Manchester–Southport line

The Manchester–Southport line is a railway line in the north-west of England, operated by Northern Trains. It was originally built as the Manchester and Southport Railway. The section between Wigan and Salford is also known locally as the Atherton Line.[1]

Manchester–Southport line
A Northern Rail Class 150 at Appley Bridge railway station
Overview
StatusOperational
OwnerNetwork Rail
LocaleGreater Manchester
Lancashire
Merseyside
North West England
Service
SystemNational Rail
Operator(s)Northern Trains
History
Opened1855/1888
Technical
Line length35.75 miles
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in
(1,435 mm)
standard gauge
Route map

(Click to expand)

Starting at the city centre stations of Manchester Victoria (also serving Salford Central on the fringe of the city centre) and Manchester Piccadilly (also serving Manchester Oxford Road and Deansgate), it runs in a north-western direction through the towns, villages and suburbs of the City of Salford and Wigan. It then proceeds in the same direction through the small rural villages of West Lancashire, before ending on the Irish Sea coast at the resort town of Southport.

Rolling stock

Services on the line use Class 150, Class 156 and Class 158 DMUs as well as Class 769 BMUs, although 150s and 156s are the most common. Class 153 DMUs are banned from operating on this route because the steps below the doors on these units foul the platform coping stones at Wigan Wallgate station.

Current stations

Tram train

There is ongoing feasibility into the conversion of parts of this line (Wigan–Atherton–Manchester) to operate as a Manchester Metrolink service[2] with a higher frequency metro service for the Greater Manchester Boroughs of Wigan and Salford into the city centre. In November 2013, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority approved a recommended strategy for reconfiguring existing commuter services into tram-train operation, identifying the Atherton line as providing an opportunity for extending potential tram-train services from the south-east (Marple, Glossop) across the city centre and outwards to the north west.[3] Southport and Kirkby services on this line would be diverted to operate via Bolton. Additionally, Network Rail has identified electrification of Wigan to Southport, together with the Ormskirk–Preston line and the Burscough Curves as a possible source of new services.[4]

References
  1. "Manchester Recovery Task Force Public Consultation" (PDF). GOV.UK. 2020. pp. 25–26.
  2. "Draft Core Strategy" (PDF). Salford government. November 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 August 2012.
  3. "Network RUS Electrification" (PDF). October 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 October 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
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