Partnership and Campaigning
We exist to improve and promote our local station. We improve the station physically, market the station and services and lobby for improvements where this is justified, 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 are critical, but always in a constructive way. 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. We carry out an annual November passenger count.

Half a million passengers a year need a waiting room fit for the 21st century. Apart from the new waiting room: 
  1. Marple should have the half-hourly Sunday service promised for 2017. And earlier Sunday trains too.
  2. Monday to Saturday services should be half-hourly throughout the day, with a later last service.
  3. The last evening train leaves Piccadilly at 21.21 for Rose Hill - far too early.
  4. Rose Hill needs a Sunday service - this isn't the 1970s!
We also carry out a regular 'State of the Station' survey. contact us for details, to make a suggestion or to help.

Marple and Rose Hill passenger count Nov 2024

Key conclusions from the 2024 survey include:
  • 1. The re-timing of trains at Rose Hill seems to have resulted in the loss of the school trips to Marple Hall, but with no corresponding increase in other traffic. If anything this has fallen slightly since 2022. It is doubtful if ridership will recover unless the full half hourly service is restored.
    2. Passenger numbers at Marple grew between 2022 and 2023, but growth now seems to have stalled. This may partly reflect recent reliability problems (including on the survey day) and the after effects of the service disruption caused by the landslip at Hague Bar.
    3. At Marple, less capacity is being provided than in recent years, with a much higher proportion of older trains, which at up to 40 years old are well beyond their 28 year design life.
    4. If more passengers are to be encouraged, Marple needs a more reliable service and more and better Sunday trains. Rose Hill needs reinstatement of its full half hourly service, and preferably extended to late evenings and Sundays. At both stations, the life expired Class 150/156 units need to be replaced with new trains.

The full report is available here.

Nov 2018 passenger count - click here

Key conclusions from the survey include:
·         Train services from the Marple area are well used;
·         Most trips are in the Manchester direction, 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, on weekdays, seems to be relatively low, with the main flow being trips to Marple Hall High School and Marple College;
·         64% of journeys counted on the survey days were from Marple with the remainder from Rose Hill;
·         The number of people taking cycles on trains is low; and
·         On the survey day 88% of trains were less than 5 minutes late but less than 40% were on time.
Overall usage on the survey days has increased by 8% since 2015, with Rose Hill growing more rapidly than Marple.  Punctuality has not improved compared to previous years.
The results indicate that more people are returning later from Manchester than in previous years, perhaps because of the better evening service. However Rose Hill still suffers from a very early finish, with the last departure from Manchester at 21.09. The improved Sheffield service seems to have had little impact so far, perhaps due to the wider problems Northern has been experiencing

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 cake too much to ask?
​We have completed one study and secured grants to allow consultants to refine these plans. They will be beavering away in summer 2019. Contact us if you have any ideas.

Sunday trains

Marple has had an hourly Sunday train service for a couple of years now. But the service starts later and ends earlier than passengers need - the first train from Marple is often full and standing. And Rose Hill still has 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 (and Rose Hill) Stations and get an accurate picture of what services and facilities we count passengers annually and carry out occasional surveys.
We use this information to try to influence service changes and station improvements.

New waiting room - update!

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.
Following a long break for the pandemic, in 2023 we have arranged a series of meetings with Network Rail, Northern and Transport for Greater Manchester to move the project forward.

Marple Station Community Hub. Community engagement report click here

New waiting room needed now!

​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​.
​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...

Co-operation with Rose Hill (and Romiley)

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. We have run a joint photo competition, and also created a joint poster to celebrate local renewable energy at Stockport Hydro (hydro-electric generating station on the River Goyt).

Some campaigning photos

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