Hale railway station


Hale railway station serves the area of Hale in the south of Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England. It is also used by people living in the surrounding areas of Bowdon and Hale Barns. The station is located on Ashley Road. It is on the Mid-Cheshire Line, from Chester to Manchester Piccadilly, 8 miles south west of Manchester Piccadilly.

History

The station was opened as Peel Causeway by the Cheshire Midland Railway on 12 May 1862 when the railway opened from Altrincham to Knutsford. The CMR was amalgamated into the Cheshire Lines Committee on 15 August 1867. The station became Peel Causeway for Hale on 1 January 1899, and on 1 January 1902 it was renamed Hale. The station was served by passenger trains from Manchester Central to Northwich and Chester Northgate. The CLC remained an independent entity, as a joint London, Midland and Scottish Railway and London and North Eastern Railway operation after the Grouping of 1923, until the creation of British Railways. The station then passed on to the London Midland Region of British Railways on nationalisation on 1 January 1948. When Sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s, the station was served by Regional Railways under arrangement with the Greater Manchester PTE until the Privatisation of British Railways.

Services

Monday to Saturday there is generally an hourly service from Hale via Stockport to Manchester Piccadilly eastbound, and to westbound. There is an additional hourly service in peak hours only.
All services are operated by Northern Trains, who operate Class 142, Class 150 and Class 156 trains on the route. The current ageing rolling stock is expected to be modernised following the removal of all Pacer trains in the country by 2020. This will allow for less crowded, smoother and cleaner services for passengers using the station.
Typical Monday to Saturday service pattern as of May 2018:
xx:13 service to Chester.
xx:56 service to Manchester Piccadilly.
Sundays see a roughly two-hourly service both ways.

The Station

The station has a ticket office at Platform 1, which is open on weekday mornings. Digital station information boards are in operation on both platforms, and there are station announcements. There is a station car park on either side of the level crossing. The station has a Victorian feel to it with the station canopies and footbridge. Much of the station building on Platform 1 is now a vet surgery, and the station building on Platform 2 is now a health clinic. The signal box is not in use any more. Located in the heart of Hale, the station is close to shops and many restaurants.