Mid-Cheshire Line - History

History

The Mid-Cheshire line has its origins in railways promoted by three separate railway companies in the 19th century. The Cheshire Midland Railway was opened to passengers between Altrincham and Knutsford on May 12, 1862 (1862-05-12), then completed to Northwich on January 1, 1863 (1863-01-01). The West Cheshire Railway opened from Northwich to West Cheshire Junction in 1869. This railway was extended from Mouldsworth to a new terminus at Chester Northgate in 1874 (1874). The line from Altrincham to Manchester was the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway (MSJAR), opened on July 20, 1849 (1849-07-20) and jointly owned by the London and North Western Railway and the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MSLR, later the Great Central Railway). The line from Chester to Altrincham was vested in the Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC), a joint committee regulated by the Great Northern Railway (GNR), MSLR and the Midland Railway (MR). This committee became an independent company after 1867 and survived the 1923 Grouping intact. Services were operated by the CLC until nationalisation on 1 January 1948, when the line became part of British Railways London Midland Region. Between 1880 and 1969, CLC trains from Chester via Altrincham terminated at Manchester Central railway station.

Before the Beeching closures in the 1960s, there were branch lines with services from the Mid-Cheshire line (see also the Winsford and Over branch). Beeching had no plans to close part or all of the Mid-Cheshire line, although in his proposed second phase of closures there were plans to close the line between Chester and Warrington Bank Quay, which would have increased the number of passengers using the Mid-Cheshire line. Although those proposed closures never went ahead, the original termini at Chester and Manchester were closed in 1969 and services were re-routed to Chester General, via a new junction at Mickle Trafford, and Manchester Oxford Road.

The route was double track between Chester and Altrincham, although the section between Mickle Trafford and Mouldsworth was reduced to single track after Chester Northgate station closed in 1969. For many years the line had the reputation of being one of the busiest double-track routes in the UK.