To contact us email
info@davenportstation.org.uk
Timetable change
15 December 2024 sees the network-wide timetable coming
into force, applying to May 2025. On our line,
there appears to be no significant change on Monday to
Saturday, although it's best to check before travelling.
But Northern says: 'From Sunday, 22nd December, an
amended timetable will be in the North West due to
conductor availability. This timetable is designed to
provide more certainty about the services that will
run and reduce short-notice cancellations.'
Until further notice Sundays on our line will run to
a reduced service due to a shortage of
conductors. A temporary timetable has been
showing a 2-hourly service, except Middlewood.
Buxton-bound trains will not be stopping there at all
except the first and last trains. Following a
request from Friends of Davenport Station this has
been corrected, and all trains in the temporary
timetable will stop at Middlewood in both
directions.
Updated 23 February 2025
Still no accessbility
The Department of Transport has issued a list with 50
more stations which will be given step-free access.
Needless to say, Davenport and Woodsmoor are not
included. In the Transport for Manchester
section there are just three stations listed:
Newton for Hyde, Flowery Field, and Bredbury.
TfGM say "Accessibility improvements at Flowery
Field, Newton for Hyde and Bredbury are set for
completion in 2027, and Levenshulme in 2028. Plans
outlining step-free access at Davenport (Stockport),
Hall i’th Wood (Bolton), Moorside (Swinton) and
Woodsmoor (Stockport) are yet to be drawn out, but are
next in line once more funding is secured."
A national list issued in 2019 (Link
Here) listed 73 stations, including due to be
'completed by the end of March 2024.' The list
included a number which had been from a previous year,
deferred for the Lockdowns, presumably. How many have
now bedn completed, we don't know. Another list issued
in late 2024 contains a
further 50 which are 'selected for initial
feasibility work and if that is successful, will be
taken forward as part of the AfA programme'.
A list of nominated stations with status and what
happened, is
here. Some stations which were awarded
funding in 2014 and are still awaiting step-free
access.
23 February 2025
Hope Valley update
The temporary diversion (see below) was extended yet
again, this time to 22 September, which turned out to be
correct.
20 September 2024
Another ready for its flowers, 20 September.
ASLEF dispute settled
The drivers's union has reached an agreement with the
new Government, so there is no 'industrial action' in
England and Wales (except for LNER). However the
situation on our Area of Northern by which traincrews
can refuse to work on Sundays, so some cancellations are
likely.
29 August 2024
No 'Access for All'
The Govenment has finally managed to announce which
stations will be funded for ramps or lifts to enable
passengers to reach the platforms without negotiating
steps. Sadly, neither Davenport nor Woodsmoor has been
chosen, so we have to struggle, on unless Transport for
Greater Manchester can raise some money.
27 June 2024
Temporary diversion of Sheffield trains: still
applies unti 25 August.
See
also Network Rail's website
There is a blockage of the line due to a landslip
between New Mills Central and Strines, which is going to
last at least until the beginning of May. For this time
the stopping services along the Hope Valley to Sheffield
are being diverted to our line, calling at Stockport and
Hazel Grove and then Chinley and all stations to
Sheffield.
This will give us is a chance to reach the Hope Valley
without travelling via Manchester or walking between New
Mills Newtown and Central. The diverted trains are not
stopping at Davenport or Woodsmoor, but they are running
10 or 20 minutes ahead of the normal service, so
you can change trains there. All the Hope Valley
villages are worth a visit for a walk or just look at
the scenery. On Sundays the connections are not so good,
you'd need to make your own way to Hazel Grove.
There is a fare for a 'Not via Manchester' journey,
although it doesn't apply to Sheffield itself, just the
stations between. For example, a return ticket,
Davenport to Edale (or Hope) after 9am costs
£14.60. If you have a TfGM concession pass or
start from Hazel Grove it's £10.80. The 'Penny Pot Cafe'
adjacent to Edale station, open till 4pm daily.
Here is an example weekday or Friday journey:
Davenport depart 10:38, Hazel Grove arrive 10:43. Depart
11:01, Edale arrive 11:31
Edale depart 16:46, Hazel Grove arrive 17:10 depart
17:23, Davenport arrive 17:28.
Use Northern's website or app to check the above and
use other times.
NOTE: There is a change from 6 July to the train
service on the New Mills Central line. There will be no
trains to Strines or New Mills Central; the hourly bus
service will be extended to run between Marple and
Chinley. (Sundays there's a bus service
Manchester-Chinley). The Manchester - Stockport - Hazel
Grove - Chinley - Hope Valley stations to Sheffield
temporary service will continue as now until Sunday 25
August, assuming they have fixed the problem by then.
Updated 4 July 2024
Signalling update update
The new signals re now in operation. The existing
signals hve been altered to LED lights, and there are
new signals in both directions either sode of Woodsmoor
level crossing which will (hopefully) make train moves a
little smoother. Trains can now depart from Davenport
towards Hazel Grove even if the crossing barriers are
open to road traffic, as the crossing is 'protected' by
the new signal showing red. This should
increase the length of time the barriers are down. It
will be interesting to see whether this will be
noticeable in practice.
6 February 2024
Station improvements
Passengers will have noticed that the white walls around
the station walls have been given a new coat of paint,
and the junk in the compound under the booking office
cleared. We have our Northern station manager and
our Community Rail Manager for organising this
much-needed work. The Friends Group have added a
good quantity of daffoldil (and other) bulbs which
should be making their precence felt soon.
06 February 2024
Davenport station track and signalling update
Work on the track and signalling, with 'some' noise and
disruption will take place at Davenport Station on the
following dates:
Friday 19th January (11 pm) — Monday 22nd January (8am)
2024: railway line closure,
no trains on Saturday or
Sunday. Hourly
bus replacement. Note that the last bus
from Manchester is 'set down only' at stations beyond
Hazel Grove.
Saturday 1st June (11pm) - Sunday 2nd June (8am)
2024
This is part of the '
Hope
Valley Railway Upgrade' - it's not clear whether
it will improve our local services; the details of the
project seem to be a secret.
Updated 15 January 2023
Booking Offices saved
So - the project to close almost every ticket office in
England has been 'dropped' by the Government after about
750,000 people protesting about it in a
consultation exercise. The response letter sent by
our (Government owned) Northern Trains management
to the 'Transport Focus' watchdog listing all the
problems it would cause; you can
read
a copy here. It is clear that the Company were
very much against the idea, at least at this time.
However, this does not mean that small stations like
ours may not be targeted for closure if their income
declines. At present there is a serious issue
created by Northern's 'advance purchase' scheme which
offers cheaper tickets on local journeys, and can be
bought at our station even on the day of travel. At
present, these are available on-line or from the ticket
machine but not from the booking office, with the result
that staff are advising passengers against buying from
the office. This needs to be changed. Let's use
the office as much as possible!
22 November 2023
Access for All - but when?
As we reported in an item
below, in April
2022 a submission was been made by Transport for Greater
Manchester to the Government under the 'Access for All'
scheme to improve access at 18 stations, including
Davenport and Woodsmoor.
We were told that a decision would be made by 'Spring
2023', then it was delayed to 'Autumn 2023', and
still no decision as been made - it seems to have been
shelved. It's time to ask our MP to find out
what's happening. Perhaps they are busy with the
cancellation of HS2?
22 November 2023
Calling over 55s
A Northern ticket which gets little advertising is the
'Northern Explorer 55' which ofers anyone aged over 55
can roam all around the western side of the Company's
network, on any day, although only after 9.30 on
Mondays-Fridays, using Northern Trains only. (You need
to carry proof of age.) There's information and a map on
Northern's
website. Price is £17.50 - no railcard discounts.
22 November 2023
Improvements
Contractors for Network Rail will be installing new
track, new signals and other signalling equipment along
the railway line near to Davenport, Woodsmoor and Hazel
Grove stations. Work will take place throughout the day
and night from:
00:40 Saturday 9th September to 05:00 Monday 11th
September.
Rail Replacement buses will be available for late night
trains on Saturday. Sunday will have buses all day
between Stockport and Buxton, the Sunday bus
timetable
is here.
The
car park at Davenport, and part of the car
park at Hazel Grove, will be closed from 6th - 11th
September to deliver and store materials and
equpment needed for the work.
As this work is done, residents may hear noise from
heavy construction m
Machinery and running engines, train movements with
noise from engines and train horns, excavation and
drilling, and noise from dropping metal rails into place
on the track. You may also notice an increase in
lighting in the area.
Network Rail say "We'll be working hard with our
contractor to reduce noise as much as possible, but are
very sorry for any disruption that the work may cause.
Our team will always be mindful of the impact our work
may have on you and we have briefed our teams to work
considerately".
The work (as we understand it) involves changes to the
signalling to allow the Hope Valley non-stop trains to
travel faster along this section, by dividing the
section between Davenport and Hazel Grove into two. This
will increase the capacity of the line, because
only one train is allowed in a section. Installation of
a signal at Woodsmoor, and improvements in the working
of the Woodsmoor level crossing (which is controlled
from Edgeley Junction No.1 signalbox, will hopefully
reduce waiting times for pedestrians and vehicles.
The current arrangement was designed when it was
thought that there would not be a level crossing
there, but just a footbridge when the line was
electrified. However, local people took
exception to the 'monster' signalbox which was
erected, and after a long battle it was taken away and
replaced by the a leve' crossing, but the signalling
wasn't altered.
27 August 2023
Booking offices under threat
We reproduce below the letter sent by Northern Trains
to stakeholders, including Friends Group. The
Department of Transport, who now own Northern and some
other English passenger companies, have decided than
the railways are cost too much to run and, and closing
station booking offices would save money now that many
people have 'smart phones'. A public
consultation is under way, and everyone is invited to
send their comments to the Transport Focus
organisation at this email address:
http://transportfocus.org.uk/ticket-office-consultation
or by freepost at RTEH-XAGE-BYKZ, Transport Focus, PO
Box 5594, Southend-on-Sea, SS1 9PZ.
We at the Friends Group would also like to hear your
reaction to this: our email is
info@davenportstation.org.uk
A new approach to retail operations at Northern
Trains stations
Across all business sectors the way customers
consume, access and purchase products and services
is changing. Northern is no different and we need to
modernise our customer propositions to respond to
their changing needs. Northern is transforming how
it operates its stations to enable our colleagues to
be more empowered, visible and accessible when
needed the most.
Alongside other train companies, we are today
launching a public consultation on our proposals.
Northern currently manages 467 stations, of which
318 are unstaffed. Of the remaining 149 staffed
locations, Northern is proposing to close 131 ticket
offices and amend the operating hours at 18 ticket
offices.
It is Northern’s intention to close the 131 ticket
office locations in a phased approach over an
18-month period, following receipt of approval to
implement the changes. Upon such time that Northern
commences closure of ticket offices, we will
undertake regular reviews to assess the change
through customer and employee surveys. A copy of the
public consultation document accompanies this
letter, setting out full details of our proposals.
Customer purchasing behaviour
Our customers’ expectations for how they plan and
make their journeys has changed. For buying tickets,
digital is now the dominant channel in line with
other industries, driven by changes in consumer
demand towards ease and convenience. Only 1 in 6
journeys on Northern services are bought through a
ticket office, compared with almost half of all
journeys in 2018. This highlights that the customer
requirement for ticket offices as a retail channel
is rapidly diminishing, a trend that is expected to
continue.
To meet the opportunities of a developing railway
and the expectations of an evolving customer base,
and to ensure the most efficient use of public
money, we need to do things differently. The
low level of demand for the ticket office means that
the continued use ofprimarily ticket selling roles
is both financially inefficient and does not deliver
the optimumexperience for many of our customers.
As a result of these drivers the traditional behind
the glass ticket offices are not what are needed for
today’s railway, and we are proposing a new
approach. Instead, customers tell us that they want
our colleagues to be enabled to directly engage,
support and help in a whole variety of ways.
Therefore, Northern will be deploying knowledgeable,
visible and empowered colleagues to support
customers where needed most. We are calling these
colleagues Journey Makers.
It is our proposal that ticket offices at 131 of our
stations will close. 18 will remain open with
amended opening hours. The below sets out a summary
of Northern’s proposition on stations impacted by
our proposals:
• Station colleagues will be more visible around
the station to help customers with a wider range of
help and support.
• We operate 318 stations without ticket offices.
Our proposals mean that ticket offices at a further
131 stations will close. We will also reduce the
number of hours that Northern colleagues are present
at these stations. This will be kept under review
and may change in the future depending on customer
needs.
• Conductors will continue to be on every train who
already disembark at every station.
• All stations have at least one Ticket Vending
Machine
• Most of our tickets will be available from our
station machines and on apps and via the web.
• At a national level there are plans for Ticket
Vending Machines to sell additional ticket products
that are not currently available via machines, and
offer barcode ticket printing.
• For those who want to pay with cash or do not have
access to the internet or have a smart phone,
customers will be able to buy tickets at local
retail outlets. This will be rolled-out over 12
months to thousands of locations.
• We plan to introduce more Video Assist across
Ticket Vending Machines following a recent trial.
Customers can see and talk to one of our experts who
can help with buying the best ticket.
• Facilities such as CCTV, help points, waiting
areas and lifts will not be affected.
• All stations have LED lighting.
• 130 of the 131 of the locations at which we are
proposing to close ticket offices have CCTV and we
plan to put it in at the remaining one.
This change allows our colleagues to better use their
skills and knowledge and is the right way to make
every customer’s journey the best possible one. We
will now be commencing a period of consultation with
our colleagues and the public on this national
industry proposal.
There is a more detailed document which
can be downoaded here.
08 July 2023
'Action short of strike'
Northern Trains say: ' There is
action short of
strike planned for 3 - 8 July, which will affect
some services. 'We expect some services to start later
and finish earlier than usual, as well as short-notice
cancellations. Please check before you travel as
journeys may be altered or removed on the day of
travel.'
https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/
Access for
All - delayed
In April 2022 a submission was been made by Transport
for Greater Manchester to the Government under the
'Access for All' scheme to improve access at 18
stations, including Davenport and Woodsmoor. For
Davenport this would provide lifts between the street
and both platforms, requiring involve the removal of
the stairs by the booking office, and the excavation
of the area between the stairs and bridge on the other
side.
We were told that a decision would be made by 'Spring
2023', but this has now delayed to 'Autumn 2023'.
01 June 2023
Hope Valley upgrade
Network Rail have a project to improve the speed and
capacity of the Hope Valley line to Sheffield. Hazel
Grove, Woodsmoor and Davenport are now counted as
Hope Valley stations by Network Rail, and a small part
of the overall plan is to increase the speed limit for
trains between Hazel Grove and Stockport. which is
currently 40 mph between Hazel Grove and the curve
leading to the junction with the the Crewe line.
This would appear to be difficult to achieve even by an
express train, given the short distance before the
junctions, but they seem to think that saving a couple
of minutes is worth while. You'll notice gangs of
orange men working around the signals; higher speed
means that the signals have to be farther apart. It
seems they are also re-laying some of the track - we
haven't been given full information.
15 April 2023
Rover and Ranger tickets...
... are now available from the ticket machine as
well as the ticket office, including day passes
such as the Wayfarer and the Cheshire Day Ranger.
There is a full list with details on the
National
Rail website.
15 April 2023
Bridge work at Whaley
Between Saturday 18 and Monday 27 February 2023, Network
Rail are undertaking major work on the Grade 2 listed
bridge which carries the railway across Buxton Road at
Whaley Bridge. There will be no trains between Hazel
Grove and Buxton, with replacement buses except at
Whaley Bridge where the car park will be closed for use
by the engineers. The road under the bridge is
already closed.
Interestingly, Northern have agreed with the local bus
company for Whaley Bridge ticket holders to travel free
on some of the local bus services, which are diverting
via the by-pass, although they don't run on Sundays, and
the Stockport - Buxton 199 service is not included.
There is a free daily Shuttle Bus running between the
two ends of Whaley by a very long route.
It would seem that running trains beyond Hazel Grove to
Furness Vale, where there is a crossover, is no longer
considered. Full info:
On Saturday 28th
January all trains through Stockport will be replaced by
buses except a half-hourly shuttle from platform 3a to
and from Manchester. Trains will be running between
Hazel Grove and Buxton. Buses will call at the
stops by Cale Green Park gates or the one at Davenport
Park entrance. On Sunday there are no trains at all at
Stockport, every line will be 'bustituted' but Hazel
Grove - Buxton trains will operate. Check with
Northern's website for times and details and possible
changes. 1st and 3rd February are strike days - no
Northern trains
will run. 2nd
and 4th may be affected as well.
A timetable for 28-29 January
can
be found here. There are some very long waits
between trains and buses - half an hour at Stockport
between terminating trains from Manchester to bus
departures on Saturday.
25 January 2023
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