The last Sunday train was in September, locals say.
Angry residents say their village has been “cut off” from the rest of Greater Manchester due to constant train cancellations on weekends.
Bramhall station, run by Northern Rail, has connections to both Stockport town centre and Manchester, but locals say the Northern services are unreliable and have stopped running on Sundays altogether.
Ioannis Verdelis lives in the village and said the last time a train left Bramhall on a Sunday was in September. He has set up a petition calling for Sunday services to resume, which more than 100 people have already signed.
“I don’t know if there was any specific decision to cut our village from the rest of the world on weekends, no one consulted on not having a train on Sunday, it just doesn’t run,” Mr Verdelis said.
“I got very frustrated this weekend, I wanted to go to Stockport with my mum and the kids, but trains weren’t running. For people who don’t drive there is a feeling of being cut off.
“We have two cars in our household because [the train] is just not a reliable way of getting around.
“People would love to go to Stockport to enjoy what’s happening there, if the train timetable was running on a Sunday there would be four or five a day, but they haven’t run since September. We literally can’t go there, it’s a real shame.”
Others living in the village also said there are regular problems with its train services.
Julia Danielska lives in Manchester and travels to the village daily for work, but she has started taking a longer journey via train to Cheadle and then a bus to Bramhall, because she says it is more reliable.
“Half the time trains are delayed or cancelled, it’s difficult getting out of Bramhall at times,” she said.
“I commute from Manchester and on paper [the journey] should take 17 minutes but I have to get a train to Cheadle and then catch a bus, I take a detour to get to work at a reasonable time.
“Trains are often cancelled on weekends and they just say it’s because of staff problems or other reasons.”
“Trains are often cancelled on weekends and they just say it’s because of staff problems or other reasons.”
Lynn Schofield, 67, who lives in Bramhall, added: “I don’t find it a problem but I know a lot of people do. It seems to be hell on Sundays so as we’re getting to Christmas that’s not great.
“There should be more services, the trains come every hour during the week, but that’s a long time to wait if you miss one. This is a busy station, so I think they could do with a train every half an hour.”
Cheadle MP Tom Morrison described the situation in the village as a “disgrace” and called for immediate improvement.
He said: “The ongoing suspension of Sunday services on the Manchester to Stoke line is a disgrace. For weeks, residents across Cheadle constituency have been left without a vital transport link.
“I have written to both Northern Rail and the Secretary of State for Transport, demanding urgent answers on when this issue will be resolved.
“Public transport in Cheadle constituency and across the North West has been underperforming for too long.
“Northern Rail’s failure to deliver reliable services has had a significant, negative impact on local residents, and it must be addressed without delay.”
Northern apologised and said it is addressing the issues causing cancellations and delays.
Matt Rice, chief operating officer at Northern, said: “We are sorry for our recent performance, accept it has not been good enough and understand the impact this has on our customers.
“We are working hard to address issues with train crew availability so we can improve reliability for our customers. We recently secured a new rest-day working agreement for our train drivers and have offered conductors a new deal to work on Sundays.
“Following constructive talks, the RMT’s National Executive Committee will review our four-month offer before putting it to their members for a referendum vote.
“We realise there is more to be done to address issues with performance and are now focused on delivering our improvement plan.”
