Cheadle station

[M60lad]

Its not just that the bus service from Cheadle to Manchester is poor is the route and amount of time it takes to get to Manchester as it doesn't take the direct route instead it runs via Didsbury, Withington, Fallowfield and up Wilmslow/Oxford Roads which are known for generating traffic especially through Curry Mile through Rusholme

 

[py_megapixel]

Its not just that the bus service from Cheadle to Manchester is poor is the route and amount of time it takes to get to Manchester as it doesn't take the direct route instead it runs via Didsbury, Withington, Fallowfield and up Wilmslow/Oxford Roads which are known for generating traffic especially through Curry Mile through Rusholme

This is a good point. There have actually been faster services in the relatively recent past.

Stagecoach tried the X57, which was the same route as what is now the 42B, but with limited stops north of East Didsbury. But this only lasted a few years, and in any case it was still ridiculously slow at rush hour because of traffic.

Then there was the long-standing route 130 which ran via the A34 rather than Wilmslow Road, but that service suffered a death by a thousand cuts at the hands of Arriva, and the section between Heald Green and Manchester is now gone entirely.

 

[Old Yard Dog]

The elephant in the room is that rail will be far quicker than the bus from Cheadle to Manchester. This will lead to massive levels of overcrowding on Chester to Manchester trains.

 

[Rail Ranger]

The elephant in the room is that rail will be far quicker than the bus from Cheadle to Manchester. This will lead to massive levels of overcrowding on Chester to Manchester trains.

Cheadle is an affluent area with a high level of car ownership. There is a well established culture of driving to the park and ride car park at East Didsbury Metrolink station from where trams depart every 7.5 minutes to Manchester. I don't see an hourly train to Manchester doing much to change that culture.

 

[D Mylchreest]

Interesting theory & perhaps that's what's happening in this case. The problem though would be that if they installed the platform at Cheadle to the current design, it would remove the possibility of providing a passing loop at a later date as the platform would be sited on the currently disused portion of the trackbed which would be needed to provide a loop.

IIRC the original station at Cheadle had its platforms mounted on the embankment. Perhaps that could be done again?
I really don't know how Cheadle village is going to find the space for additional car parking

 

[davechis]

IIRC the original station at Cheadle had its platforms mounted on the embankment. Perhaps that could be done again?
I really don't know how Cheadle village is going to find the space for additional car parking

As I understand it, the proposed platform is to be located on the north side of the existing running line. Unfortunately this would obstruct the currently disused trackbed which could otherwise be used for a passing loop. One possible solution (as suggested by a previous correspondent) would be for a permanent platform to be located along the line of a future loop and a temporary extension to this platform provided to bridge the gap between the edge of the permanent structure and the existing running line. The performance of this arrangement in terms of network capacity could then be monitored and if found to be satisfactory, the extended platform be made permanent. If on the other hand the network capacity under this arrangement was found to be inadequate, the temporary platform could be removed and a passing loop installed.