Ashburys
ANorthern Railelectric multiple unit passing Ashburys station in 2006
General information
Location	Openshaw,Greater Manchester England
Grid reference	SJ871972
Managed by	Northern Trains
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	ABY
Classification	DfT category F2
Key dates
July 1855	Station opens asAshburys
November 1855	Station renamedAshburys for Openshaw
August 1856	Station renamedAshburys for Belle Vue
Date unknown	Station renamedAshburys
Passengers
2019/20	0.129 million
2020/21	35,190
2021/22	65,502
2022/23	65,988
2023/24	89,420
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from theOffice of Rail and Road

Ashburys railway station serves the area ofOpenshaw, inGreater Manchester,England. It is a stop on a junction of theGlossop Line, theHope Valley Line and the freight line to Phillips Park Junction. It has been open since 1855 and is the nearest station to theCity of Manchester Stadium.

The station was built and opened in 1855 by theSheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway, on its line fromManchester Store Street toSheffield Victoria. First appearing inBradshaw's Guide in July, it was referred to asAshburys for Openshaw in November and then asAshburys for Belle Vue in August 1856.

There is no place of this name near this station. It was named after theAshbury Railway Carriage & Iron Company, which built it for £175 in 1855. This company flourished from 1841 until 1902 when it moved to Saltley inBirmingham, merging with the Metropolitan Amalgamated Railway Carriage & Wagon Company. Examples of its rolling stock survive to this day on preserved railways all over the world.It became part of theManchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway following mergers in 1847, changing its name to theGreat Central Railway in 1897. Joining theLondon and North Eastern Railway during theGrouping of 1923, the station passed on to theLondon Midland Region of British Railways onnationalisation in 1948.

East of the station, towards Gorton and Belle Vue,^[1] there were two engine sheds.^[2] The larger was the GCR's Gorton loco shed (1879-1965)^[3] and the smaller was theMidland Railway's Belle Vue loco shed (1870-1956).^[4] The Gorton shed had a ferro-concretecoaling tower.^[5]

Whensectorisation was introduced in the 1980s, the station was served byRegional Railways under arrangement with theGreater Manchester PTE until theprivatisation of British Rail. The main station buildings, subway and a third platform face survived until the end of the 1980s, but all have since been removed.^[6][7]

The line was electrified at25 kV AC on 10 December 1984; it replaced the 1500 V DC electrification, which was inaugurated on 14 June 1954 byBritish Railways as part of the Manchester-Sheffield-Wath scheme via theWoodhead Tunnel.^[8] There was also a signal box here, which controlled the junctions and various sidings. The signal box, opened in 1906 by theGreat Central Railway, closed in 2011, when control was transferred to the Manchester East signalling control centre.^[9][10] The new WCML NorthRail Operating Centre is located a short distance east of the station, next to the line to Guide Bridge. This opened in 2014 (one of 11 such centres either built or being planned in the UK) and will eventually control signalling across most of the routes across theNorth West England, including the northern end of theWest Coast Main Line and the entire Manchester area network.^[11]

The station is unstaffed and has no permanent buildings (other than standard waiting shelters) or ticket provision, so all tickets must be bought on the train or prior to travel. Train running information is provided by digital display screens and timetable posters.

No step-free access is available, as the station is above street level and the only access offered is via staircase and footbridge.^[12]

Northern Trains provide the following services that stop at Ashburys:^[13]

• Half-hourly trains betweenManchester Piccadilly andHadfield on theGlossop line
• Hourly services between Manchester Piccadilly andNew Mills Central on theHope Valley Line, viaReddish North; there is one service in each direction on Sunday
• Hourly services between Manchester Piccadilly andRose Hill Marple on the Hope Valley Line, viaGuide Bridge; there is no service on Sunday.

Other services pass frequently through the station without stopping.

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Gorton		Northern Trains Hope Valley Line		Manchester Piccadilly
Belle Vue
Ardwick Limited Service				Manchester Piccadilly
Guide Bridge		Northern Trains Glossop line		Manchester Piccadilly

Under theGreater Manchester Transport Innovation Fund programme, Ashburys would have received improvements. However, despite TIF not going ahead, it is still to receive safety, security and passenger information improvements, when funding can be obtained.

Other long term proposals include the Manchester-Marple Tram/Train scheme, which was on a 'reserve list' of TIF projects.^[14] Significant new infrastructure works would be required between Piccadilly and Ashburys station, known asPiccadilly Link. It would be incorporated within a majormixed-use development by Grangefield Estates, known asChancellor Place, around the formerManchester Mayfield station site.

• Radford, B., (1988)Midland Though The Peak Unicorn Books
• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995).The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.).Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd.ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7.OCLC 60251199.OL 11956311M.
• Jowett, Alan (2000).Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers.ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1.OCLC 228266687.
• Station on navigable O. S. map
• [1]^{[permanent dead link]}

Wikimedia Commons has media related toAshburys railway station.

• 1936 aerial view of station and street entrance

• Train times andstation information for Ashburys railway station fromNational Rail

53°28′18.5″N2°11′42″W / 53.471806°N 2.19500°W /53.471806; -2.19500

• Railway stations in Manchester
• DfT Category F2 stations
• Former Great Central Railway stations
• Railway stations served by Northern
• Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1855

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