Place Withington Present status In operation | Grid reference SJ840924 Opened 23 May 2013 Platforms in use 2 | |
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Address Manchester M20 1LP, United Kingdom Similar Benchill tram stop, Newhey Metrolink station, Besses o' th' Barn tram stop, Martinscroft tram stop, Firswood tram stop | ||
Burton Road is a stop on the South Manchester Line (SML) of Greater Manchester's light rail Metrolink system, on Burton Road, Withington, Manchester, England. The stop was built as part of Phase 3b of the network's expansion, and opened on 23 May 2013 on a section of the former Midland Railway. It is the closest stop to nearby Withington Community Hospital.
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Service pattern
History
In 1880 the Midland Railway opened the new Manchester South District line which ran from Heaton Mersey to Throstle Nest Junction, Old Trafford. The line north of Chorlton Junction (with the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway's line to Fallowfield) was later operated by the Cheshire Lines Committee from 1891 when the Fallowfield line opened. Under British Rail operation, the line closed in 1967 as part of the Beeching Axe.
Plans to re-open the line for light rail use have been proposed since the early 1980s, but these proposals failed several times due to problems securing funding. Revised plans put forward in 2006 only allowed for the line to be opened as far as St Werburgh's Road in Chorlton.
In 2009, following the failure of the Greater Manchester Transport Innovation Fund, revised transport funding was announced by the Government which would facilitate a major expansion of the Metrolink network, including the re-opening of the former Midland line and stations as far as East Didsbury.