchester, England; it commences at Slade Lane Junction, 1.2 miles (1.9 km) south of Manchester Piccadilly, and ends 12 miles (19 km) south at Wilmslow.
Opened in 1909, by the London and North Western Railway company,[1] it takes its name from the Cheshire station of Styal, the last stop before the junction at Wilmslow. A branch line to Manchester Airport was built in 1993, accessed via a triangular junction between Heald Green and Styal; it is also referred to as the Airport line.[2]
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 skip-stop basis, with each station having a dedicated express service to Liverpool Lime Street, Preston, Blackpool North and Windermere. This was to maximise the number of train slots between Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Airport; however, due to poor performance and falling passenger numbers, the service reverted to half-hourly calling at all stations in December 2022, with one service running between Crewe and Manchester Piccadilly and the other running between Manchester Airport and Liverpool Lime Street.[4] The three busiest stations (Heald Green, Gatley and East Didsbury) retain a third hourly express service in addition to the stopping services. As only one train per hour runs between Manchester Airport and Wilmslow, Styal station is served hourly.
^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.
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