Plans submitted for new Greater Manchester railway station

The village of Cheadle in Greater Manchester has taken a step closer to being served by its own railway station for the first time since the 1960s after a full planning application was submitted to Stockport Council.The old Cheadle North station closed in 1964 amid the Beeching cuts and has since become a pub. Plans for the new station at Cheadle have been bubbling away for a couple of years following the application to the government’s £3.6bn Towns Fund in 2020. The village received £14M for three projects; an eco business park, a walking and cycling network and the new station, which accounts for £9M of the grant.This mission was then carried forward by Cheadle’s Towns Fund Board, a collection of leaders from the private sector, public and local community. The Board carried out extensive consultations with the public, businesses and industry partners and submitted the business case for the station to the government in March. In its case, the Board stated that the new station will connect Cheadle to the regional transport network and transform access to Stockport town centre.Early development of the station has been carried out with Pell Frischmann. It will have a single 100m-long platform with covered waiting space, departure boards and ticket machines. There will also be covered parking for cycles, electric vehicle charge points and it will be accessible for disabled travellers. It will be on the Chester to Manchester line.The decision on whether to grant planning permission will be made shortly by Stockport Council planning committee and the highways committee, and with strong public and political support behind it, it is expected to get the green light.