Sunday trains at Marple and Rose Hill - why is nothing happening?
December 2024 update. The growth of the central Manchester leisure economy means that Sunday is now one of the busiest days of the week, and the Christmas markets mean that the city centre is often packed on Sundays. But the earliest train only gets into Piccadilly at 10.32 which is far too late for many, including workers and people travelling further than Manchester. Frequent cancellations in the run up to Christmas 2024 caused frustration for passengers. There are still no Sunday service at all at Rose Hill. This is disgraceful.
When Northern was run as a franchise there was a contract commitment to run two Sunday trains per hour from Marple. This is the minimum necessary before people see it as something they can use and trust. And it needs to run at times that are convenient to potential passengers, not times that are convenient for the operator. We see the ideal intermediate solution as one Sunday train per hour from both Rose Hill and Marple. If these were evenly spaced it would give much of Marple (and Romiley) an effective two trains per hour service.
A modern society needs a proper service on Sundays and in the evenings. We will continue to campaign on behalf of users to put these problems right.
When Northern was run as a franchise there was a contract commitment to run two Sunday trains per hour from Marple. This is the minimum necessary before people see it as something they can use and trust. And it needs to run at times that are convenient to potential passengers, not times that are convenient for the operator. We see the ideal intermediate solution as one Sunday train per hour from both Rose Hill and Marple. If these were evenly spaced it would give much of Marple (and Romiley) an effective two trains per hour service.
A modern society needs a proper service on Sundays and in the evenings. We will continue to campaign on behalf of users to put these problems right.
