Mid-Cheshire line

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Mid-Cheshire line
Northern Rail DMUs at Chester.
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Network Rail
Locale	Greater Manchester Cheshire Stockport North West England
Termini	Chester Manchester Piccadilly
Service
System	National Rail
Operator(s)	Northern Trains
Rolling stock	Class 150 Class 156
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map (Click to expand)

v t e Mid-Cheshire line
Legend
North Wales Coast Line Roodee Viaduct, River Dee Chester & Connah's Quay Rly Chester Northgate Wirral line Chester (General) Chester–Crewe line Chester–Warrington line A41 road Mickle Trafford East Barrow for Tarvin Ellesmere Port–Warrington line Helsby and Alvanley Manley Mouldsworth Delamere Winsford and Over Whitegate Winsford and Over branch line A49 road Cuddington West Coast Main Line Hartford Curve Greenbank ICI Winnington Weaver Viaduct Northwich – Sandbach Branch (Freight only) A533 road Northwich ICI Lostock Salt Branches Lostock Gralam Plumley Plumbley West Platform Knutsford Mobberley Ashley M56 motorway Hale Altrincham Navigation Road Warrington and Altrincham Junction Railway to Glazebrook East Junction Skelton Junction Baguley Sale Stafford–Manchester line Stockport Manchester Metrolink Manchester Central Manchester Piccadilly

The Mid-Cheshire line is a railway line in the north-west of England that runs from Chester to Edgeley Junction, Stockport; it connects Chester with Manchester Piccadilly, via Knutsford. After Chester Northgate closed in 1969, the section between Mickle Trafford Junction and Chester was used for freight trains only until it closed in 1992; from Mickle Trafford, passenger trains use the Chester–Warrington line to Chester General instead. The route taken by passenger trains has changed over the years and now differs considerably from the original. Between 2001 and 2014, passenger journeys on the line increased to over 1.7 million per year.^[1] A near doubling of the passenger service was expected to occur from December 2018, however this did not materialise.