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Manchester to StalybridgeThere are two routes of interest, from Manchester Victoria and from Manchester Piccadilly. See map 6. We'll start our tour at Victoria.
Trains leaving Victoria immediately pass under the Cheetham Hill Road bridge where the track-bed has been lowered to give clearance for electrification. Onwards to Miles Platting we are climbing a steep gradient, which required a banking loco to be based at Victoria until the late 1980s.
Ashton-under-Lyne
This small busy station has one island platform. In the second picture, taken in January 2014, you can see work under way to raise the bridge east of the station.
Stalybridge
Of course, this station's claim to fame is the famous Buffet Bar. The track-work and platforms here were substantially re-modelled in 2012 to provide one extra through platform and also add a bay for terminating services from Victoria keeping them clear of the other lines.
The other route to Manchester leads to Piccadilly. Only a short part of this route requires work, between Stalybridge and Guide Bridge West Junction, where it joins the already electrified Hadfield line. |