Romiley railway station

Romiley railway station serves Romiley, in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It is sited at a junction of two parts of the Hope Valley Line, providing services between Manchester Piccadilly, New Mills Central and Sheffield, and also between Piccadilly and Rose Hill Marple.

Romiley
General information
Location	Romiley, Stockport England
Grid reference	SJ941908
Managed by	Northern Trains
Transit authority	Greater Manchester
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	RML
Classification	DfT category E
History
Opened	1862
Key dates
2022	Platforms extended[1]
Passengers
2019/20	0.394 million
Interchange	12,806
2020/21	70,920
Interchange	1,761
2021/22	0.207 million
Interchange	5,878
2022/23	0.245 million
Interchange	7,391
2023/24	0.277 million
Interchange	9,363
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

Stockport's historical rail network

The station was built by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway on its extension to New Mills, opening in 1862 from Manchester London Road.^[2] A second route, the Macclesfield, Bollington and Marple Railway to Macclesfield which joined the older line at Marple Wharf Junction, was opened in 1869; this provided an onward link to Stoke-on-Trent.

From the south, trains would arrive both from Marple, on the Hope Valley line from Sheffield, and Rose Hill Marple from Macclesfield. The MB&MR line was closed south of Rose Hill to Macclesfield in January 1970; this line had been recommended for closure in the 1963 Beeching Report. The short branch to Rose Hill itself was reprieved by the then Minister of Transport Richard Marsh in 1969, when granting permission to close the rest of the route.^[3]

To the north, the line split in three ways. Initially, it just ran through to Woodley to join the original MS&L line at Hyde Junction, leading on to Manchester London Road. In 1875, a more direct route to Manchester was opened through Reddish. A further branch, opened in 1869, led to Stockport Tiviot Dale station; at one time, this route carried through trains between Derby and Manchester Central^[4] but it was closed to passenger services in January 1967 and much of the line was lifted in 1983.

Facilities

Romiley railway station

The station was built above street level; its platforms extend over the B6104 road. It has a spiral staircase, which once had a glass-roofed dome. The booking hall (staffed 06:20-20:45 weekdays and 07:10-21:35 Saturdays) and offices are on the first floor, with a subway and stairs to the platforms. Ramps are also available for wheelchair users.

The station has a long line public address system providing automated announcements and digital information displays to offer train running details (these can also be obtained by phone or from timetable posters).^[5]

Service

On Mondays to Saturdays, there are generally four trains per hour northbound to Manchester Piccadilly (two via Bredbury and two via Woodley); southbound, two trains per hour go towards Marple (one to New Mills Central and the other through to Sheffield) and two per hour to Rose Hill Marple.^[6]

On Sundays, there is an hourly service each way to Manchester Piccadilly and to Sheffield; there is no service to and from Rose Hill.

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Bredbury		Northern Hope Valley line		Marple
Woodley		Northern Hope Valley line		Rose Hill Marple
	Disused railways
Stockport Tiviot Dale		Great Central and Midland Joint Railway		Marple

Future

As part of Manchester's Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) bid, which would have seen a weekday peak time congestion charge introduced on roads into the city centre in order for a £3bn injection into the region's public transport, it had been announced that Marple railway station would have seen an increase to four services per hour in both directions throughout the day to Manchester Piccadilly.

This would therefore have meant an increase to five services per hour at Romiley, with possibility for more, should services from Rose Hill have been increased as discussed. The line would have effectively been run as a 'turn up and go' operation, offering users of stations along the route the ease of showing up without generally needing to know exact departure times.

Romiley railway station was also planned to become an official TIF Park & Ride interchange under the proposals, which faced a public referendum in December 2008. These were rejected by a substantial margin ^[7] and the plans were eventually dropped in the spring of 2010.

References

1. "Romiley platform upgrades". The Railway Magazine. No. 1451. February 2022. p. 74.
2. "The Railway Comes to Marple. 1845-1868" www.marple-uk.com; Retrieved 1 April 2016
3. "Disused Stations - Rose Hill Marple" Disused Stations;Retrieved 1 April 2016
4. Marshall, pp.20-23
5. Romiley Station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 21 February 2017
6. "Timetables and engineering information for travel with Northern". Northern Railway. 10 December 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
7. "Voters reject congestion charge". BBC News. 12 December 2008. Retrieved 18 December 2008.

Sources

• Marshall, J. (1981) Forgotten Railways North-West England, David & Charles (Publishers) Ltd, Newton Abbott. ISBN 0-7153-8003-6
• Radford, B., (1988) Midland Though The Peak Unicorn Books

External links

• Train times and station information for Romiley railway station from National Rail

53.414°N 2.089°W / 53.414; -2.089