West Didsbury Metrolink station

West Didsbury
Metrolink
The first Metrolink passenger service at West Didsbury, 23 May 2013
West Didsbury Location of West Didsbury in Greater Manchester
Location
Place	Didsbury
Local authority	Manchester
Coordinates	53°25′33″N 2°14′12″W / 53.425741°N 2.23678°W / 53.425741; -2.23678Coordinates: 53°25′33″N 2°14′12″W / 53.425741°N 2.23678°W / 53.425741; -2.23678
Grid reference	SJ842921
Platforms	2
Fare zone information
Present status	In operation
Operations
Original operator	South District Railway
Pre-grouping company	Midland Railway
Post-grouping company	London, Midland and Scottish Railway London Midland Region of British Railways
History
Opened	1880
Closed as rail station	1961
Conversion to Metrolink operation	23 May 2013
Former name	Withington and Albert Park (1880) Withington and West Didsbury (1895)
Renamed	1895
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

West Didsbury is a tram stop on the South Manchester Line (SML) of Greater Manchester's light-rail Metrolink system. It opened to passengers on 23 May 2013, in West Didsbury, South Manchester, England.

The Metrolink stop sits some 300m south east of the former heavy rail station of the Midland Railway, which opened 1 January 1880 as Withington; was renamed on 1 July 1884 to Withington and Albert Park; renamed again on 1 April 1915 to Withington and West Didsbury; and closed 3 July 1961. The route was earmarked for redevelopment with a light rail system during the 1980s, and was confirmed and funded as part of Metrolink's Phase 3b of expansion in 2006.

Withington & West Didsbury railway station opened in 1880 as "Withington" when the Midland Railway opened its new out of Manchester Central Station. The station was renamed "Withington & Albert Park" in 1884, and then "Withington & West Didsbury" in 1895.

The Manchester South District line, and consequently Withington & West Didsbury station, closed in July 1961. By the 2000s, the original cobbled station approach road and wall were still visible off Lapwing Lane, and the remains of the station platforms could still be seen at the bottom of the overgrown embankment.

The West Didsbury Metrolink stop opened on 23 May 2013, on the opposite side of Palatine Road from the original railway station.

Midland Railway lines out of Manchester, showing the Manchester South District line