Chorlton tram stop

Chorlton
Metrolink
The rebuilt stop, shortly after opening
Chorlton Location of Chorlton in Greater Manchester
Location
Place	Chorlton-cum-Hardy
Local authority	Manchester
Coordinates	53°26′34″N 2°16′24″W / 53.4427°N 2.2734°W / 53.4427; -2.2734Coordinates: 53°26′34″N 2°16′24″W / 53.4427°N 2.2734°W / 53.4427; -2.2734
Grid reference	SJ819940
Platforms	2
Fare zone information
Metrolink Zone	P
Present status	In operation
Operations
Original operator	Cheshire Lines Committee
Pre-grouping company	Cheshire Lines Committee
Post-grouping company	Cheshire Lines Committee London Midland Region of British Railways
History
Opened	1 January 1880
Closed as rail station	2 January 1967
Conversion to Metrolink operation	7 July 2011
South Manchester Line to Rochdale and Shaw and Crompton Deansgate-Castlefield Deansgate Bridgewater Canal Cornbrook to Eccles and MediaCityUK Manchester-Liverpool Line Trafford Bar to Altrincham Firswood Chorlton St Werburgh's Road to Manchester Airport Withington Burton Road West Didsbury Didsbury Village Styal Line East Didsbury

South Manchester Line

Chorlton is a stop on the South Manchester Line (SML) and Airport Line of Greater Manchester's light-rail Metrolink system. Located in Chorlton-cum-Hardy in southern Manchester, it was built as part of Phase 3a of the network's expansion, and opened on 7 July 2011 on a section of the former Cheshire Lines Committee railway.

Chorlton-cum-Hardy railway station opened on 1 January 1880 by the Midland Railway, later became Cheshire Lines Committee and closed on 2 January 1967 as part of the Beeching Axe, though the line through Fallowfield remained open to freight until the 1980s. Until the mid-20th century the station yard supplied coal to the district. Land to the north-east of the track originally acquired for the purpose of doubling it was eventually sold off for development.

The station was mentioned in the 1964 song "Slow Train" by Flanders and Swann, which was written to lament the loss of stations resulting from the Beeching cuts:

Chorlton station was subsequently demolished and a Morrisons (originally Safeway) supermarket and car park built in its place, although the track bed remained extant to the side of the supermarket and part of one of the platforms survives next to the supermarket building. The derelict line became overgrown until 2001, when the track bed of the old Fallowfield Loop Line branch running east of Chorlton towards Alexandra Park and Fallowfield was converted to the Fallowfield Loop cycle track. Today, the route is run by Sustrans and forms part of Routes 6 and 60 of the National Cycle Network. The remaining Cheshire Lines Committee lines from Chorlton from Manchester Central towards Disbury remained disused and overgrown for another 10 years.