Destination Manchester

As a progressive rail operator, we’re always looking to develop our services and timetables to provide a better travelling experience for our customers. We are ambitious and our team seek innovative solutions to create new journey opportunities.

That's why we have developed proposals for our trains to begin serving Manchester Airport for the first time. The plans would provide direct connectivity between the West Midlands and Manchester Airport, including new stations at Darlaston and Willenhall.

The plan will deliver:

An hourly Manchester Airport to Crewe service, calling at Styal and Wilmslow and continuing from Crewe to Birmingham New Street.
Direct connectivity between Manchester Airport to more destinations including Stoke on Trent and Stafford, as well as Willenhall, Darlaston and Birmingham without the need to take up additional network capacity.
Better use of the existing southbound train that is currently a stopping service only as far as Crewe where passengers need to interchange for other destinations.
A great alternative to private car and an affordable new rail option.

What happens next?

We will submit our detailed proposals to the Office for Rail and Road for consideration in the second half of 2025. In the meantime we are working closely with other train operators, Network Rail and partners in the Manchester area to iron out the finer details of the proposal. If approval is granted we would plan to begin running trains from December 2026.

How can I help?

If you would like to show support for our proposals or have feedback for us, you can email [email protected]