The Chester–Warrington line is a railway line running between and in

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...

. There are two passenger trains per hour in each direction between Chester and Warrington. One (operated by

Northern Trains Northern Trains, branded as Northern, (legally Northern Trains Limited) is a publicly owned train operating company in England. It is owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT), after the previous operator Arriva Rail ...

) continues to Manchester Victoria and Leeds and the other (operated by

Transport for Wales Transport for Wales (TfW; cy, Trafnidiaeth Cymru; cy, TrC, label=none) is a not-for-profit company owned by the Welsh Government and managed at arms length by its appointed board. TfW oversees the Transport for Wales Group (TfW Group) consi ...

) continues to Manchester Picadilly. A Transport for Wales service also runs from Chester to Liverpool via Frodsham from where it continues via the

Halton Curve Halton Curve (now formally known as the Frodsham Single Line) is a short bi-directional railway line which links the Chester–Warrington line to the Weaver Junction–Liverpool line within the borough of Halton, Cheshire. The route, which is ...

History

Interests in the

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; Historic counties of England, historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the R ...

docks were aware that they needed a railway connection towards Manchester and the Lancashire manufacturing districts, to enable them to compete with Liverpool. The

Birkenhead, Lancashire and Cheshire Junction Railway The Birkenhead Railway was a railway company in North West England. It was incorporated as the Birkenhead, Lancashire and Cheshire Junction Railway (BL&CJR) in 1846 to build a line connecting the port of Birkenhead and the city of Chester with ...

was incorporated on 26 June 1846 with capital of £1.5 million, to build a line from Chester to Walton Junction, near Warrington, where it would connect with the

Grand Junction Railway The Grand Junction Railway (GJR) was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846 when it was amalgamated with other railways to form the London and North Western Railway. The line built by the company w ...

(

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

), leading to Manchester. Shortage of money following the

Railway Mania Railway Mania was an instance of a stock market bubble in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in the 1840s. It followed a common pattern: as the price of railway shares increased, speculators invested more money, which further incre ...

period slowed progress considerably. In October 1850 there was a formal opening, but the actual public opening finally took place on 18 December 1850.

Description

The line begins at

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

and runs northwards. At Mickle Trafford the Mid-Cheshire Line diverges north-easterly to Manchester which is primarily used by local trains. Most trains between the Chester and Manchester instead use the Chester–Warrington line on the whole length and continue via the L&MR Liverpool–Manchester line. The line then passes through the Sutton Tunnel (over a mile long) where in 1851 the

Sutton Tunnel railway accident The Sutton Tunnel railway accident occurred in the Sutton tunnel between Frodsham and Moore in Cheshire, England on 30 April 1851. As a result of it nine people died and between 30 and 40 were injured. Accident On 18 December 1850 a new railwa ...

took place. It then heads northwards to cross and then run alongside the

, eventually joining it at Acton Grange south of .

Services

operate an hourly service throughout between

Manchester Piccadilly Manchester Piccadilly is the principal railway station in Manchester, England. Opened as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchester Piccadilly in 1960. Located to the south-east of Manchester city ...

and

and onwards calling at all stations to

Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community (Wales), community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2011 UK census, the community – which includes Gogarth, Pe ...

on the

North Wales Coast Line The North Wales Coast Line ( cy, Llinell Arfordir Gogledd Cymru), also known as the North Wales Main Line ( cy, Prif Linell Gogledd Cymru or cy, label=none, Prif Linell y Gogledd), is a major railway line in the north of Wales and Cheshire ...

(except in the late evenings and on Sundays, when trains terminate at Chester). Certain services run to or from instead of Llandudno on weekdays to connect with the Irish ferries. Class 175 units are primarily used for the TfW services between Manchester and North Wales, although Class 158 units can appear. Class 156 Sprinter units are used on the infrequent service between Liverpool/Warrington B.Q. and

Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, south of Birkenhead, southwest of Runcorn and south ...

which use the line between Warrington and

Helsby Helsby is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Overlooking the Mersey estuary, it is approximately north east of Chester and south we ...

. Until Northern Trains retired its last Class 142 units (''Pacers'') in November 2020, those were in use on the route as well. Since May 2019, an hourly

train runs Chester–Warrington Bank Quay–Manchester Victoria–Bradford–Leeds (via the Calder Valley) and an hourly TfW train runs from Chester–Helsby–Frodsham–Runcorn–Liverpool South Parkway–Liverpool Lime Street. The line is also used by the

Freightliner Group Freightliner Group is a rail freight and logistics company headquartered in the United Kingdom. It is presently a wholly owned subsidiary of the American holding company Genesee & Wyoming. It was originally created after the Transport Act 1968 ...

for access to the rail-served maritime freight terminal at Ellesmere Port.

Future developments

In March 2015, the Electrification Task Force announced that the line was a Tier 1 priority for being

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histor ...

in the

Network Rail Control Period Network Rail Control Periods are the 5-year timespans into which Network Rail, the owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain, works for financial and other planning purposes. Each Control Period begins on 1 April and ...

6 (2019–2024).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chester-Manchester line Rail transport in Greater Manchester Rail transport in Cheshire Chester Railway lines in North West England

History

Description

Services

Future developments

See also

References