Start teased for Cheadle station

Beginning work in the next year on the long-awaited project is among the aspirations set out in a draft 16-year transport strategy document for Stockport.

Stockport councillors will next week be asked to sign off progress towards consultation of the “Draft Stockport Transport Strategy 2026- 2042” plan.

The document has been informed by and is intended to work in tandem with Stockport’s local plan, on which the ball was set rolling last autumn, as the local authority looks to set out frameworks for its future growth.

Introducing the document to members, officers said that while there is no specific requirement to progress its own transport plan, the feeling is that the borough will be better served by a Stockport-specific plan, rather than sitting within the Greater Manchester-wide transport strategy.

Funding was approved for the Cheadle station, on the Mid-Cheshire Line, in 2022, and planning permission given a year later.

The document sets out how the council hopes for work to start in the next year, also spelling out the aspirations for three further new stations. One could be at Stanley Green, which would support housing growth ambitions around Heald Green, one at High Lane, and one at Adswood – although this would be dependent on tram-trains becoming a reality in GM.

Aspirations are mapped out for Stockport station itself, with the wish-list including a new main eastern concourse, a new entrance on the western (Edgeley) side, a new footbridge and refurbished platform buildings.

Improvements on access are required across a number of stations, said the report, with the next two Stockport stations in line for improvements in GM’s drive towards step-free access being at Woodsmoor and Davenport, where detailed design work is taking place.

One of the issues the council’s team is looking to address is that of connectivity into Stockport town centre itself. Of 19 railway stations across the borough, only seven offer direct links into the town’s mainline railway station, while services from all but one can take passengers directly into Manchester Piccadilly with regular services.

Of longer-term thinking, much is of course dependent on various factors, such as the progress of a Pathfinder project into tram-trains that could support rapid transit between the town centre and under-served areas.

Stockport’s communities & transport scrutiny committee will consider the draft plan at its meeting on Monday 8 June.