Mid-Cheshire Line - Present Route

Present Route

The line serves many small, rural settlements in Cheshire before reaching Chester. Services follow the Crewe line from Manchester Piccadilly as far as Stockport, where the line diverges westwards. The line then curves around the south of Manchester until it meets the Metrolink line. Metrolink and Mainline services run parallel between Deansgate Junction through Navigation Road railway station to Altrincham, where the Metrolink terminates. Part of the route is single track between Stockport and Altrincham. South of Altrincham, the route leaves Manchester's suburbs. Several of the rural stops on the line are request stops. There are no further passenger interchanges on the line until the service reaches Chester. There is a single-track freight-only branch to the west of Northwich railway station which links Northwich to Sandbach on the Crewe to Manchester Line. There is a campaign for this line to be re-opened as a passenger line, to serve the town of Middlewich. There is also a curve to access the West Coast Main Line further west, but passenger services do not use this. The line joins up with the line from Chester to Warrington just east of Chester at Mickle Trafford Junction.