Sandbach railway station

Sandbach railway station opened in 1842 on the Manchester and Birmingham Railway. It later became a double junction on the LNWR and later London Midland and Scottish Railway line from to Manchester. For many years, Sandbach was a junction for the single line branch to and ; it opened on 1 July 1868, and closed for passenger service in January 1960, but it still carries freight on a daily basis. Earlier, the North Staffordshire Railway branch from to Sandbach, via Lawton Junction, ceased passenger service in July 1930 and closed to freight traffic in 1964. In 1998, the station underwent a £750,000 refurbishment by North Western Trains. ==Facilities==

The station has a ticket office on platform 1; this is staffed part-time on Mondays to Saturdays only (Monday - Friday 06:30 - 13:00, Saturday 07:20 - 13:50). Outside these times, tickets must be purchased prior to travel, on-line or on board the train. A waiting room on platform 1 is open at the times the station is staffed, whilst there are shelters on both sides. Train running details are offered via timetable posters, digital CIS displays and by telephone. No step-free access is available, as the footbridge to platforms 2 and 3 does not have ramps and the Crewe platform has steps from the car park. The station has three platforms: • Platform 1 for southbound trains to Crewe. • Platform 2 for northbound services to Manchester Piccadilly • Platform 3 is bidirectional, which used on weekday mornings and as required. ==Services==

During the daytime on Mondays to Saturdays, there are two trains per hour in each direction between and : • One via , calling at all intermediate stations • One along the Styal line via , omitting some stops. On evenings and Sundays, there is an hourly service in each direction between Crewe and Manchester Piccadilly, via Stockport. All stopping services are operated by Northern Trains. ==References==