Greater Manchester’s Railway Stations: Less Accessible Than Those in the Scottish Highlands

Twice as many potential passengers lacking step free access at local stations

Greater Manchester seems to have had a rough deal with its railways over the last five years. Over the last five decades, it has more than its fair share of broken promises, from the cancellation of The Picc-Vic Project to today’s meddling with the HS2 project. In the 1990s, we were promised Regional Eurostar trains but we thought the market wasn’t there in the late 1990s thanks to easyJet, Ryanair and Friends. In more recent times, sleepers and international services are having a bit of a revival in mainland Europe.

Today, a simple train trip from Ashton-under-Lyne to Mossley can be an ordeal. Since 2018, you have had to change at Stalybridge (and the connections are pretty tight). Even Stalybridge to Mossley can be an ordeal if you have restricted mobility or a wheelchair. You have to change at Huddersfield due to stepped access on the Yorkshire platform!

Revealed: Northern England’s Slowest Inter-City Train Route

The North of England’s slowest inter-city train route may surprise you

Once upon a time, 33 years ago, a famous female singer made a real comeback with the song If I Can Turn Back Time. Though 1987’s I Found Someone marked her return to the singles charts, it was the former song that made a greater impact. By 1991, thanks to the film Mermaids, her cover of The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss), she reached the top spot.

During Cher’s rise up the singles chart, Britain’s railways was in a state of transition. British Rail swapped Robert Reid for Robert Reid (in other words, Robert Basil Reid for Bob Reid). The InterCity sector started operated without a subsidy from HM Treasury. Regional Railways became a swish new identity for BR’s Provincial Sector. Locally, Stalybridge station’s buffet bar was under threat of closure with rumours of it becoming a florist; the Stockport to Stalybridge service was cut to three return journeys a day – still an improvement on the Saturdays Only return journey we see today.

The Wight Way To See The Isle of Wight: Now You Know What I Did This Summer, 2022

A look at what the Isle of Wight’s public transport network has to offer

The British Isles has more than 6,200 islands. As well as the mainland, this includes the Channel Islands, Western Isles and the Isle of Man. South of The Solent is the Isle of Wight, up to an hour on Wightlink and Red Funnel ferries from Southampton, Lymington and Portsmouth.

Defending our Station Ticket Offices

How closing all our station ticket offices will make train travel even less accessible

Manchester Victoria station, 4th June 1986

For a young lad raised on Thomas the Tank Engine and orange and white buses, there was nothing more exciting than travelling by train. Especially an InterCity one. Back in 1986, train journeys were a rare treat for me as we went everywhere by bus.

Why Should You Support the RMT Rail Strike

East of the M60 says “Forward with the Railway Workers”

If our nation was a song by The Smiths, it would be Nowhere Fast from the Meat Is Murder album. It is fair to say this week’s rail strike is part of the problem, but nobody – ever takes lightly – the right to down tools.

A Beginners’ Guide to British Railways Mark 1 Coaching Stock

A guide to British Railways’ first railway carriage design for the absolute beginner

If you go to your nearest preserved railway line, there’s a good chance your train would be hauled by 1950s carriages. They will certainly be slam door carriages with doors at either end of the carriage, with another set half way through. In many cases, the middle set of doors are sealed up to make extra luggage space.

Stalybridge Bus Station: A 2030 Vision

The shape of things to come with an all-singing and all-dancing bus/train/tram interchange

It has been a while since you could transfer from three modes of transport in Stalybridge town centre. 90 years ago to be precise. If you count trolleybuses as a third mode, that was 61 years ago.

Cars on Trains: The Wonders of Motorail

How we let the train take the strain – by carrying us and our cars at the same time

If we put our minds to it, we can let the train take the strain even more. Not only passengers from A to B, also our worldly goods like parcels, raw materials and fuel oil. For carrying heavy loads at once, nothing beats the goods train’s ability at taking more cars off the roads.

When are the Last Trains to London?

Beat of the M60 finds an excuse to combine trains with music

“It was 9.29, 29… 9.29 back street, big city/The sun was going down, there was music all round, it felt so right.”

– Last Train to London, Electric Light Orchestra (1979)

Rail Franchising, 1994 – 2020: An Honest Obituary

System exacerbated fragmented nature of National Rail network

Rail Franchising, a part of British railway policy since 1994, was laid to rest at the age of twenty-six. Its original aim was to raise standards across the rail network and improve on services launched by the outgoing British Railways Board. Today, it was announced by Transport Minister Grant Shapps that all franchised operations will be replaced by Emergency Recovery Management Agreements for six to eighteen month periods.