Milnrow is a

tram stop A tram stop, tram station, streetcar stop, or light rail station is a place designated for a tram, streetcar, or light rail vehicle to stop so passengers can board or alight it. Generally, tram stops share most characteristics of bus stops, bu ...

on the

Oldham and Rochdale Line The Oldham and Rochdale Line (ORL) is a light rail/tram line on the Manchester Metrolink in Greater Manchester, running from North Manchester to Rochdale town centre via Oldham, reusing most of the trackbed of the former Oldham Loop Line, Oldham ...

(ORL) of

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

's light-rail Metrolink system. It opened to passengers on 28 February 2013 and is located in

Milnrow Milnrow is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Beal at the foothills of the South Pennines, and forms a continuous urban area with Rochdale. It is east of Rochdale town centre, ...

, a part of the

Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale The Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in England. Its largest town is Rochdale and the wider borough covers other outlying towns and villages, including Heywood, Greater Manchester, Heywood, Littleb ...

, England. The station sits on the site of Milnrow railway station, a

regional rail Regional rail is a public transport, public rail transport service that operates between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops than inter-city rail, and unlike commuter rail, operate beyond the limits of urban areas, connectin ...

station which opened on 2 November 1863 and closed on 3 October 2009 for conversion from

heavy rail Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas: Rapid transit A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid acceleratio ...

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

. It was along the

Oldham Loop Line The Oldham Loop Line was a suburban-line in Greater Manchester, England, used by trains that ran from Manchester Victoria to Rochdale via Oldham Mumps. Services on the line at the time of its closure were operated by Northern Rail. The line c ...

, which operated from Manchester to Rochdale via Oldham and thus was almost identical to the current Metrolink route.

History

At the time the station opened it was as part of a new line from Oldham Mumps to Rochdale East Junction, and created a Middleton Junction to Rochdale route. In 1880 a line was built from Oldham Werneth to Thorpes Bridge Junction near Newton Heath. Subsequently, the whole Thorpes Bridge Junction to Rochdale East Junction route became known as the

. The pattern of train services on the Oldham Loop Line involved a greater number of trains serving the Oldham stations, and less services continuing on to Milnrow and Rochdale. In the 1960s and 1970s fewer and fewer trains ran from Oldham Mumps to Rochdale, and in May 1972 the Secretary of State for Transport announced that this part of the Oldham Loop including Milnrow Station would be closed. The closure did not go ahead because what later became the

Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) was the Passenger transport executive, public body responsible for public transport in Greater Manchester between 1974 and 2011, when it became part of Transport for Greater Manchester. SE ...

(GMPTE) agreed to fund the continuation of services (though the line through the station was subsequently singled between Rochdale & Shaw). The involvement of the GMPTE also lead to a more frequent pattern of trains serving the Oldham Mumps to Rochdale section including Milnrow. The station closed on 3 October 2009 for the conversion of the line to Metrolink and re-opened as Milnrow tram stop on 28 February 2013. The route was re-doubled as part of the conversion work to allow a more frequent service to operate than before.

Services

Milnrow is located on the Oldham & Rochdale Line with trams towards

Manchester city centre Manchester city centre is the central business district of Manchester, England, within the confines of Great Ancoats Street, A6042 Trinity Way, and A57(M) Mancunian Way, which collectively form an inner ring road. The City Centre ward had a ...

and

Rochdale railway station Rochdale railway station is a multi-modal transport hub in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England. It consists of a Northern-operated heavy rail station on the Caldervale Line, and an adjoining light rail stop on Metrolink's Oldham and Rochd ...

. Services are mostly every 12 minutes on all routes.

Gallery

Image:Milnrow railway station in 1989.jpg, Milnrow railway station in 1989 Image:Milnrow_railway_station_-_Geograph_1519041_by_Dr_Neil_Clifton.jpg, October 2009 Image:Milnrow_railway_station_-_Geograph_1599739_by_Bryan_Tenny.jpg, Metrolink conversion November 2009

References

External links

Metrolink stop informationMilnrow area map
{{Greater Manchester Metrolink stations Tram stops in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale Former Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1863 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 2009 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 2013 Tram stops on the East Didsbury – Rochdale route Milnrow