Hazel Grove railway station

Hazel Grove
Hazel Grove railway Station
Location	Hazel Grove, Stockport England
Grid reference	SJ919867
Managed by	Northern Trains
Transit authority	Transport for Greater Manchester
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	HAZ
Classification	DfT category D
History
Opened	1857
Passengers
2016/17	0.707 million
2017/18	0.717 million
2018/19	0.802 million
Interchange	7,119
2019/20	0.730 million
Interchange	4,465
2020/21	0.107 million
Interchange	886
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Hazel Grove railway station is a junction on both the Stockport to Buxton and Stockport to Sheffield lines, serving the village of Hazel Grove, Greater Manchester, England.

History[]

The station was built for the Stockport, Disley and Whaley Bridge Railway by the London and North Western Railway and opened on 9 June 1857. From 1923 until 1948, it was owned by the London Midland and Scottish Railway and, following nationalisation, it was operated by the London Midland Region of British Railways.

At one time there was another station in the village, Hazel Grove (Midland) station, on the Midland Railway's line from New Mills South Junction to Manchester Central via Cheadle Heath; this opened in 1902, but it was less conveniently situated and closed in 1917.

The line was extremely expensive to build with extensive earthworks. The navvies were accommodated in specially-built houses near the Rising Sun pub, which still exist, and are known as the "Navvy Mansions". The line from Edgeley Junction, just south of Stockport, to Hazel Grove was electrified in 1981 on the 25 kV AC overhead system. This allowed electric trains on the route from Altrincham, via Sale, to serve the station until that line was closed for conversion to Manchester Metrolink operation in late 1991; electric services to and from Piccadilly continued thereafter.

The signal box on the Buxton-bound platform remains in use. This controls the junction between the Buxton line and the chord linking it to the route through Disley Tunnel towards Sheffield at the country end of the station; it also controls a pair of carriage sidings at the Stockport end used for stabling trains that terminate here.

The station in the 1900s

Facilities[]

The station is staffed all week, with its ticket office on platform 1 open 06:05-19:00 weekdays (until 20:00 on Fridays only), 07:00-20:00 Saturdays and 09:00-16:30 Sundays. There are waiting rooms on both platforms, toilets in the main building and a small coffee shop on platform 2. Train running details are provided via automated announcements, timetable posters and digital information screens. Step-free access is available to both platforms via the lifts built into the footbridge linking the platforms.^[1]

Services[]

Today Hazel Grove is served by three trains per hour to/from Manchester Piccadilly – the two trains per hour to/from Manchester Piccadilly to Buxton and the hourly Manchester Piccadilly to Hazel Grove stopping service.^[2] More trains operate in morning peak hours with East Midlands Railway running a service, the 8:17 service to Liverpool Lime Street. Only a few of the local DMU services between Manchester and Sheffield go via Hazel Grove – most travel via New Mills Central. Whilst between Hazel Grove and Buxton the line is not electrified, Hazel Grove through to Manchester Piccadilly is.

Class 323 units then operated the hourly Hazel Grove to Manchester Piccadilly service. From October 2015 until May 2018, diesel multiple units ran the service as it was extended to run to Preston and through to Blackpool North,^[3] to replace the weekday service from Liverpool Lime Street that is now operated by EMUs.

Electric operation returned at the May 2018 timetable change, with one train per hour to/from Piccadilly worked by Class 319 EMUs. This was part of a major timetable revamp that saw 3 trains to Manchester each hour off-peak on weekdays and Saturdays and 2 each hour to Buxton. Regular running to destinations beyond Manchester ceased temporarily at the May 2018 timetable change.^[4] Through running resumed in May 2019, with an hourly Monday-Saturday service running to Blackpool North now using Class 331 EMUs.

The single-track Hazel Grove Chord opened in 1986.^[5] This allowed trains to/from Stockport and Manchester Piccadilly to access the former Manchester Central – New Mills South Junction line just south of Hazel Grove station and thus provides a faster route between Manchester and Sheffield than the former route via Romiley and New Mills Central. The chord also enables Sheffield trains to serve Stockport and run to/from Liverpool Lime Street.

References[]

• Radford, B., (1988) Midland Though The Peak Unicorn Books
• Harrison, P., (2006) Striking A Chord With Electric

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hazel Grove railway station.

• Train times and station information for Hazel Grove railway station from National Rail
• Railscot – Hazel Grove

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Chinley		Northern Trains Hope Valley Line		Woodsmoor
				Stockport
Middlewood		Northern Trains Buxton line		Woodsmoor
Terminus		Northern Trains Hazel Grove - Blackpool North Monday-Saturday only
Chinley		East Midlands Railway Liverpool Lime Street - Norwich Limited service		Stockport

Coordinates: 53°22′40″N 2°07′21″W / 53.3777°N 2.1226°W / 53.3777; -2.1226