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Stockport to Stalybridge: now runs in both directions; is it still a "parliamentary" service?

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Ianno87

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It used to run on Saturdays before they moved it to Fridays. And I think it would run Stockport-Stalybridge in one timetable period and maybe switch direction for the next.



It has a 24 hour railway but spread over 24 weeks.

The original flirtation with Saturday was only brief for a couple of years or so. For many years in the mid-90s, it was c. 1500 from Stockport on a Friday.
 
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Howardh

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I suppose the move to being a Saturday service will be of use to the railway enthusiasts who work on a Monday to Friday work schedule and would have found the former Friday operational day somewhat difficult.
It always puzzled me that if they HAVE to run a train even if they don't want to, then why not have people on it and raise a bit of cash? Peak hour on a Friday with no return only backed up their case that "no-one caught the train".
Have it on a Saturday PM - even if it's just one way - and saddos, sorry, enthusiasts like me would catch it *just because* and have a pint or seven at Stalybridge and then wobble home.
But that means the train suddenly has demand...which is exactly what they don't want so that sometime in future they get shut.
Barmy.
Anyhow - if the line has to run - could Northern in future, find a pacer which is as wheelchair-friendly as can be and use it as a weekend heritage pull so
(a) those with a fondness/sheer hatred of pacers can get their nostalgia fix
(b) we can still tick the "parliamentary train" off the list?
But, as I said earlier, if it hen becomes regular and not a PT; it loses it's appeal!! But I think many would use it for a nostalgia-fix. Put a folk band on...




...and a beer trolly!
 
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xotGD

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Would be better if the York - Shrewsbury overnight was reintroduced. Then you could get rid of the parliamentary.
 

rich.davies

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Is this service still running? I can't seem to find it on any of the online timetable services. Have tried Northern's, National Rail's and Real Time Trains websites but with no luck.
 

185143

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Have it on a Saturday PM - even if it's just one way - and saddos, sorry, enthusiasts like me would catch it *just because* and have a pint or seven at Stalybridge and then wobble home.
Anyhow - if the line has to run - could Northern in future, find a pacer which is as wheelchair-friendly as can be and use it as a weekend heritage pull so
(a) those with a fondness/sheer hatred of pacers can get their nostalgia fix
(b) we can still tick the "parliamentary train" off the list?
But, as I said earlier, if it hen becomes regular and not a PT; it loses it's appeal!! But I think many would use it for a nostalgia-fix. Put a folk band on...




...and a beer trolly!
144012 anyone?:D

Could actually do really well as it would of course connect to the Ale Trail!

I mean, yes you'd lose the novelty of it being a Parliamentary service though.
 

BanburyBlue

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Out of interest, what is the background to this line? Looking at a map it seems to skirt around the south-east of Manchester?
 

backontrack

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It always puzzled me that if they HAVE to run a train even if they don't want to, then why not have people on it and raise a bit of cash? Peak hour on a Friday with no return only backed up their case that "no-one caught the train".
Have it on a Saturday PM - even if it's just one way - and saddos, sorry, enthusiasts like me would catch it *just because* and have a pint or seven at Stalybridge and then wobble home.
But that means the train suddenly has demand...which is exactly what they don't want so that sometime in future they get shut.
Barmy.
Anyhow - if the line has to run - could Northern in future, find a pacer which is as wheelchair-friendly as can be and use it as a weekend heritage pull so
(a) those with a fondness/sheer hatred of pacers can get their nostalgia fix
(b) we can still tick the "parliamentary train" off the list?
But, as I said earlier, if it hen becomes regular and not a PT; it loses it's appeal!! But I think many would use it for a nostalgia-fix. Put a folk band on...and a beer trolly!
144012 anyone?:D

Could actually do really well as it would of course connect to the Ale Trail!

I mean, yes you'd lose the novelty of it being a Parliamentary service though.
Even better: tie a few parlies together with it.

144012 can run Manchester Airport to Teesside Airport, calling at Styal, Wilmslow (reversal), Handforth, Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, Reddish South, Denton, Guide Bridge, Stalybridge, Huddersfield, all stations to Barnsley (the Penistone Line is proper Rail Ale Trail territory), Elsecar just to be contrarian, Meadowhall (reversal), Rotherham Central, Swinton, Pontefract Baghill, York, Thirsk, Northallerton, Yarm, Eaglescliffe (it can be the one service that calls at both!), then a reversal, Allens West, Teesside Airport.

On the way back, it runs via Darlington. You could call it the Airports Express!
 
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Edgeley

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The main purpose of the line when it had a regular passenger service was to enable travellers from Stockport and points south to pick up trains to West Yorkshire (and vice versa) without having to transit between Piccadilly and Victoria stations in Manchester. As Piccadilly began to receive more West Yorkshire services this purpose became redundant.
 

jimm

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The main purpose of the line when it had a regular passenger service was to enable travellers from Stockport and points south to pick up trains to West Yorkshire (and vice versa) without having to transit between Piccadilly and Victoria stations in Manchester. As Piccadilly began to receive more West Yorkshire services this purpose became redundant.

West Yorkshire services did not run to/via Manchester Piccadilly until the May 1989 timetable change. It wasn't a case of 'more' trains, there simply weren't any until then - hence why the Staybridge-Stockport service existed.
 

Bletchleyite

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West Yorkshire services did not run to/via Manchester Piccadilly until the May 1989 timetable change. It wasn't a case of 'more' trains, there simply weren't any until then - hence why the Staybridge-Stockport service existed.

It was also (secondarily) because the Windsor Link didn't exist to bring Southport and Preston services into Piccadilly.

FWIW, I think it could work now for that exact purpose but would be better as Stockport to Manchester Victoria.
 

Southern Dvr

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What they’ve done they’ve actually made life more difficult for themselves because now with a return trip on a Saturday (irrespective of times) the usage will increase and thus any plans to ever close the line gone up in the air!

If you build it (albeit one brick at a time) they shall come!
 

Ianno87

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What they’ve done they’ve actually made life more difficult for themselves because now with a return trip on a Saturday (irrespective of times) the usage will increase and thus any plans to ever close the line gone up in the air!

If you build it (albeit one brick at a time) they shall come!

I really don't think there will ever be a plan to close the line, simply because there is so little cost to be saved.

In fact, adding a return trip suggests that Northern have cottoned onto the fact that it's a nice little earner due to its novelty.
 

Ianno87

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How would a London Euston - Manchester Piccadilly train get to/from Stockport via Guide Bridge due to the lack of overhead wires?

[V]XC voyager have used it for diversions into Victoria in the past (via Ashton Moss, not Guide Bridge)

Besides, the line is essential for empty stocks and much freight anyway.
 

Springs Branch

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The main purpose of the line when it had a regular passenger service was to enable travellers from Stockport and points south to pick up trains to West Yorkshire (and vice versa) without having to transit between Piccadilly and Victoria stations in Manchester. As Piccadilly began to receive more West Yorkshire services this purpose became redundant.
One nugget of historical trivia regarding the Stockport / Stalybridge line is that 40 years ago there was an unadvertised hourly all-night DMU shuttling both ways between Stockport and Guide Bridge - with request stops available at Reddish South.

The 1979 Working Timetable shows regular staff trains running Manchester Picc - Longsight Staff Halt - Stockport (reverse) - Reddish South (on request!) - Guide Bridge, and vice versa through the night.
Departures from Piccadilly were at 0100, 0158, 0258, 0400 and 0500 (plus the first train of the night, the 0017 Stockport to Guide Bridge)
Returning from Guide Bridge at 0032, 0130, 0230, 0330, 0430 and 0531 (last one ran to Longsight Staff Halt only).

A little OT for Stockport/Stalybridge, but in the same 1979 timetable there were also all-night staff trains (a class 506 EMU) between Piccadilly and either Mottram Yard Halt or Hadfield (direct, not via Glossop). These also ran in both directions, 7 nights a week, departing Manchester at 0011, 0108, 0206, 0311, 0411 and 0515. Stops were at Ashburys, Gorton and Guide Bridge.

Presumably these regular-interval night trains were provided largely for BR staff going to & from work in the Guide Bridge, Dewsnap Sidings and Mottram Yard areas, when the Woodhead route was busy with 24 hour freight traffic. And the same staff would have used the public daytime trains when going to/from their shift change or to sign-on/sign-off during more social hours.
 
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cle

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Would there ever be call for a 2tph service from Stockport to Victoria (bays presumably) or even onwards?

Equally, it could begin further out of Stockport if it was useful - but there is the bay to use there too.
 

Bletchleyite

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Would there ever be call for a 2tph service from Stockport to Victoria (bays presumably) or even onwards?

Equally, it could begin further out of Stockport if it was useful - but there is the bay to use there too.

I think an hourly service (might be hard to path 2tph) would definitely be of benefit now quite a lot of services have moved from Picc to Vic.
 

billh

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The post by Paul Sidorczuk was very vague and did not specify any particular operator so as to narrow it down a bit.

On a side note, does anybody know of any 390s have ever been dragged via Denton before (regardless if in passenger service or not)?

Yes , many times during the WCML upgrade work. Week-ends, Stockport, Denton ,Victoria with 57 Thunderbirds doing the drags. I can go back much further than 390s, with 86/87s dragged with 47s and before that pairs of 50s on Anglo -Scottish trains. Some Sundays were very busy on that line.
 
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It was also (secondarily) because the Windsor Link didn't exist to bring Southport and Preston services into Piccadilly.

FWIW, I think it could work now for that exact purpose but would be better as Stockport to Manchester Victoria.

There was talk of linking Greenbank to Guide bridge a while ago- I would love to see that happen and then continue to Victoria. But with trains crossing Stockport lines, Guide bridge and Ashton moss - there will be pathing constraints.
 

VT 390

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Could Trans Pennine express or Northern operate a service from Stockport to Huddersfield/Leeds/York allowing easier connections from Leeds to places like Crewe and Stoke-on-Trent, or even a direct service from Leeds/Huddersfield to London Euston.
 
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