Chinley railway station

Chinley
Chinley Railway Station
General information
Location	Chinley, High Peak England
Grid reference	SK038826
Managed by	Northern Trains
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	CLY[1]
Classification	DfT category F2
Key dates
1867	Opened
1 June 1902[2]	Moved to current location
Passengers
2020/21	21,856
Interchange	557
2021/22	80,106
Interchange	1,446
2022/23	93,244
Interchange	1,356
2023/24	0.102 million
Interchange	1,974
2024/25	0.129 million
Interchange	6,524
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Chinley railway station serves the rural village of Chinley in Derbyshire, England. The station is 17+1⁄2 miles (28.2 km) south east of Manchester Piccadilly on the Hope Valley Line from Sheffield to Manchester. It is 169 miles 40 chains (272.8 km) from St Pancras via Toton.^[3] It is unstaffed and is managed by Northern Trains.

The original station was built in 1867 by the Midland Railway on the extension of its Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway,^[4] which became its main line to London from Manchester. Originally, the Midland had planned to extend through Buxton, but the LNWR already had a line there. So, the Midland built a line through Chinley and Buxworth to join the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway at New Mills; this was an association which became known as the Sheffield and Midland Railway Companies' Committee.

In the early 1900s, the original Chinley station was deemed too small for purpose and was relocated to its present site. The new station opened on 1 June 1902,^[4] when the line through Disley Tunnel to Heaton Mersey (and thence on to Manchester Central) was opened and the extra tracks between Chinley North Junction & New Mills South Junction were commissioned.^[5] The old station buildings were dismantled and re-erected on Maynestone Road as a private house.^[6] It also became the terminus of the Dore and Chinley line, instead of Buxton. By 1904, Chinley had become an important junction between Manchester, London St Pancras and Sheffield, with five through platforms and one east-facing bay, with four main tracks passing through it.^[7] Many express trains from the Midlands and London would call there to attach or detach coaches for destinations in the North West (including Blackburn and Liverpool Central High Level), as well as the main Midland terminus at Manchester Central. This practice became somewhat less prevalent after the 1923 Grouping when the London, Midland and Scottish Railway took over but, in the 1930s, some 40 eastbound and 38 westbound trains either called or started/terminated at the station each weekday.^[5]

After World War II and the nationalisation of the railways in January 1948, passenger traffic from the station declined and the number of station calls with it, though four southbound London expresses and five from the capital still featured in the station's 1965 timetable. The 1963 Beeching Report recommended that the Peak District main line to Matlock and Derby be closed, as it duplicated the West Coast Main Line between Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston, which had recently been electrified. The Hope Valley route was also earmarked for closure in the report, but this was not implemented by the government due to the number of isolated communities it served along its route; the Woodhead line was later closed to passenger services in the 1980s instead. The 1902 line through Heaton Mersey to Manchester Central and the link via Romiley to Stockport Tiviot Dale would also close; all trains henceforth ran to Piccadilly via New Mills and Marple instead.

With the closure of the line to the south in 1967/8, Chinley railway station lost its importance. Local passenger services to Buxton (Midland), Rowsley and Matlock were withdrawn from 6 March 1967;^[5] the route closed to passengers the following year, along with the line to Manchester Central west of Cheadle Heath. The few surviving London trains via Sheffield ceased to call in 1972 and had disappeared altogether by 1979. Two of the four lines through the station were subsequently removed in 1981/2 and the remaining two were then realigned to serve the middle 'island' platform and the remaining buildings were demolished.^[5] The site of the southern island platform has been redeveloped and is now occupied by houses.^[8][5]

Since then, it has served as a local commuter station on the Hope Valley Line; the line itself still carries significant quantities of freight traffic in addition to a frequent passenger service. Many freight trains that pass through still use part of the old route to Buxton to access the quarries at Peak Forest; the line through Disley Tunnel was reopened to passenger trains in 1986, when a new chord was opened to link it to the Buxton line at Hazel Grove. Since the summer 2017 timetable, all fast Sheffield to Manchester services use this route in order to call at Stockport, whilst the Marple route is still used by the local stopping services that call here.^[9]

There is a waiting shelter on the platform, along with timetable information posters, CIS displays, ticket vending machine, bench seating and a customer help point. The station has regular platform announcements, although train running details can also be obtained using the telephone at the station entrance.^[10]

No level access is available, as the only route from the entrance to the platform is via the stepped footbridge. Local rail users have been campaigning for the station to be made accessible for wheelchair users and parents with pushchairs since 2008, but the necessary funding under the Access for All scheme has not yet been allocated.^[11]

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Hope Valley Line
Liverpool– Manchester lines Manchester Piccadilly Ardwick Styal line to Huddersfield line (freight only) Levenshulme Ashburys Heaton Chapel Belle Vue Gorton Ryder Brow Fairfield (1841–1892) (1892–) Reddish North to Huddersfield line (freight only) Reddish South Denton Stockport Guide Bridge Mid-Cheshire line Stockport– Stalybridge line Stafford– Manchester line Stalybridge Jct Rly Glossop line Brinnington Hyde North Bredbury Hyde Central Davenport Woodley Woodsmoor Hazel Grove Romiley to Mid-Cheshire line (freight only) Rose Hill Marple (MB&MR) Buxton line Marple Strines 3866 yd 3535 m Disley Tunnel Greater Manchester Derbyshire New Mills Central Hayfield branch Chinley Great Rocks Line (freight only) Cowburn Tunnel 3702 yd 3385 m Edale Earle's Sidings Hope Bamford Hathersage Grindleford 6230 yd 5697 m Totley Tunnel Wakefield line Derbyshire South Yorkshire Sheffield Midland Main Line Dore and Totley

The typical service is one train per hour in each direction between Sheffield and Manchester Piccadilly; these stopping services are operated by Northern Trains.^[13] One train also starts here in the early morning (heading to Manchester), with a balancing evening working in the opposite direction that finishes here.^[14]

Additionally, East Midlands Railway operate a limited number of express trains that stop at Chinley in the morning and early evening, giving the station through links to and from Liverpool Lime Street and Nottingham.^[15]

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Edale		Northern Trains Hope Valley Line		New Mills Central
Terminus				Hazel Grove Limited service
Edale		East Midlands Railway Liverpool-Norwich Limited service		Hazel Grove
Dore & Totley				Stockport
	Disused railways
Edale Line and station open		Midland Railway		Buxworth Line open, station closed
Chapel-en-le-Frith Central Line and station closed

• Quick, Michael (2023). Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain: A Chronology (PDF) (5th ed.). London: Railway and Canal Historical Society.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chinley railway station.

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

53°20′24″N 1°56′38″W / 53.340°N 1.944°W / 53.340; -1.944