Notes: Chinley’s 2nd Station opened on the 1st June 1902 and was situated on the Midland Railway’s (MR) main line route from Manchester Central to Ambergate and the associated line to Sheffield which had opened in 1894 and which joined the Ambergate line a mile to the east of Chinley.

The line through Chinley had opened in 1867 and the village had been provided with a station which was located a little further to the east than the 1902 station. By the last years of the 19th Century the line through Chinley was carrying so much traffic that congestion was becoming a problem. In addition the MR had gained an act to build a new direct line from New Mills, a few miles west of Chinley, to Heaton Mersey. This new line would speed up main line services thereby making them more competitive against the MRs rivals.

In order to improve the situation at Chinley the MR obtained a further act in 1900 called the Chinley and New Mills Widening Act. The act gave the MR authority to put in an extra two tracks between Chinley North Junction, which was a mile to the east of the station site, to New Mills. To do this the MR would have to either alter the original station or build a new

On the 20th September 1900 the MR board agreed a design for the new Chinley Station and a contract was awarded to Messrs Wickenson & Hardy for its construction.

Whilst work progressed on the widening of the main line and the building of the new station the original Chinley Station remained open. By May 1902 the station was mostly complete and it opened to passenger services on the 1st June. The original station closed on the same day.

Chinley’s second station was provided with five through platform faces four of which were situated on two island platforms. From north to south the island platform faces were numbered 2, 4, 5 and 6. The other platform face, numbered platform 1, was located on the northernmost platform which had a cutting bank behind it. On the northernmost island platform at its eastern end a bay platform was provided for the use of local services, it was numbered as platform 3.  

Platform 1 was provided with a single storey waiting room built out of stone. The northernmost island platform had the main station facilities including the booking office which were housed in a two storey building the first floor of which was stone and the second was timber. The building was provided with extensive canopies. Because the station was to become

The southern platform was provided with a single storey timber built building also with canopies. The platforms were all linked together by a covered step bridge that also provided the main way into the station as it continued beyond the platforms to the southern side of the line.

Extensive goods facilities were also provided at the new station which included numerous sidings, a new goods shed, a weighbridge and cattle pens. A turntable was also built on the site of the original station after it had been demolished. On the north side of the line at the east end of the station a signal box controlled the traffic at the station. It was called Chinley Station

Local stopping services also operated from the bay platform number 3 to Sheffield, Derby and Buxton. In 1903 34,235 passengers bought tickets at Chinley and many thousands more passed through the station using it to change trains. Many trains were broken down into portions, or had coaches added at Chinley. Typically coaches to/from Manchester Victoria and Liverpool

On the 5th January 1904 there was an accident at Chinley Station at 17:38 when the 17:15 service from Buxton crashed into the rear of a stationary mineral train. Thankfully there were no fatalities. The enquiry that followed was critical of the signalling arrangements and so the MR made alterations in 1905.

By the early 1920s Chinley Station was being served by 33 trains travelling in the Manchester direction and 35 heading either south towards Derby and beyond or east towards Sheffield. In 1922 67,000 passengers bought tickets at Chinley.

In 1923 Chinley became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). Traffic levels continued to increase and in 1925 passenger ticket sales reached all time high of 110,106. By the 1930s the station was being served by 38 trains running towards Manchester and 40 running towards the south or the east. During the Second World War train services were cut back to

After the war traffic levels were slow to build back and would never reach levels that they had reached during the 1930s. In January 1948 Chinley Station became part of the nationalised British Railways (London Midland Region). Chinley became increasingly attractive as a place to live for Manchester based businessmen who could easily commute by train. Because of this extra commuter services were run. Competition from road transport began to take effect but even in 1965 passenger ticket sales were 25,468. By this time less express services were calling at Chinley but there were still four trains per weekday to London and five from the capital. In 1967 Chinley was served by 26 services running towards Manchester and 25 in the other direction.

The year 1967 was to be quite significant for Chinley as on the 6th of March of that year passenger services that served the stations between Chinley, Buxton and Matlock were withdrawn and all of the intermediate stations closed. London St. Pancras services were diverted from Manchester Central to Manchester Piccadilly on 1st January 1968. London express services were diverted from the Ambergate route on 1st July 1968 via the 1894 Hope Valley line and the south curve at Dore and at a later date routed into Sheffield. Manchester to London St Pancras services had ceased altogether by the end of the 1970s.   

By the mid 1970s Chinley had become an unmanned local station served by local trains running between Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield. The station was used as a photograph stop for steam hauled enthusiast’s specials during the late 1970s and early 1980s. On Saturday the 29th September 1979 the famous LNER Pacific 4472 Flying Scotsman stopped

In the early 1980s the four track section of line through Chinley Station was reduced to two lines. Only the former platforms 2 and 4 on the northernmost island platform remained in use.

On the 9th March 1986, eighty two years after the first crash, the 17:30 Sheffield to Manchester express collided head on with two light engines at almost the same spot as the 1904 crash. Sadly the driver of the express was killed and thirty one passengers were injured, two of them seriously. There was also a crash at Chinley in 1958, the full report can be seen here.

Today Chinley is a shadow of its former self having lost its original buildings, four of its platforms and all but one of its train services. The line through the station saw a renaissance during the 1980s when more and more express and long distance services were routed along it. Today a steady stream of express passenger and freight trains pass through Chinley. The typical off-

Other web sites: Peak Rail now providing a regular steam service between Matlock and Rowsley. David Hey's Collection - Transition from BR steam. Includes railway photographer ER Morten's photographic tour from Buxton - Derby.

Eight and a half miles of the Matlock - Buxton line now forms the Monsal Trail starting at Coombs Road Viaduct, one mile southeast of Bakewell and finishing at the head of Chee Dale, about three miles east of Buxton. There is a diversion round the tunnels.

Further reading: Railway from Buxton to Bakewell, Matlock and Ambergate (Scenes from the Past) by JM Bentley, 1992. Railways around Buxton by JM Bentley, 1987.

Tickets Michael Stewart except 6616 & 7258 Glynn Waite, route map drawn by Alan Young. Additional source Glynn Waite.

To see other stations between Manchester Central & Matlock click on the station name:Manchester Central, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Withington & West Didsbury, Didsbury, Heaton Mersey, Cheadle Heath, Hazel Grove (Midland), Buxworth,Chinley (1st site), Chapel-en-le-Frith Central, Peak Forest, Cheedale Halt, Buxton (Midland), Blackwell Mill Halt, Millers Dale, Monsal Dale, Great Longstone, Hassop, Bakewell, Rowsley (Second site), Rowsley (First site), Rowsley South PEAK RAIL, Darley Dale, Matlock Riverside PEAK RAIL & Matlock STILL OPEN. See also Stockport Tiviot Dale & Stockport Portwood