Stafford to Manchester Line

Stafford–Manchester line
A Virgin Class 390 and CrossCountry Class 221 at Stoke-on-Trent railway station
Overview
System	National Rail
Locale	Cheshire Greater Manchester Staffordshire Stoke-on-Trent West Midlands (region) North West England
Operation
Opened	1848
Owner	Network Rail
Operator(s)	East Midland Trains London Midland Northern Rail Virgin Trains CrossCountry
Technical
Line length	53.9 miles (86.7 km)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge

The Stafford–Manchester line is a branch of the West Coast Main Line (Network Rail Route 18) serving Stafford, Norton Bridge, Stone, Stoke-on-Trent, Kidsgrove, Congleton, Macclesfield, Cheadle Hulme, and Manchester.

Virgin Trains operate inter-city services between London Euston via the Colwich spur to Manchester Piccadilly. With only two services between London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly going via Stone.

CrossCountry services operate between Birmingham New Street / The South Country and Manchester Piccadilly. Between Cheadle Hulme (where it joins the Crewe–Manchester line) and Manchester, the line forms part of Network Rail Route 20.

Local services between Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent (calling at Stone) are operated by London Midland, as part of the London-Crewe service started in December 2008. Between 2004 and 2008 there was no stopping service on the route, with a replacement bus service taking its place. However Wedgwood, Barlaston and Norton Bridge stations are still without a train service although they were never officially closed and are still served by rail-replacement bus services.

Frequent local services between Stoke-on-Trent and Manchester are operated by Northern Rail.