Chester–Warrington line

Chester–Manchester line
An Arriva Trains Wales Class 175 at Earlestown railway station
Overview
Other name(s)	Chester to Manchester Line (via Warrington Bank Quay)
Status	Open
Owner	Network Rail
Locale	Greater Manchester Cheshire Chester North West England
Termini	Chester
Service
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	75 mph (121 km/h) from Chester to Warrington Bank Quay 110 mph (180 km/h) from WBQ to Earlestown 90 mph (140 km/h) from Earlestown to Manchester
Route map Chester–Warrington Bank Quay West Coast Main Line   Warrington Bank Quay ~ Low Level St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway Warrington South Jn Walton Old Jn Acton Grange Jn Moore Daresbury Norton West Coast Main Line to London Runcorn East Sutton Tunnel Weaver Junction–Liverpool line to Liverpool to Weaver Junction Halton Curve Halton M56 motorway River Weaver Frodsham A56 road Helsby Hooton–Helsby line to Hooton to Northwich Dunham Hill Mid-Cheshire line Mickle Trafford North Wales Coast Line to Crewe Chester Chester–Birkenhead line to Birkenhead Chester Northgate Chester and Connah's Quay Railway North Wales Coast Line

The Chester–Manchester line is one of two lines which run between the cities of Chester and Manchester in North West England. It is the faster of the two lines, and runs via Newton-le-Willows and 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 (the 1850 Birkenhead Railway) built by the London and North Western Railway and run jointly with the Great Western Railway continues to Helsby (junction from Ellesmere Port), Frodsham (nearest station to the junction for the Halton Curve) and the 1983 station at Runcorn East. It then passes through the Sutton Tunnel (over a mile long) and heads northwards to cross and then run alongside the West Coast Main Line, eventually joining it at Acton Grange Junction en-route to Warrington Bank Quay.

From Warrington the route follows the original 1837 Grand Junction Railway 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–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 Deansgate, Eccles or Patricroft) and onwards calling at all stations to Llandudno on the North Wales Coast Line (except in the late evenings and on Sundays, when trains terminate at Chester). Certain services run to or from Holyhead instead of Llandudno on weekdays to connect with the Irish ferries.

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 Chester–Warrington Bank Quay–Manchester–Bradford–Leeds (via the Calder Valley). This service will be operated by new 100 mph diesel trains from 2019.
• In March 2015, the Electrification Task Force said 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