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Mauldeth Road railway station (known as Mauldeth Road for Withington until 1974) is a suburban railway station serving the Ladybarn area of Manchester, England. It is the last station before Manchester Piccadilly on the Styal Line and was electrified in 1959.

Mauldeth Road
Departing Class 323 at Mauldeth Road railway station in 2013
General information
Location	Ladybarn, Manchester England
Grid reference	SJ862931
Managed by	Northern Trains
Transit authority	Transport for Greater Manchester
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	MAU
Classification	DfT category D
History
Opened	1909
Key dates
1959	Electrified
1974	Renamed
2007	Refurbished
Passengers
2016/17	398,882
2017/18	379,964
2018/19	349,738
2019/20	305,762
2020/21	68,552
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

The station sits on the Styal Line to Manchester Airport, one of the most congested lines on the national rail network.[1] Historically it has been served by a half-hourly stopping service from Manchester Airport/Crewe to Manchester Piccadilly; however, since May 2018, services operate on a skip-stop basis at irregular intervals to increase capacity on the line. As a result, one of the half-hourly stopping services was replaced with a semi-fast service to Liverpool.

History

The station opened in 1909, south of Longsight (Slade Lane Junction), as Mauldeth Road for Withington. It was renamed Mauldeth Road on 6 May 1974 [2] and now serves the Manchester-Crewe (via Manchester Airport) rail route, used by Northern for stopping services to Manchester Airport. Its coal sidings closed in the 1960s, along with its original platform buildings on the up (southbound) side.

The remaining wooden ticket office, on the down platform, burned down on Bonfire Night in 1986; thereafter the ticket office was a small prefabricated unit at the bottom of the station approach.

It caters mainly for commuter traffic, being electrified at 25 kV AC overhead, and is used by EMU traffic. Some evening services are operated by TransPennine Express with DMUs.

2006 redevelopment

As part of a £12 million station modernisation programme on the Manchester Airport Line, re-building work on Mauldeth Road railway station commenced in autumn 2006.[3] Network Rail were able to keep the station operational for most of the time by demolishing the existing platforms in small parts and using temporary platforms. There was a temporary footbridge spanning the platforms while the pedestrians' access ramp to the northbound platform was out of use during renovation; the footbridge offered a vantage point for views over Manchester.[4] As part of the re-building work new steel platforms, modern waiting shelters, new lighting and access ramps were constructed with work completed by June 2007.[5]

Recent developments

Following extensive redevelopment of the station in 2006, passenger numbers doubled from approximately 148,000 to 323,000 in the five years between 2007 and 2012.[6]

The portakabin ticket office, used since the late 1980s, was closed and removed in April 2013. A new purpose-built ticket office, funded by Network Rail, was constructed in summer 2013 and opened in October 2013.[7]

In March 2017, the old rail bridge over Mauldeth Road, originally from when the line opened in 1909, had come to end of its life and was replaced with a new bridge.

2018 timetable recast

Historically, the station has been served by a half-hourly service each way to Manchester Piccadilly and Crewe. In 1993, following the opening of the railway station at Manchester Airport, every other service terminated and commenced at Manchester Airport while another continued onto either Wilmslow, Alderley Edge or Crewe.

The new 2018 timetable was the most radical in decades and notable for its poor introduction, which was marked by many delays and cancellations. As part of the May 2018 timetable change, the Styal Line to the Airport now operates on a skip-stop basis to free up additional capacity for express trains. Consequently, Mauldeth Road station was still served by two services per hour but at more irregular intervals and not all services stop at the four other commuter stations on the Styal Line (Burnage, East Didsbury, Gatley and Heald Green), as has been the case historically.

Additionally, services were extended to Liverpool Lime Street which allowed for the service to utilise the two through platforms (13 and 14) at Piccadilly rather than terminating into a bay platform - which prevents the services from cutting across the 'throat' of the approach into Piccadilly and reducing capacity for Transpennine services.

Due to train crew shortages, since January 2022, the service has been reduced to an hourly service with the semi-fast service between Manchester Airport and Liverpool Lime Street via Warrington Central being withdrawn. Half-hourly services are planned to resume in December 2022.

Facilities

The station has a staffed ticket office on the ramp to Platform 1 (for trains to towards Manchester Piccadilly). There is also a ticket machine at the station situated adjacent to the ticket office. There is step-free access to both platforms. Next to Platform 2, there is a station car park.

Services

Historical

Since the opening of Manchester Airport railway station in 1993, the Monday to Saturday service pattern was 2 trains per hour to Manchester Piccadilly. 2 trains per hour operated in the opposite direction - one to Manchester Airport and the other continued onto Crewe until 17:53, then terminated at Wilmslow in the evening. Sunday services consisted of 1 train per hour to Manchester Airport, with one service every 2 hours continuing to Alderley Edge and 1 train an hour to Manchester Piccadilly.

Between May 2018 and December 2021, the service pattern was amended to increase capacity on the line with several services not stopping at the other intermediate stations towards Manchester Airport. The Monday to Saturday service pattern consisted of

• 1 train per hour to Crewe via Manchester Airport stopping at most local stations- operated by a Class 319 or Class 323;
• 1 train per hour to Manchester Airport running semi-fast- operated by a Class 195;
• 1 train per hour to Liverpool Lime Street via Manchester Piccadilly and Newton-le-Willows stopping at all local stations - operated by a Class 319 or Class 323;
• 1 train per hour to Liverpool Lime Street via Manchester Piccadilly and Warrington Central running semi-fast- operated by a Class 195;
• 3 trains in the morning to Blackpool North via Chorley - operated by a Class 331;
• 1 train per day to Cleethorpes - operated by TransPennine Express with a Class 185.

Sunday services consisted of:

• 1 train per hour to Liverpool Lime Street - operated by a Class 319 or Class 323;
• 1 train an hour to Wilmslow - operated by a Class 319 or Class 323.[8]

Present

The current Monday - Saturday service pattern consists of:

• 1 train per hour to Crewe via Manchester Airport stopping at most local stations- operated by a Class 319 or Class 323;
• 1 train per hour to Liverpool Lime Street via Manchester Piccadilly and Newton-le-Willows stopping at all local stations - operated by a Class 319 or Class 323;
• 3 trains in the morning to Blackpool North via Chorley - operated by a Class 331;
• 1 train per day to Cleethorpes - operated by TransPennine Express with a Class 185.

Sunday services consist of:

• 1 train per hour to Liverpool Lime Street - operated by a Class 319 or Class 323;
• 1 train an hour to Wilmslow - operated by a Class 319 or Class 323.[9]

Future

From December 2022, services at Mauldeth Road are expected to increase to half-hourly Monday-Saturday with all services stopping at all intermediate stations between Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Airport restoring the pre-2018 frequency and calling pattern. Sunday services will remain hourly.[10]

References

Further reading

• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2014). Crewe to Manchester. Middleton Press. figs. 59-60. ISBN 9781908174574. OCLC 892047119.

External links

• Train times and station information for Mauldeth Road railway station from National Rail

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Burnage		TransPennine Express South TransPennine (Limited service)		Manchester Piccadilly
Burnage		Northern Trains Crewe to Liverpool Lime Street via Chat Moss (Styal Line local stopping service)		Manchester Piccadilly
Gatley		Northern Trains Manchester Airport - Blackpool North (Limited service)		Manchester Piccadilly
	Future Services
Burnage		Northern Manchester Airport - Liverpool Lime Street (via Chat Moss)		Manchester Piccadilly
Burnage		Northern Crewe - Manchester Piccadilly (via Manchester Airport)		Manchester Piccadilly

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