Fairfield railway station (Greater Manchester)

Fairfield
Location
Place	Droylsden
Local authority	Tameside
Grid reference	SJ904971
Operations
Station code	FRF
Managed by	Northern Rail
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	6,488
2005/06	7,945
2006/07	7,690
2007/08	6,998
2008/09	9,010
2009/10	10,832
2010/11	16,016
2011/12	21,234
2012/13	23,690
2013/14	22,498
2014/15	23,992
History
Key dates	Opened 1892 (1892)
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Fairfield from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Fairfield railway station serves the Fairfield area of Droylsden, Tameside, Greater Manchester and is 3.1 miles (5 km) east of Manchester Piccadilly station. It was opened by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway in 1892, when the branch to Chorlton-cum-Hardy opened, and replaced an earlier station that had opened with the line in 1841. The original station was east of the present station. For a suburban station Fairfield has very low passenger usage (see figures right).

The station has two platforms. At one stage it had six with two lines one on each side of the current railway track, with the current two platforms operated as island platforms. This configuration was unusual as nearby stations on the line were built with four lines - two for local trains and two for express services. Remnants of the closed platforms can still be seen. Before Beeching this station, known as Fairfield for Droylsden, was a junction with a pair of lines from the east breaking off and running to the south thereby facilitating a route to Longsight and south Manchester. By means of a switchback to Gorton & Openshaw this branch enabled the turning round of locomotives without need for a turntable in the area, which could have been invaluable for servicing both the Guide Bridge yards and the facilities of "Gorton Tank" and Beyer, Peacock loco factories.

The station was renamed from Fairfield for Droylsden to Fairfield on 6 May 1974.

Services

At Fairfield there is a half-hourly service to Manchester Piccadilly and towards Rose Hill Marple with no Sunday service.

Manchester-Glossop Line trains pass Fairfield stopping at Gorton and Guide Bridge instead.

External links

• Train times and station information for Fairfield railway station (Greater Manchester) from National Rail

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Guide Bridge		Northern Rail Hope Valley Line Mondays-Saturdays only		Gorton
				Manchester Piccadilly
	Disused railways
Guide Bridge Line and station open		Great Central Railway Fallowfield Loop		Hyde Road Line and station closed