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Stafford–Manchester line
A Virgin Trains Class 390 and CrossCountry Class 221 at Stoke-on-Trent railway station
Overview
Owner	Network Rail
Locale	Cheshire Greater Manchester Staffordshire Stoke-on-Trent West Midlands (region) North West England
Service
System	National Rail
Operator(s)	Avanti West Coast CrossCountry East Midlands Railway London Northwestern Railway Northern Trains
Rolling stock	Class 220 Voyager Class 323 Class 331 Civity Class 350 Desiro Class 390 Pendolino
History
Opened	1848
Technical
Line length	53.9 miles (86.7 km)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map (Click to expand)

v t e Stafford–Manchester line
Legend
Liverpool–Manchester lines Manchester–Preston line Manchester Oxford Road Manchester Piccadilly Huddersfield line Glossop line Longsight A6 road Rushford Styal line Levenshulme Fallowfield Loop line Heaton Chapel Stockport–Stalybridge line Heaton Norris Stockport, Timperley & Altrincham Jn Rly via Stockport Tiviot Dale Stockport Mid-Cheshire line to Chester │ Buxton line to Whaley Bridge Disley cutoff via Cheadle Heath Cheadle Hulme Crewe–Manchester line Bramhall Greater Manchester boundary End of TfGM service 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 A54 road North Rode Churnet Valley line Biddulph Valley line Congleton Mow Cop and Scholar Green Crewe–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 Cliffe Vale Halt ( closed 1865 ) Stoke to Market Drayton Line Stoke-on-Trent Stoke–Leek line to Leek Crewe–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 flyover Norton Bridge Bridgeford Great Bridgeford Stafford–Shrewsbury line to Newport │ Stafford and Uttoxeter Rly Stafford West Coast Main Line via Trent Valley line West Coast Main Line via Rugby–Birmingham–Stafford line

The Stafford–Manchester line is a major railway line branching from the West Coast Main Line serving Stafford, Stone, Stoke-on-Trent, Kidsgrove, Congleton, Macclesfield, Cheadle Hulme, Stockport and Manchester.

Train services

Avanti West Coast

Avanti West Coast operate inter-city services between London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly, via the Colwich spur. Some services between London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly travel along the Stone to Colwich line, thereby by-passing Stafford.

CrossCountry

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

London Northwestern Railway

Local services between Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent, calling at Stone, are operated by West Midlands Trains; they are branded London Northwestern Railway. They are operated as an hourly service between Stafford and Crewe. Between 2004 and 2008, there was no stopping service on the route, with a replacement bus service taking its place. However Wedgwood and Barlaston stations are still without a train service, although they were never officially closed and are still served by rail-replacement bus services. Norton Bridge also lost its services at the same time but was formally closed in December 2017, after 13 years without a rail service.

Northern Trains

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

East Midlands Railway

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

History

The line was completed in 1848. It 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 London and North Western Railway. The LNWR had its own station at Macclesfield Hibel Road, which was closed by British Rail in 1960.

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.

References

1. "Norton Bridge rail station: Proposed closure". 19 October 2016.

v t e Railway lines in the West Midlands
Main lines	West Coast Main Line Cross Country Route Chiltern Main Line
Inter-regional	Birmingham–Peterborough line Crewe–Derby line Cotswold Line Shrewsbury–Chester line Stafford–Manchester line Welsh Marches line
Local	Birmingham to Worcester via Bromsgrove line Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster line Camp Hill line Chase Line Colwich–Stone line Coventry–Leamington line Coventry–Nuneaton line Cross-City Line Leamington–Stratford line North Warwickshire Line Northampton loop Rugby–Birmingham–Stafford line Stourbridge Town branch line Trent Valley line Wolverhampton–Shrewsbury line
Freight only	South Staffordshire line Sutton Park line Walsall–Wolverhampton line
Heritage	Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway Severn Valley Railway Telford Steam Railway

v t e Railway lines in the North West
Primary to London	West Coast Main Line
Other	Inter-regional Buxton line Calder Valley line Chester–Warrington line Crewe–Derby line Glossop line Hope Valley line Huddersfield line Leeds–Morecambe line Mid-Cheshire line Morecambe branch line Ribble Valley line Stafford–Manchester line Tyne Valley line Weaver Junction–Liverpool line Intra-regional Blackpool branch lines Borderlands line Chester–Birkenhead line Crewe–Manchester line Cumbrian Coast line East Lancashire line Furness line Hooton–Helsby line Kirkby branch line Liverpool–Manchester lines Liverpool–Wigan line Manchester–Preston line Manchester–Southport line Northern line Ormskirk branch line Settle–Carlisle line Stockport–Stalybridge line Styal line Windermere branch line Wirral line
Heritage	East Lancashire Railway Eden Valley Railway Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway Ribble Steam Railway

• Rail transport in Cheshire
• Rail transport in Greater Manchester
• Rail transport in Staffordshire
• Rail transport in Stoke-on-Trent
• Railway lines opened in 1848
• Railway lines in the West Midlands (region)
• Railway lines in North West England