Hi Yorkie. Why the strange route between Manchester and Stockport (I know the Stalybridge Parly goes the wrong way)?
It's an error. No-one has yet devised an accurate shortest route calculator (and even if one is made that is considered accurate; it will probably not be
universally considered to be accurate as a reasonable definition is unlikely to be the same as ATOCs definition, which is as yet undefined, nor do I particularly want it to be as all they will do is define it to be anti-customer and they shouldn't be the ones defining it anyway, but we're at risk of going off-topic
!) but several people are working on it.
Another shortest route calculator gives the mileage as 110 3/4 miles, with via Denton taken to to be the shortest route (which ATOC said it isn't as the shortest route from Stockport-Stalybridge is direct but shortest routes can apparently be different in different directions, however that is not what they've told the software developers!) which I don't think is, however when you force it to go via Manchester Piccadilly it gives a shortest route of 116 miles. So, if anything, the mileage given above is too short.