The Friends of Reddish South and Denton Stations.

The Northern Franchise

The purpose of this document is to make all those responsible for the tendering of the Northern Franchise to include within the new franchise the framework required to provide a service to Reddish South and Denton stations which at least goes into Manchester Victoria to the north and Stockport to the south.

Contents. Page.

  1. Reddish South Station 2
  2. Manchester Victoria 3
  3. Stockport 3
  4. Denton 3
  5. Benefits 4
  6. Trains per hour 5
  7. Routes around Manchester 6
  8. Summary 7
  9. Support 7
  10. DVD 7
1. Reddish South Station.1

Located near to Houldsworth Square in the centre of Reddish, on the busy Reddish Road close to all the shops. Despite its prime location, Reddish South has only one train a week, running from Stockport into Stalybridge.

Since the demolition of the station buildings in 1970, there has been considerable housing and business development within 800m of the station.

In the 1980’s and 90’s new housing went up on land adjacent to the railway between Harcourt Street and Mill Lane, there were further developments on land off Greg Street and Hurst Street.

Recently, apartments have opened within Houldsworth2 and Victoria Mills2, with more proposed in Elisabeth Mill2, all located on Houldsworth Street.

Employment opportunities exist within business units located in Broadstone Mill2, Houldsworth Mill and Vauxhall Business Park. An improved rail link could help the empty units develop and boost the existing units.

The station is also located close to Reddish Vale Road, gateway to Reddish Vale Country Park.

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2. Manchester Victoria.

It’s not just the area near Reddish South that has moved on over the past couple of decades, but the area around Manchester Victoria has too, and the centre of Manchester has shifted away from Piccadilly and moved to the Northern Quarter around Victoria, with places like the Arndale shopping centre, the Printworks, the Triangle, Urbis, MEN Arena, M&S, Selfridges, Royal Exchange to name but a few.

All we need now is to turn around the rail industry view of Reddish South and Denton stations being on the Stockport to Stalybridge line, to being on the Stockport to Victoria line.

3. Stockport.

The success of Manchester airport as a choice of destination to Train Operating Companies has come at a price for Stockport station, as they both have to compete for paths into Piccadilly from where the lines merge at Slade Lane junction. An added disadvantage for Stockport is that there is no south facing bay platform, so it is difficult to terminate services from the south at Stockport, therefore if Stockport is to see any improvements in service to meet the proposed 20% increase in rail travel, then services will have to run through Stockport and divert at Heaton Norris junction via Reddish South and Denton stations into Victoria (and possibly beyond).

Diverting existing services can also provide additional paths into Piccadilly to support the proposed additional Piccadilly to London Euston service (i.e. from 3 to 4 trains per hour).

Stockport passengers would have a choice of city centre destinations, which would also complement each other. Passengers could travel into Piccadilly, stroll through Manchester calling at different locations, ending up near Victoria, possibly laden with shopping, and catching the train back home in comfort from Victoria, rather than trudging back to Piccadilly.

4. Denton station.3

Located on Manchester Road North at junction 24 on the M60 Manchester orbital motorway where it meets the M67, which makes it a prime location for park and ride.

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5. Benefits of providing a service via Reddish South and Denton stations by diverting a service between Stockport and Manchester Victoria.

Stockport.

  1. The problem of no south facing platform is overcome, so any additional services from the south can run through Stockport.
  2. Additional paths into Piccadilly can be created for use by intercity services.
  3. Stockport would be connected to Manchester Victoria giving passengers a choice of city centre destinations.
  4. Stockport would therefore have access to trains from the Calder Valley at Victoria station.
  5. Improved performances and services from Stockport.

Manchester Airport.

  1. Manchester Airport can benefit from any freed paths created between Slade Lane Junction and Manchester Piccadilly.

Manchester Piccadilly.

  1. Diverted services between Stockport and Victoria can ease rail congestion at Piccadilly Station and the Castlefield corridor.

Manchester Victoria.

  1. Improved efficiency, at present the station is under used.

Calder Valley.

  1. Calder Valley will be connected to Stockport with the maximum of 1 change of train, filling the gap, and removing the complaint of ‘Calder Valley does not give a link to Stockport’.
  2. Better connectivity between north and south Manchester area stations.

Heaton Norris Junction.

  1. Improved performance of the junction, which at present is under utilised.

Reddish South and Denton Stations.

  1. Reddish South & Denton stations would have a service.
  2. No additional rolling stock would be required from a diverted service.
  3. Cost of service would be spread over more stations.
  4. Journey times into Manchester Victoria from both stations would be better than the bus & car especially at rush hour.
  5. Active travel encouraged, i.e. walking to the station.
  6. Park and ride option available at Denton.
  7. Improved footfall.
  8. The one train a week service to Stalybridge can be withdrawn.
  1. Trains Per Hour.

The above diagram shows typical number of trains per hour outside rush hour and excluding freight traffic.

The trains from Stockport are limited towards Piccadilly for two reasons.

  1. To allow for gaps in traffic to facilitate the crossing movements at Slade Lane junction by the airport trains.
  2. Limited number of paths into Piccadilly from Slade lane junction.

In theory the gaps at Slade Lane junction should be mirrored at Heaton Norris junction, therefore more trains could leave Stockport and head into Manchester Victoria via Reddish South and Denton. This might be 2 trains per hour (TPH) peak, and 1 TPH off peak, not 9 TPH as to the airport.

A diverted service from Stockport to Victoria could provide a spare path into Piccadilly for additional inter city services, i.e. Piccadilly to Euston from 3 to 4 TPH.

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8. Summary.

The Friends of Reddish South Station along with the Friends of Denton Station, passionately believe that the time is right for introducing a service between Stockport and Victoria stations, and as the Northern franchise is due for renewal, we need the Department of Transport, Network Rail, Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority and any bidding Train Operating Company to be aware of us, include us in the new franchise, embrace the asset this underused piece of the network is, and allow the rail services in the south Manchester area to expand and be ready to meet the future demands on the network.

9. Support.

The friends groups have full support of Stockport and Tameside Councils for their campaign for a service into Victoria station. Other groups like the Greater Manchester Transport Campaign are backing our proposals.

10. DVD.

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FORSS- NORTHERN FRANCHISE