Macclesfield  | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Macclesfield station in August 2014 | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Macclesfield,Cheshire East England | ||||
| Grid reference | SJ919735 | ||||
| Managed by | Avanti West Coast | ||||
| Line | Stafford-Manchester | ||||
| Platforms | 3 | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | MAC | ||||
| Classification | DfT category C1 | ||||
| History | |||||
| Opened | July 1873[1] | ||||
| Electrified | 1967[1] | ||||
| Key dates | |||||
| 26 August 2022 | Signal Box closed[2] | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2019/20 |  1.676 million | ||||
| Interchange | 13,437 | ||||
| 2020/21 | 0.301 million | ||||
| Interchange | 1,075 | ||||
| 2021/22 |  0.996 million | ||||
| Interchange | 5,971 | ||||
| 2022/23 | 1.184 million | ||||
| Interchange | 7,693 | ||||
| 2023/24 | 1.354 million | ||||
| Interchange | 10,725 | ||||
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Macclesfield railway station serves theCheshire market town ofMacclesfield, England. It lies on theStafford to Manchester branch of theWest Coast Main Line.
It is one of the three stations that provide access to theMiddlewood Way, which follows the route of the formerMacclesfield, Bollington and Marple Railway.
TheLondon and North Western Railway (LNWR) opened the line betweenManchester and Macclesfield on 19 June 1849. On this date, theNorth Staffordshire Railway (NSR) completed theCongleton to Macclesfield section of its main Macclesfield - Stoke - Norton Bridge line. A new joint station, managed by a committee of both companies, was opened atHibel Road a month later, replacing the temporary LNWR station at Beech Bridge.[3]
During the 1860s, the North Staffordshire Railway collaborated with theManchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) to construct ajoint railway between Macclesfield andMarple, near Manchester. For the NSR, this would provide a route to Manchester independently of the LNWR. For the MS&LR, it would provide a link toStoke-on-Trent and the south. The joint railway was constituted as theMacclesfield, Bollington and Marple Railway (MB&M). It was opened throughout to a second, temporary Macclesfield station for passengers on 2 August 1869 and to goods on 1 March 1870. The MB&M then constructed its own permanent station in the town calledMacclesfield Central. It was sited just south of the LNWR station, which was renamedMacclesfield Hibel Road for clarity. The new MB&M station was connected to the rest of the joint line for goods on 3 April 1871 and opened for passengers on 1 July 1873. It closed to all traffic south of Rose Hill in January 1970.
Some North Staffordshire Railway through trains from Macclesfield railway station used thePotteries Loop Line.[4]
By the late 1920s, there was one freight train a day from Macclesfield Central toNormacot; this train used the Potteries Loop line.[5]
On 7 November 1960,British Railways closed Macclesfield Hibel Road. Macclesfield Central was vastly remodelled and is now called simplyMacclesfield station. As with many other stations on the West Coast Main Line, it was rebuilt in theBrutalist style of architecture; the beauty of the building was perceived to be its very functionality and its design follows theModernist approach.[citation needed]
The station won the "Best Kept Station in Cheshire Award" for 2007 but, in summer 2011, it was reported to be "distinctly shabby", with peeling paintwork.[6]
Facilities at the station include ticket sales, a kiosk, a waiting room and public toilets.[8]
Macclesfield is served by threetrain operating companies:Avanti West Coast,CrossCountry andNorthern Trains.
Northbound toStockport andManchester Piccadilly, Avanti West Coast and Northern operate hourly services, with some peak time extras, andCrossCountry runs two services an hour.
Southbound, there are also four trains per hour: one stopping service toStoke-on-Trent, operated by Northern Trains; one inter-city service toLondon Euston, operated by Avanti West Coast; one toBournemouth, viaBirmingham New Street andReading; and one toBristol Temple Meads, both operated by CrossCountry.[9][10][11]
Sunday services are similar, but the local stopping service operated by Northern Trains no longer runs on Sunday, with rail replacement bus services operating between Stockport and Stoke-on-Trent.[12]
| Preceding station |  National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avanti West Coast | ||||
| CrossCountry | ||||
| Northern Trains | ||||
| Terminus | Northern Trains | |||
| Preceding station | Historical railways | Following station | ||
| North Rode Line open, station closed | North Staffordshire Railway Churnet Valley Line | Terminus | ||
| Preceding station | Disused railways | Following station | ||
| Terminus | North Staffordshire Railway Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Macclesfield, Bollington and Marple Railway | Bollington Line and station closed | ||
| Terminus | London, Midland and Scottish Railway Potteries Loop Line (Once a day freight train only) | Line and station closed |
53°15′34″N2°07′18″W / 53.2595°N 2.1217°W /53.2595; -2.1217
