Partnership and Campaigning

Friends of Marple Station exists to improve and promote our local station. To do this, we improve the station physically, market the station and services and lobby for improvements where we feel this is justified by the facts. We do all this in partnership with Northern Rail, Transport for Greater Manchester, Stockport Council, Goyt Valley Rail Users, ACoRP and our elected representatives (both Councillors and MP). Occasionally we may be critical, but always in a constructive way. In our short existence we have lobbied on waiting rooms, services(including peak, weekend and evening), trains, the need for a coffee shop, making the crossing of Brabyns Brow safe and better car parking.

What do we want? - new waiting room ... when do we want it? Now!

One of the main reasons our group was formed was to improve conditions for people waiting in the dank, leaky, unappetising concrete bunker (waiting room). We have brightened it up, but the only real, sustainable solution that will attract and retain rail passengers is a replacement that provides a decent level of comfort. And we don't mean the mean, bus shelter-type waiting rooms that the railways seem to specialise in. We mean weatherproof, warm, used by and integrated into the community. And is a cup of coffee and a pastry too much to ask?
​We have secured grants to allow consultants to come up with a plan. They will be beavering away in summer 2017 to come up with a solution. Contact us if you have any ideas.

Key conclusions from 2016 passenger counts at Marple and Rose Hill

·         Train services from the Marple area are well used;
·         Most trips are towards Manchester, with only 3% in the Sheffield direction;
·         There is a high level of peak commuting, but also significant off peak use;
·         The number of inbound trips to Marple is low;
·         Two-thirds of journeys are from Marple with the remainder from Rose Hill.
·         The number of people taking cycles on trains is low; and
·         On the survey day 92% of trains were less than 5 minutes late but only 40% were on time;
Compared to the 2015 survey, overall usage has increased slightly but with some shift from Marple to Rose Hill and towards travelling earlier in the day. The punctuality of trains from Sheffield was worse than in 2015.
The results indicate that we need a fast train from Marple to Manchester shortly before 08.00 and that there is demand for a better evening service. More passengers towards Sheffield could be attracted by a better service and promotion.

Sunday trains

Marple is finally due to get a decent Sunday train service (two trains per hour) from December 2018. However while this is a massive improvement, the service will start later and end earlier than we think is necessary, and Rose Hill will still have no Sunday trains at all despite the clear demand from local people and the potential for tourism along the Middlewood Way.

Passenger survey and passenger counts

To find out how many people use Marple Station and get an accurate picture of what services and facilities you want we counted passengers in November 2015 and 2016 ran a passenger survey. Results of the 2016 survey here.

There will be changes to trains and services over the next few years, and maybe money to improve the station. We will try to influence these changes.

New waiting room

One of the biggest complaints is the poor waiting areas for what is a very busy station. We have put together the case for a new or at least seriously upgraded waiting room and have lobbied our local MP and TfGM.
In Jan 17 we were awarded a grant to investigate the feasibility of a new waiting room and community hub! This is a very exciting development. What would you like to see? An art gallery, coffee shop, meeting space or just a dry, warm, welcoming waiting room? Come and help us to develop our ideas...

The Annual Leak returns - time for action

There are a lot of annual celebrations - Christmas, Bonfire Night, etc. Who can forget the annual birthday celebrations for the road works on Strines Road as Cheshire East Council pretended they could ignore it. Increasingly we celebrate the failure to carry out basic tasks or pretend something will last when it wont. At Marple we know all is right with the world when we see the puddle on the floor of the waiting room and we know the annual leak has returned. We will complain, and a few months later Northern will send some to fix it. But it always returns.

​It is time that we had a proper waiting room with a new pitched roof, or even a comfy modern waiting room suitable for a busy station in a wet area. We will continue to campaign on your behalf​

Co-operation with Rose Hill

We know that many people use Marple and Rose Hill stations interchangeably, particularly due to the poor evening and lack of Sunday service at Rose Hill. We talk to Friends of Rose Hill about all our activities and co-ordinate our campaigning where this makes sense. A joint photo competition is running Jan-July 2017

Some campaigning photos

The new Marple waiting room could look like this ... and we could win more awards like this ...