What would Manchester be like if things had been different, and the railways hadn't been cut back so severely in the 50s and 60s. For the past 40 years we would have been enjoying a system like they have in Japan, modern, efficient and dense. Central Station would still be a station, there would be many more railway lines around Manchester, and a lot less traffic congestion.

Through the magic of audio I conjure up an imaginary Central Station, recently renovated and used by state of the art electric trains. We begin by admiring the magnificent interior and proceed to our train.

Soon we are on our way, passing the Hilton Tower, and moving along the railway viaducts over Castlefield and heading out towards Old Trafford, where we branch off to the left and head down along a gently curving line through south Manchester towards Chorlton.

As the journey proceeds we hear the sounds of the train and the station announcements: "The next station stop is Chorlton, Chorlton your next station stop". From there we continue south west, past the Loop Line junction near St Werburgh's Rd, and on to the next station: West Didsbury and Albert Park. In reality, this station has not been used for nearly two generations, but in my 'Manchester that might have been', that station would still be in use today.

And so on to Didsbury, where the station building would have been retained and not demolished to make way for fashionable bars. The journey from Manchester city centre has taken only 15 minutes or so, a lot quicker than the half an hour it often takes on the crowded bus.

The train continues under Parrs Wood Rd and the line to Styal and the Airport, under Kingsway and on to Heaton Mersey, a station that disappeared without trace in the past 20 years, and is remembered only in the name 'Station Rd'. But in this 'make-believe' recreation, this station with its beautiful buildings still exists and is in use, serving the residential communities that have sprung up around here since the 70s.

Next the train thunders out of Lancashire, over the River Mersey and into Cheshire on the original late 19th century metal bridge, which in this version of events was never taken down. Then it crosses a less attractive newer style concrete bridge over the M60 motorway, and stops at Cheadle Heath station, which features in my nostalgic short film.

The real Cheadle Heath Station has long since disappeared, though the railway remains as a single track line to Altrincham used by occasional freight trains. The former sidings are now taken up by Morrisons supermarket and its huge car park.

My imaginary Cheadle Heath station is a modern facility, integrated with the supermarket, and offering a park and ride scheme. From here, local residents can get to Manchester in less than 15 minutes, Warrington in 30 minutes, Liverpool and Sheffield in an less than an hour. Cheadle Heath, where I grew up, would be one of the best connected suburbs and much sought after by home buyers.

Our fictitious train continues past Adswood to Bramhall. Here I have created a new station which I have named Bramhall North, sited between the affluent residential districts of Bramhall and Davenport.

The train heads towards Hazel Grove, where I have created another imaginary station, Hazel Grove South.

Pie-in-the-sky? Maybe. But disused or single track lines like this have been put back into service, for instance in Dublin for its Luas system, and for the Midland Mainline tram service between Birmingham and Wolverhampton.

It is a fact that the line from Old Trafford to St Werburghs Rd has been approved as part of the Metrolink extension, but I would like to see the entire line put back into service. That would be up to Hazel Grove where it becomes part of the main passenger network. Personally I would prefer it to be reinstated as part of the railway network, which is why in my audio recreation I have chosen trains, not trams. Whether that is feasible is another question.

Have a listen to my make-believe train ride and try to imagine what it would be like if we could get our train network back again. This is the first in a series of audio journeys, documenting a mixture of both real life routes and imaginary ones, as well as great journeys from the past.

2007-07-25