Broadheath railway station was a station that served Broadheath

Broadheath, Greater Manchester

Broadheath is a suburb of Altrincham in Greater Manchester, England. It is historically part of the county of Cheshire and has a Warrington postcode.At Broadheath's height as an industrial area, the industries supported perhaps 12,000 employees...

 and the northern part of Altrincham

Altrincham

Altrincham is a market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on flat ground south of the River Mersey about southwest of Manchester city centre, south-southwest of Sale and east of Warrington...

 in Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 between its opening in 1853 and closure in 1962.

Station construction, opening and ownership

The station was built by the Warrington and Altrincham Junction Railway

Warrington and Altrincham Junction Railway

The Warrington and Altrincham Junction Railway railway was created by act of parliament on the July 3 1851 to build a line between Timperley Junction on the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway, to provide a through route to Manchester, and Warrington Arpley on the St Helens and...

, which changed its name to the Warrington and Stockport Railway (W&SR) shortly before the station was opened on 1 November 1853. Initially the name used was Altrincham W & S, but this was changed to Broadheath (Altrincham) in November 1856. The W&SR was incorporated in the London and North Western Railway

London and North Western Railway

The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...

 (LNWR) on 15 July 1867. The LNWR was merged into the London Midland and Scottish Railway on 1 January 1923.

Location and facilities

The station was situated on an embankment immediately to the west of the A56

A56 road

The A56 is a road in England which extends between the city of Chester in Cheshire and the village of Broughton in North Yorkshire. The road contains a mixture of single and dual carriageway sections, and traverses environments as diverse as the dense urban sprawl of inner city Manchester and the...

 Manchester Road, which the line crossed on an overbridge at the junction with Viaduct Road, and 100 yards (90 m) north of the A56 bridge over the Bridgewater Canal

Bridgewater Canal

The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester...

. The line had two sets of railway tracks, with platforms at each. The northern platform served trains to Manchester and the southern platform served trains to Lymm

Lymm

Lymm is a large village and civil parish within the Warrington borough of Cheshire, in North West England. Lymm was an urban district of Cheshire from 1894 to 1974. The civil parish of Lymm incorporates the hamlets of Booths Hill, Broomedge, Church Green, Deansgreen, Heatley, Heatley Heath, Little...

 and Warrington Arpley

Warrington Arpley railway station

Warrington Arpley railway station was a station located on the south side of Wilson Patten Street, Warrington, England at the junction of St Helens Railway and Warrington and Stockport Railway. It opened on the 1 May 1854; and it closed to passengers on 5 September 1958. Both railways were absorbed...

.

Completion of railway lines serving Broadheath station

The line from Warrington Arpley was opened to Broadheath on 1 November 1853. An extension from Broadheath to meet the Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway (MSJAR) was opened on 1 May 1854. Paliamentary approval was obtained by the W&S for an extension to Stockport, but financial problems meant that this was never completed. The Cheshire Lines Committee

Cheshire Lines Committee

The Cheshire Lines Committee was the second largest joint railway in Great Britain, with 143 route miles. Despite its name, approximately 55% of its system was in Lancashire. In its publicity material it was often styled as the Cheshire Lines Railway...

 completed their line from Stockport Tiviot Dale

Stockport Tiviot Dale railway station

Stockport Tiviot Dale was one of two main railway stations serving the town of Stockport, Cheshire, England, the other being Stockport Edgeley .-Location and operating companies:...

 to Skelton Junction

Skelton Junction

Skelton Junction is a complex of railway junctions to the south of Manchester in Timperley, near Altrincham. Both the Cheshire Lines Committee's Liverpool to Manchester line and the LNWR's Warrington and Altrincham Junction Railway fed into the junction from Liverpool in the west...

 on 1 December 1865 and a CLC extension to meet the LNWR line at Broadheath Junction was completed on 1 February 1866.

Train services from Broadheath station

From 1854 onwards, the LNWR operated local passenger trains from Liverpool Lime Street and Warrington Arpley, through Broadheath to Manchester. The 1922 railway timetable showed fifteen trains each weekday from Broadheath to Manchester London Road, where the trains terminated in the MSJAR platforms, having run along MSJAR rails from Broadheath Junction. The journey took between 25 and 33 minutes, depending on the number of intermediate stations served by the specific train. Trains to Liverpool Lime Street took ninety minutes with up to fifteen intermediate stops. Passenger services ceased on 10 September 1962.