Manchester Airport railway station is the railway station that serves Manchester Airport and is built into the airport's terminal buildings. The station was opened together with the second airport terminal in 1993.

The station is situated 9¾ miles (16 km) south of Manchester Piccadilly at the end of a short branch from Piccadilly to Wilmslow Line. It is accessed via a triangular junction located between Heald Green and Styal.

The station platforms are connected by escalator, elevator, ramps and an elevated covered walkway (known as the "Sky Link") to the airport terminal buildings in which a manned railway ticket office is situated. Throughout the airport complex, the railway station is known as "The Station" and is signposted as such.

In December 2008 a third rail platform opened after a year of construction and a total cost of £15 million. It will allow for extra rail capacity and increasing passenger demand. Arriva Trains Wales are planning to extend some of their Llandudno to Manchester Piccadilly services to here.

Services

Northern Rail and First TransPennine Express([179882]) are the two current franchise holders that serve Manchester Airport. They operate services between the airport and Crewe (for connections to Southern England); Manchester Piccadilly; various destinations throughout Northern England and, since December 2007, to Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley via Carlisle.

There is a frequent service from the airport to Manchester Piccadilly. Services also operate during the night to Manchester Piccadilly and beyond including York; Doncaster; Sheffield; Scotland and Blackpool North.

There are currently nine trains per hour to Manchester Piccadilly. There are no long distance services to the airport from the south; a service from Manchester Airport to Skegness via Derby previously operated but was cut back to Crewe due to poor passenger numbers.

were drawn up in the 1990s for a direct western rail link to the airport, achieved by linking the Chester to Hale line to the Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Airport line. However, these plans failed to materialise.

Future

It is planned to extend the Manchester Metrolink light rail network to Manchester Airport as part of Phase 3 of the Metrolink expansion project. Under current proposals, a branch of the Metrolink South Manchester line would connect the airport station via tram lines through Wythenshawe and Chorlton to Manchester City Centre. A new Metrolink station would be constructed immediately adjacent to the airport station.

Following a period of uncertainty due to funding problems, the plans were finally given the go-ahead in May 2009. The confirmed route will not complete the full airport loop as proposed, but trams will run along the northern route via Wythenshawe. Completion of the western side of the loop would be subject to further funding in a later project.

References

1. [1]
2. BBC NEWS | UK | Train services to be cut
3. http://www.cheshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/D035FEC9-BC3B-4150-BBCA-ED10AA3FE04F/0/airports.doc
4. - map of the proposed network expansion

External links

• First TransPennine Express Official web site