Grand Central Station

Stockport train station is practically like the Wynn hotel compared to what it used to be.
For such a small train station it has pretty much every major train route coming through it or connecting, trains to EUSTON run every hour in the week which is pretty spectacular for the local people.
It has an overpriced WHSmiths and coffee place just like every train station but it’s kept relatively clean and like I said is a shadow of its former self.

I’m currently in the process of re-​educating myself Manchester-​wise. After all, as a Unilocal Ambassador and a Greater Mancunian girl born and bred (big up the Wigan Massif!), I feel I should become even more local than local. We’re not just a city centre, a Northern Quarter and a bunch of universities y’know. We’re a MediaCity — the thing making disgruntled BBC employees move from their beloved London to Salford, a place they know nothing about, not even that it spawned The Smiths (BBC Breakfast presenter Sian Williams for one has made it clear that she thinks Shameless is less a dramedy, more a reality TV documentary on Salford), we’re a collection of South Suburbs, we’re Bury and Whitefield, Trafford and Sale, and most of all, we’re Stockport. Did you know that Stockport’s actually closer to Manchester Airport than the city centre itself? Think about that, hey.
So I’ve been exploring the Port of the Stock with frequency recently, and found it to be a sterling collection of great independent businesses and local hotspots. Stockport is the kind of place where you can find a Victorian Market Hall and a proper local Spar alongside a cute coffee shop and a real bakery. It’s also the kind of place where you get told off by complete strangers for engaging in a work call (a WORK call!) on Skype in a café and feel like you’ve entered some kind of Soviet Twilight Zone as you approach its station, the ominously-​named and terrifying-​sounding Grand Central.
It’s not that grand, and in all fairness not all that central. SK3 anyone? That’s just postcode trickery. What really unsettled my stomach in a scenario where I was already pretty much hugging my iPhone to my chest for fear of getting lost in Stockport’s vast industrial estates (oh smartphone maps, how I adore thee) was the fact that as I wandered up Railway Road, I was greeted by a Cineworld and a bowling alley attached to some inexplicably massive and very seedy-​looking nightclub. As in, the kind of nightclub where Fake Baked femmes writhe around in thigh-​high PVC boots. Man, if I didn’t know how lovely Stockport actually is, this would NOT give me a good impression when trundling off the train. The station itself is a bit Gorky Park, but fair and decent. The ticket machines work, the station shop doesn’t sell much in the way of refreshments, and some very randomly selected magazines, but if you’re in the market for a newspaper you’re spoiled for choice.
Most of the trains travelling Piccadillywards are from London and therefore are super smooth Virgins. So that’s always nice. Stockport Station took me further north when I was all southed out for the day, and for that I’m grateful. I’ll be seeing plenty more of it!

Stockport is a busy train station where you can pick trains up for London and other stations around the UK. Lots of local services to Sheffield, Buxton and through Manchester to Blackpool And more also stop here. I’ve used this station on quite a few occassions and find it very convenient and easy to find your way round. The station also has waitinging rooms and on platform shops which can be expensive. Pleanty of Announcements that are usually clear and understandable and the staff seem friendly and helpful. Much nicer since the refurbishment and only a 10 min walk into the city centre.

Stockport is a busy station, the last main stop before Manchester for trains from London and elsewhere down south. All sorts of local services to Sheffield, Buxton and through Manchester to Blackpool (amongst other places) also stop here.
I’ve changed trains quite a few times here and find it very convenient. Changing here (en route from London to Bolton) is certainly much easier than changing at Manchester Piccadilly: the Virgin Train generally sets you down on the same platform that the train to Bolton departs from, which is much easier than finding Platform 14 at Piccadilly.
The station also has a decent waiting room and good signage too — which is more than can be said for many equivalently-​sized stations these days. The platform-​level shops aren’t always open, but at least they have them. Announcements are usually clear and the staff seem friendly and helpful.
All in all, this station is a good example of its type.