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West Didsbury
Metrolink station
General information
Location	Didsbury, Manchester England
Coordinates	53°25′28″N 2°14′10″W / 53.42441°N 2.23602°W / 53.42441; -2.23602
Grid reference	SJ842921
Line(s)	South Manchester Line
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	In operation
Fare zone	3
History
Original company	South District Railway
Pre-grouping	Midland Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway British Rail (London Midland Region)
Key dates
1 January 1880	Opened as Withington
1 July 1884	Renamed Withington and Albert Park
1 April 1915	Renamed Withington and West Didsbury
3 July 1961	Closed
23 May 2013	Reopened and renamed West Didsbury
Services
Preceding station Manchester Metrolink Following station Didsbury Villagetowards East Didsbury East Didsbury–Rochdale Burton Roadtowards Rochdale Town Centre East Didsbury–Shaw (peak only) Burton Roadtowards Shaw and Crompton Disused railways Chorlton-cum-Hardy Line closed, station open   Midland Railway South District Railway   Didsbury Line and station closed
Route map Legend to Trafford Bar to Old Trafford 0:12 Firswood 0:10 Chorlton 0:09 St Werburgh's Road to Manchester Airport 0:07 Withington 0:05 Burton Road 0:04 West Didsbury 0:02 Didsbury Village Styal Line 0:00 East Didsbury ( East Didsbury) This diagram: view talk edit
Location

West Didsbury is a tram stop on the South Manchester Line (SML) of Greater Manchester's light-rail Metrolink system. It opened to passengers on 23 May 2013, in West Didsbury, South Manchester, England.

The Metrolink stop sits some 300m south east of the former heavy rail station of the Midland Railway, which opened 1 January 1880 as Withington; was renamed on 1 July 1884 to Withington and Albert Park; renamed again on 1 April 1915 to Withington and West Didsbury; and closed 3 July 1961. The route was earmarked for redevelopment with a light rail system during the 1980s, and was confirmed and funded as part of Metrolink's Phase 3b of expansion in 2006.

Service pattern

• 12 minute service to Shaw and Crompton, with double trams at peak times;
• 12 minute service to Rochdale Town Centre, with double trams at peak times;
• 6 minute service to East Didsbury, with double trams at peak times.

History

Railway station

Withington and West Didsbury railway station opened in 1880 as "Withington" when the Midland Railway opened its new Manchester South District Line out of Manchester Central Station. The station was renamed "Withington & Albert Park" in 1884 and then "Withington & West Didsbury" in 1915.

The station closed in July 1961, although local services to other stations on the Manchester South District line continued to pass through until January 1967, and express trains continued to use this route until 1969, when the entre line was closed as part of the Beeching cuts. By the 2000s, the original cobbled station approach road and wall were still visible off Lapwing Lane, and the remains of the station platforms could still be seen at the bottom of the overgrown embankment.

Metrolink stop

In 1984, Greater Manchester Council and GMPTE announced the Project Light Rail scheme to develop a new light rail/tram system by re-opening use of disused railway lines in the region, including the route through West Didsbury. The first phase of the Manchester Metrolink system opened in 1992, but it was not until 2013 that the network was expanded to reach as far as East Didsbury, as part of Phase 3b of the Metrolink expansion project. Tram tracks were laid along the former trackbed and a new tram stop was constructed in the railway cutting on the opposite side of Palatine Road from the original railway station. The West Didsbury Metrolink stop opened on 23 May 2013.

• Midland Railway lines out of Manchester, showing the Manchester South District line
• 1911 OS map of West Didsbury, showing the old railway station to the north of the present tram stop
• The disused railway line (pictured in 2008)
• The disused railway line (pictured in 2011)
• Construction of the new West Didsbury Metrolink strop in 2011
• Map of Didsbury showing the locations of the old station and the tram stop

See also

• Sheffield and Midland Railway Companies' Committee
• Midland Railway
• Didsbury railway station

References

1. ^ "Early doors for East Didsbury's new Metrolink line". Transport for Greater Manchester. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
2. "First passengers travel on tram extension to East Didsbury". Manchester Evening News. 23 May 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
3. "Tram line extension is approved". BBC News. 13 May 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
4. "Metrolink: back on track?". BBC Manchester. 13 May 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
5. Sussex, Gay; Helm, Peter (1988). Looking Back at Withington and Didsbury. Timperley: Willow Publishing. p. 22. ISBN 0-946361-25-8.
6. ^ "Withington and West Didsbury". Disused Stations: Closed Railway Stations in the UK. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
7. Ogden, Eric; Senior, John (1991). Metrolink: Official Handbook. Glossop, Derbyshire: Transport Publishing Company. pp. 26–27. ISBN 0-86317-164-8.
8. "Metrolink - South Manchester line". Transport for Greater Manchester. Retrieved 19 May 2013.

External links

• "Withington & West Didsbury Station (1880-1961)". Disused Stations. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
• "Map of West Didsbury Metrolink Stop" (PDF). GMPTE. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
• Metrolink stop information
• West Didsbury area map

v t e Manchester Metrolink
Tram stops	Zone 1 Cornbrook Deansgate-Castlefield ( Deansgate) Exchange Square Market Street New Islington Piccadilly Piccadilly Gardens Shudehill St Peter's Square Airport Line (2014) Baguley Barlow Moor Road Benchill Crossacres Manchester Airport Martinscroft Moor Road Northern Moor Peel Hall Robinswood Road Roundthorn Sale Water Park Shadowmoss Wythenshawe Town Centre Wythenshawe Park Altrincham Line (1992) Altrincham Brooklands Cornbrook Dane Road Navigation Road Old Trafford Sale Stretford Timperley Trafford Bar Bury Line (1992) Abraham Moss Besses o' th' Barn Bowker Vale Bury ( Bolton Street) Crumpsall Heaton Park ( Heaton Park Tramway) Prestwich Queens Road Radcliffe Victoria Whitefield East Manchester Line (2013) Ashton Moss Ashton-under-Lyne Ashton West Audenshaw Cemetery Road Clayton Hall Droylsden Edge Lane Etihad Campus Holt Town New Islington Velopark Eccles Line (1999-00) Anchorage Broadway Eccles Exchange Quay Harbour City Ladywell Langworthy MediaCityUK Pomona Salford Quays Weaste First City Crossing (1992) Deansgate-Castlefield ( Deansgate) Market Street Shudehill St Peter's Square Oldham & Rochdale Line (2012-14) Central Park Derker Failsworth Freehold Hollinwood Kingsway Business Park Milnrow Monsall Newbold Newhey Newton Heath and Moston Oldham Central Oldham King Street Oldham Mumps Rochdale Railway Station Rochdale Town Centre Shaw and Crompton South Chadderton Westwood Piccadilly Spur (1992) Piccadilly Piccadilly Gardens Second City Crossing (2015-17) Exchange Square South Manchester Line (2011-13) Burton Road Chorlton Didsbury Village East Didsbury Firswood St Werburgh's Road West Didsbury Withington Trafford Park Line (2020) Barton Dock Road Imperial War Museum Parkway The Trafford Centre Village Wharfside
Operations	Operators Amey Keolis Transport for Greater Manchester Vehicles Current: M5000 Former: (T-68 T-68A)
History (Timeline)	Former operators GMML Altram (Ansaldo Transporti, Serco, Laing, 3i) RATP Group Stagecoach Group Transferred lines Altrincham Line Bury Line Oldham Loop Line Closed stops High Street Mosley Street Woodlands Road Abandoned plans Drake Street Glossop line Hardy Farm Haveley Hope Valley line Hough End Oldham Werneth Picc-Vic tunnel Woodhouse Park
Proposed developments	Bury Line Elton Reservoir Sandhills Oldham & Rochdale Line Cop Road Stockport Line Gorsey Bank Heaton Mersey Kings Reach Stockport Interchange Trafford Park Line Port Salford Salford Reds Trafford Quays Wythenshawe Loop Davenport Green Manchester Airport High Speed (HS2) Newall Green Terminal 2 Wythenshawe Hospital
Transport for Greater Manchester UK light rail systems

• Withington
• Didsbury
• Tram stops in Manchester
• Former Midland Railway stations
• Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1880
• Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1961
• Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 2013
• Manchester South District Line
• Tram stops on the East Didsbury – Shaw route
• Tram stops on the East Didsbury – Rochdale route