Chester to Manchester Line

Chester-Manchester Line
Overview
Locale	Greater Manchester Cheshire Chester North West England
Operation
Owner	Network Rail
Technical
Track gauge	Standard gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Route map Legend Caldervale and Oldham West Coast Main Line Hope Valley Line Huddersfield and Glossop Manchester Mayfield Manchester Metrolink Manchester Victoria Manchester Piccadilly and Exchange (closed) Manchester Oxford Road Manchester Central Deansgate-Castlefield Salford Central Deansgate ( Deansgate-Castlefield) Liverpool to Windsor Link Manchester Lines Manchester Metrolink to Wigan Eccles to Bolton Patricroft Barton Moss Astley Glazebury to Bolton Kenyon Junction M6 to Wigan via Hindley West Coast Main Line to Glasgow Newton le Willows Earlestown Liverpool to Manchester Lines Warrington Central M62 High Level Warrington Bank Quay St Helens and Low Level Runcorn Gap Railway Junction reversed during rationalisation Moore Daresbury Norton Runcorn East Sutton Tunnel West Coast Main Line Weaver Junction to Liverpool Halton River Weaver Frodsham West Coast Main Line Helsby to London Ellesmere Port to Warrington Line To Northwich Dunham Hill Mid-Cheshire Line Mickle Trafford Chester-Crewe Line Chester Wirral Line Chester and Chester Northgate 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.

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 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.

See also

• M56 motorway
• A56 road