Chester to Manchester Line

Chester-Manchester Line (via Warrington Bank Quay)
Overview
Status	Open
Locale	Greater Manchester Cheshire Chester North West England
Termini	Chester
Operation
Owner	Network Rail
Operator(s)	Northern Rail and Arriva Trains Wales
Rolling stock	Class 67 Class 142 Class 150 Class 156 Class 175
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Operating speed	75mph from Chester to Warrington Bank Quay 110mph from WBQ to Earlestown 90mph from Earlestown to Manchester
Route map Legend Legend Caldervale Line Hope Valley Line West Coast Main Line Huddersfield Line Glossop Line Oldham Loop Line   Manchester Mayfield Manchester Metrolink Manchester Victoria x20px Manchester Piccadilly Manchester Exchange Manchester Oxford Road Manchester Central Deansgate-Castlefield Salford Central Deansgate Liverpool to Manchester Lines Windsor Link x20px Manchester Metrolink Ordsall Lane Cross Lane Seedley Weaste Manchester docks branch Eccles to Wigan Central to Bolton Great Moor Street Patricroft Barton Moss Lamb's Cottage Flow Moss Cottage Astley Glazebury & Bury Lane to Bolton Kenyon Junction M6 motorway to Wigan via Hindley West Coast Main Line to Glasgow Parkside Junction Golborne Junction Lowton Junction Parkside Newton-le-Willows Junction Newton-le-Willows Earlestown Liverpool to Manchester Lines Liverpool to Manchester Lines Warrington Central M62   High Level Warrington Bank Quay St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway Low Level   x20px x20px Junction reversed during rationalisation Moore Daresbury Norton Runcorn East Sutton Tunnel West Coast Main Line to Liverpool Weaver Junction Halton Curve Halton River Weaver Frodsham West Coast Main Line to London Helsby Ellesmere Port to Warrington Line x20px to Northwich Dunham Hill x20px Mid-Cheshire Line Mickle Trafford North Wales Coast Line to Crewe Chester Wirral Line Chester Northgate Chester and Connah's Quay Railway North Wales Coast Line

There are two Chester to Manchester Lines between the cities of Chester and Manchester in North West England. This article is about the line via Warrington Bank Quay. The other (slower) line is the Mid-Cheshire Line.

There is currently one train per hour in each direction from Chester to Manchester, but from December 2017 there will be an additional train per hour in each direction, calling only at Chester, Warrington Bank Quay and Manchester Victoria.

Description

Both routes to Manchester share the Chester to Crewe line for a short distance to Brook Lane Junction where the Manchester lines diverge to Mickle Trafford at which point the southern route of the Cheshire Lines Committee (see the Mid-Cheshire Line) diverges south-easterly to Mouldsworth whilst the considerably older route built by the London and North Western Railway continues to Helsby (junction from Ellesmere Port), Frodsham (nearest station to the junction for the Halton Curve), Runcorn East . Then through the Sutton Tunnel (over a mile long) and northwards alongside the West Coast Main Line into Warrington Bank Quay railway station.

From Warrington the route follows the original Grand Junction Railway route northwards through Winwick Junction to Earlestown where it joins George Stephenson's original Liverpool and Manchester Railway, which was the world's first inter-city railway, having opened in 1830. From here this venerable route is via Newton-le-Willows, Patricroft and Eccles and then either via the earlier route to Manchester Victoria station or, as at present, via Ordsall Lane and Castlefield junctions, joining the Manchester to Preston Line and on to Deansgate, Manchester Oxford Road and Manchester Piccadilly station at platforms 13 & 14.

Services

Arriva Trains Wales operate an hourly service throughout between Manchester and Chester (no trains stop at Patricroft, Eccles or Deansgate, which are served by Liverpool to Manchester Lines) and onwards calling at all stations to Llandudno on the North Wales Coast Line (except Sundays, when trains terminate at Chester).

Class 175 units are primarily used for the services between Manchester and North Wales, although Class 158 units can appear; Class 142 Pacer and Class 156 Sprinter units are used on the infrequent service between Liverpool/Warrington B.Q and Ellesmere Port which share the line between Warrington and Helsby.

It is also used by the Freightliner Group for access to the rail-served maritime freight terminal at Ellesmere Port.

Future Developments

• From December 2017, there will be an extra hourly train running from Chester-Warrington Bank Quay-Manchester-Bradford-Leeds (via the Calder Valley). This service will be operated by brand new 100mph diesel trains from 2019.

• In March 2015, the Electrification Task Force said that that the Manchester to Chester line (via Warrington Bank Quay) was a Tier 1 priority for being electrified in the CP6 period (2019-2024).

• The new Northern franchise requires the removal and replacement of all Pacer trains by 2020.

See also

• M56 motorway
• A56 road