Burton Road tram stop

Template:Infobox Manchester Metrolink station Burton Road is a stop on the South Manchester Line (SML) of Greater Manchester's light rail Metrolink system, on Burton Road, Withington, Manchester, England. The stop was built as part of Phase 3b of the network's expansion, and opened on 23 May 2013 on a section of the former Midland Railway.^[1]^[2]^[3] It is the closest stop to nearby Withington Community Hospital.

Service pattern

12 minute service to Shaw and Crompton with double trams in the peak
12 minute service to Rochdale Town Centre with double trams in the peak
6 minute service to East Didsbury with double trams in the peak

History

In 1880 the Midland Railway opened the new Manchester South District line which ran from Heaton Mersey to Throstle Nest Junction, Old Trafford.^[4] The line north of Chorlton Junction (with the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway's line to Fallowfield) was later operated by the Cheshire Lines Committee from 1891 when the Fallowfield line opened.^[5] Under British Rail operation, the line closed in 1967 as part of the Beeching Axe.

Plans to re-open the line for light rail use have been proposed since the early 1980s,^[6] but these proposals failed several times due to problems securing funding.^[7] Revised plans put forward in 2006 only allowed for the line to be opened as far as St Werburgh's Road in Chorlton.^[8]

In 2009, following the failure of the Greater Manchester Transport Innovation Fund, revised transport funding was announced by the Government which would facilitate a major expansion of the Metrolink network, including the re-opening of the former Midland line and stations as far as East Didsbury.^[3]^[9]

Gallery

Midland Railway lines in Manchester
The station, on its opening day
The station, looking towards West Didsbury

References

^ Cite error: The named reference TfGMopen was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Linton, Deborah (13 May 2009). "£1.4bn transport deal unveiled". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
^ ^a ^b "Metrolink: back on track?". BBC Manchester. 13 May 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
^ J. Gough. The Midland Railway - A Chronology. Railway and Canal Historical Society, 1989, p. 198.
^ Gough,Midland Railway, p.198.
^ Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (1984), Light Rapid Transit in Greater Manchester, GMPTE - publicity brochure
^ "Government scraps trams extension". BBC News. 20 July 2004. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
^ "Metrolink - the little Bang?". BBC Manchester. 7 July 2006. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
^ "Tram line extension is approved". BBC News. 13 May 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2009.