The Manchester and Birmingham Railway opened in stages from Manchester and reached Stockport in 1840. The line ran from a temporary station in Manchester to another in Stockport at the north end of the uncompleted Stockport Viaduct. The temporary station which was later renamed Heaton Norris was Stockport's only station for more than two years. After the viaduct was completed, the M&BR built a station at its southern end as an experiment. The decision was prompted by complaints that the first station was a long way from the industrial parts of town and even farther from the residential districts on the south side. The second station opened on 15 February 1843 as Edgeley. By 1844, it was the town's principal station. Heaton Norris, at the north end of the viaduct, closed in 1959. The station was operated by the London and North Western Railway and became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923. In 1948, British Railways ran the system. Lines into the station were electrified at 25 kV AC, using overhead wires, under the British Railways 1955 Modernisation Plan. calling at the station in 1993. However, not all the local lines were electrified.
Facilities
The station is positioned at high level above the valley of the River Mersey and with lifts that link a pedestrian underpass to central Stockport and Edgeley. The station is staffed, has a ticket office and ticket machines, customer service points, shops, toilets, waiting rooms, lifts from the station subway and step-free access to the platforms. In 2009, the station was identified as one of the ten worst category B interchange stations for mystery shopper assessment of fabric and environment and received a share of £50m funding for improvements.
Metrolink plans
A Metrolink extension was proposed in 2004 but dropped on cost grounds. In 2016, it was announced that the plans were revived to extend the line to Stockport. The line will terminate at the railway station.
History
An extension to the line, from East Didsbury to Stockport, was planned in 2004 and GMPTE applied for powers to build it. The project came to a halt when the big bang extension was stopped. The proposed extension would have reused some of the former railway alignment but some of it was built on or filled in after closure. This made re-opening more difficult and the proposed line would have included new infrastructure and street running sections to take it into Stockport. The line would have terminated at Stockport bus station.
Services
Current passenger routes
Trains running north-west serve Manchester Piccadilly; some continue on to Manchester Oxford Road and beyond to Liverpool,, Blackpool, Wigan, and. South-east from Stockport, express services run to and onwards to, and with local services running to and Buxton. The two southbound West Coast Main Line routes run via Cheadle Hulme. One continues via and to Birmingham and London; the other via and for through services to London and Birmingham and via and the Welsh Marches Line to Cardiff,, and. Trains to Birmingham continue to destinations in the south of England such as via and. The Mid-Cheshire Line runs westbound through,, to. The Stockport to Stalybridge Line, via Guide Bridge, no longer has a regular passenger service. It was reduced from an hourly shuttle service to a once a week, one direction only skeleton service in the early 1990s. It now run two services, one in either direction on Saturday mornings. The main concourse opened in September 2004 in a development that included a new platform that only became fully operational at the beginning of March 2008. A pedestrian subway leads to the island platforms, which have a buffet and newsagent. The weekday service pattern is :
Transport for Wales
*1 tph to Manchester Piccadilly
*1 tph to Carmarthen/Milford Haven via and Cardiff Central
*1 tph to Manchester Airport via Manchester Piccadilly
Northern Trains
*6 tph to Manchester Piccadilly
*2 tph to Alderley Edge
*3 tph to Hazel Grove
*1 tph to Chester
*1 tph to Stoke-on-Trent via Macclesfield
*1 train per week to Stalybridge
Avanti West Coast
*3 tph to Manchester Piccadilly
*2 tph to London Euston via Stoke-on-Trent
*1 tph to London Euston via Crewe
Platform use
Platform 0 - Typically services to Hazel Grove, Buxton, Sheffield, Norwich, Nottingham and Cleethorpes. Platform 1 - southbound services to Macclesfield, Crewe, Stoke-on-Trent and Alderley Edge. It is also signalled for use by trains in the Manchester direction. Platform 2 - southbound platform for services to Stoke-on-Trent, Chester, Crewe, Alderley Edge, services to South Wales, London, Bristol, Bournemouth, Paignton and Plymouth. Platform 3 - mainly used by Fast services to Manchester Piccadilly along with services to Manchester Airport, Liverpool Lime Street, Blackpool North, Preston, Salford Crescent, Bolton, Wigan, Southport and Barrow-in-Furness. Platform 3a - used by the weekly Parliamentary train from / to Stalybridge. Platform 4 - mainly used by stopping services to Manchester Piccadilly along with services to Manchester Airport, Liverpool Lime Street, Blackpool North, Preston, Salford Crescent, Bolton, Wigan, Southport and Barrow-in-Furness.
Non-stopping trains
It has been claimed that Stockport viaduct was built on condition that all passenger trains were required to stop at Stockport station.
