Hale railway station serves the area of Hale in the south of Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England; it is also used by people living in the surrounding areas of Bowdon and Hale Barns. It is a stop on the Mid-Cheshire line between Chester and Manchester Piccadilly. The station is located on Ashley Road.

Hale
National Rail
Hale railway station undergoing maintenance in April 2023
General information
LocationHale, Trafford
England
Grid referenceSJ769869
Managed byNorthern Trains
Transit authorityGreater Manchester
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeHAL
ClassificationDfT category E
History
Opened1862
Passengers
2018/19Decrease 0.144 million
2019/20Decrease 0.141 million
2020/21Decrease 29,880
2021/22Increase 85,142
2022/23Increase 95,054
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

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Hale railway station in 1988, looking north from the level crossing; the signal box is on the left

The station was opened as Peel Causeway by the Cheshire Midland Railway (CMR) on 12 May 1862, when the railway opened from Altrincham to Knutsford. The CMR was amalgamated into the Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) on 15 August 1867. The station became Peel Causeway for Hale on 1 January 1899 and it was renamed Hale on 1 January 1902.

The station was served by passenger trains from Manchester Central to Northwich and Chester Northgate. The CLC remained an independent entity, as a joint London, Midland & Scottish Railway and London & North Eastern Railway operation after the Grouping of 1923, until the creation of British Railways (BR). The station then passed on to the London Midland Region of British Railways on nationalisation on 1 January 1948. When sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s, the station was managed by Regional Railways under arrangement with the Greater Manchester PTE until the privatisation of British Rail.

Facilities

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The station has a ticket office on platform 1, which is open on weekday mornings. A ticket vending machine is in place for purchase of tickets outside of these hours and for the collection of pre-paid tickets. Digital station information boards are in operation on both platforms, along with station announcements. Car parking is available on either side of the level crossing.[1]

A veterinary surgery now occupies most of the station building on platform 1, while there is a health clinic in the platform 2 building. The signal box is no longer in use.[citation needed]

Services

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A Northern Rail diesel multiple unit at Hale railway station in 2010

There is generally an hourly service in each direction on the Mid-Cheshire line on Mondays to Saturdays, with two peak extras to/from Stockport.

On Sundays, services are two-hourly in each direction.[2]

Preceding station     National Rail   Following station
Northern Trains

References and sources

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  1. ^ "Hale (Manchester) station facilities". National Rail. 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  2. ^ "Timetables and engineering information for travel with Northern". Northern Railway. 10 December 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2024.

Griffiths, R.Prys (1978). The Cheshire Lines Railway. The Oakwood Press.

Further reading

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edit
Preceding station   National Rail Following station
Ashley   Northern Trains
(Mid-Cheshire Line)
  Altrincham

53°22′44″N 2°20′51″W / 53.37889°N 2.34750°W / 53.37889; -2.34750