Seasonal good wishes to all our readers and Northern Rail staff. - 22 December

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Friends of Davenport Station re-launch

Thursday 23 November, 7:30pm onwards, Davenport Methodist Church, Garners Lane:  ther will be a re-launch meeting for the 'Friends of Davenport Station' group. Everyone is welcome. See our Friends Page for more about the Friends group.

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Ann Coffey MP opens the Gate, 13 October

A small ceremony took place on 13 October to mark the completion of the additional entrace to Davenport station, which will allow more direct access to the platforms in the afternoons and evenings, and all day Sunday, when the booking office is closed. Ann Coffey MP, who has been a great help in finally realising this simple enhancement.

No traditional ribbon or scissors had been provided ...  Ms Coffey prepares to make the first swing of the new gate. All these pictures are by Joanna Hulme.



Here it is, from the inside. Unfortunately there is a step to be negotiated, but as there are steps to the platforms anyway, so accessiblity for wheelchairs, etc. is no worse than it already was, i.e. awful.



Well and truly open! It is over a year since this site reported on the first attempt to knock a hole in the wall, and many years since station users first suggested the idea in the late 1980s after the staffing level of the station was cut back to mornings only. Thanks are due to Ann Coffey, the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority, and everyone else who has made this possible. It is hoped that CCTV will also be provided for the station in the near future.



Under the spreading horse-chestnut tree: the view from the other side of the road showing the location of the gate. It will be especially useful for passengers living on the east side of Bramhall Lane, and those making bus connections in the Bramhall direction.

For the rest of us, can we next have the pedestrian phases of the traffic lights put back to the way they were, please? - 13 October

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The Mid-Cheshire Dalesman: Our friends at the Mid-Cheshire Rail Users' Association have chartered a train frm Northern Rail for a day trip to the famous Settle - Carlisle line on Sunday 29 October. This train will pick up passengers at Stockport (approx. 10:09, returning approx. 19:30) and will call at Settle, Ribblehead (where a conducted walk to the famous viaduct will be available), Dent,  Garsdale, Appleby and Carlisle. The train used will be two of the Class 156 units - the ones with tables and large windows - and fares are very reasonable: Adults £26, Senior Citizens (aged 60 and over) £24, Children (aged 5 to 15) £20.

For full information and booking details, please visit the MCRUA website. - 6 October

Engineers to close Hazel Grove to Buxton for 9 days, 21-29 October

It's a sign of the times that in order to re-lay the track on "a stretch of line
in the Middlewood area, about one kilometre long, on both the Manchester and Buxton bound tracks" it is thought necessary to close the entire line between Hazel Grove and Buxton for nine complete days, starting on Saturday 21 October and finishing on 29 October. There's a timetable showing the replacement buses and some explanation on the Northern Rail website (in PDF format). The timetable does not show the normal electric trains between Hazel Grove and Manchester, these will be running at their usual times - and no doubt more crowded in the peak hour as many people will probably drive to Hazel Grove rather than catch the replacement bus. Don't ask us what 'heavy freight trains' have been running through Middlewood! - 18 October



Engineering weekend looms

Friday 29 September: Some trains to and from Buxton will be running non-stop between Furness Vale and Buxton, as only one track will be in use on this section, and running non-stop is felt essential to maintain the timetable. Buses will be provided between New Mills Newtown and Buxton stopping at the stations where the train normally calls. (Most unusually, this will mean that trains with passengers aboard will traverse the crossover line at Furness Vale.)

Saturday 30 September: Trains will start and terminate at New Mils Newtown and a replacement bus service will run between
Buxton and New Mills calling at stations where the train normally calls.

Sunday 1 October: The replacement bus service will run between Buxton and Stockport calling at intermediate stations. Trains will start and terminate at Stockport: the beses will call at the stops by and opposite Cale Green Park in Davenport as usual.

We understand that among other work going on, there will be commissioning of new signalling at Buxton,

A PDF timetable is available on the Northern Rail website. - 26 September

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Autumn timetable: there will be some changes to to times of trains from 10 September, generally involving departures from Buxton a few minutes earlier and arrivals there a few minutes later. This is to allow for possible problems with leaves on the line during the Autumn. - 7 September

Diversionary tactic:  a reminder that, although Saturday services have returned to normal, Sunday traiins are still diverted to Manchester Victoria on Sundays 3 and 10 September. Full details are in Northern Rail's leaflet available online or from the station.

After a  period pretending to enquirers that the extended engineering closure of the Cheadle Hulme - Crewe route would end with the new timetable, Network Rail now admit that this will not be possible and the existing bus replacements, and extra trains on the Macclesfield line, will continue at least until 25 June. We have now received a revised schedule as follows:

• Cheadle Hulme to Crewe reopens for crew training on Monday 19 June.
  
  
• Public passenger services begin on Monday 26 June. There will be an hourly Manchester-Crewe all stations  local service leaving Piccadilly at 02 past the hour. The Manchester - Cardiff service will revert to its normal route via Stockport and Wilmslow, leaving Piccadilly at 34 minutes past the  hour. (Whether any of the above applies on Sundays we are not certain: probably not.)
  
  
• The Piccadilly-Manchester Airport-Wilmslow shuttle  will continue to operate and will be extended to also operate at  weekends. The junction at Wilmslow and the points at Alderley Edge and Sandbach will not be in operation, so trains from the Styal line will not be able to proceed beyond Wilmslow.
  
  
• There is to be another lengthy engineering 'blockade' after  Christmas to fully commission the new signalling.

It is perhaps worth noting in this context that Network Rail, the company responsible for this disgraceful situation, has in May 2006 awarded a £352,728 bonus to its chief executive, John Armitt, whose basic salary is more than £500,000. The deputy chief executive, Iain Coucher, will receive a bonus of £314,490.