Navigation Road is a station that serves both

Northern Trains Northern Trains, Trade name, trading as Northern, is a British train operating company that operates Commuter rail, commuter and Inter-city rail, medium-distance intercity services in the North of England. It is owned by DfT Operator for the Dep ...

and

Manchester Metrolink Manchester Metrolink is a tram/light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. The network has List of Manchester Metrolink tram stops, 99 stops along of standard-gauge route, making it the Transport in the United Kingdom#Trams and light ra ...

trams located in the east of

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

, in

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. ...

, England. It consists of a Northern Trains-operated bidirectional

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 ...

platform on the Mid-Cheshire Line opposite a bidirectional

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 ...

platform on the Altrincham Line of Greater Manchester's Metrolink network. The original heavy rail station was opened by the

Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway The Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway (MSJ&AR) was a suburban railway which operated an route between Altrincham in Cheshire and Manchester London Road railway station (now Manchester Piccadilly station, Piccadilly) in Manches ...

in 1931 as a pair of single-face platforms, and in 1992 one was given over to the Metrolink network. A

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line or the road etc. crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, o ...

operates at the southern end of the station.

History

The station originally opened on 20 July 1931 on the

(MSJAR) following the electrification of that line, and was referred to as ''Navigation Road (Altrincham)'' on early tickets, timetables, etc.

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

electric trains between Manchester and Altrincham ceased serving the station on 24 December 1991. The former Altrincham-bound (down) platform has since been used for Mid-Cheshire Line trains and the former Manchester-bound (up) platform reopened as a Metrolink stop on 15 June 1992. Freight trains also operate through Navigation Road, including heavy block trains carrying limestone from quarries at Tunstead (near Buxton) to alkali works at Northwich.

Facilities

There is a car park on the Metrolink side of the station with 65 spaces plus 5 disabled spaces. In January 2018 a ticket machine was installed within the shelter on the heavy rail side of the station. Pre-ordered tickets can be collected here as well as buying tickets for journeys from this station. The nearest hospitality venues to the Navigation Road stop are The Waiting Room Cafe at A4 studios and The Hive by VH Interiors a General Store & Beverage Bar, both located on Grosvenor Road on the way into Altrincham.

Services

Rail

Navigation Road is served by an hourly train service between

Manchester Piccadilly Manchester Piccadilly is the main railway station of the city of Manchester, in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, England. Opened originally as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchest ...

and

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

via

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

and

Northwich Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane, east of Chester, south of Warrington and south of Ma ...

, which is run by

, with additional trains at peak times. The Sunday service originally ran only between Chester and Altrincham thus not serving Navigation Road, with passengers connecting onto the Metrolink at Altrincham for stations to Manchester, however a 2-hourly Sunday service to Manchester and beyond is now in place.

Metrolink

Navigation Road is located on the Altrincham Line with trams towards Altrincham stopping every 6 minutes during the day Monday to Saturday and every 12 minutes Monday to Saturday evenings and on Sundays. In the opposite direction, trams head towards Piccadilly and Bury, with the Monday to Saturday daytime service running every 12 minutes to both Piccadilly and Bury. Evening and Sunday journeys run to Piccadilly only. As of January 2019, Navigation Road is located in Metrolink fare zone 4.

Service pattern

*10 trams per hour to Altrincham (5 off-peak) *5 trams per hour to Bury (peak only) *5 trams per hour to Piccadilly.

Bus

Navigation Road station is served by Diamond Bus routes 285, which runs anti-clockwise, and 286, which runs clockwise, both running every hour. These routes run between Altrincham Interchange and Timperley, as a circular service.

References

External links

National Rail Enquiries - Station Facilities for Navigation Road

Metrolink Times Information and Stop Information

Navigation Road Metrolink area map

Picture of Navigation Road station The Trams.co.uk

Mid-Cheshire Community Rail Partnership
{{Buildings and structures in Trafford Borough Railway stations in Trafford DfT Category F2 stations Tram stops in Trafford Former Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1931 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1991 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1992 Railway stations served by Northern Tram stops on the Altrincham – Bury route Tram stops on the Altrincham – Piccadilly/Etihad Campus route