the station's 150th anniversary, Christie's grandson produced a letter she had written to a fan that appears to prove that the name was inspired by a sale at Marple Hall during a visit to her sister at Abney Hall. Future As part of Manchester's Transport Innovation Fund bid in 2008, which would see a weekday peak time congestion charge introduced on roads into the city centre in order for a £3bn injection into the region's public transport, Marple would have seen an increase to four services per hour in both directions throughout the day to Manchester Piccadilly. The line would have effectively been run as a metro-style operation, offering users of Marple and other stations along the route the ease of showing up without needing to know exact departure times. However, no "station improvements" were planned, despite the comparatively high usage of this suburban station. The rejection of the TIF plans in a public referendum in December 2008 (by a 4 to 1 majority) led to the plans being abandoned in April 2010. References External links Railway stations in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport DfT Category D stations Former Great Central and Midland Joint Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1865 Northern franchise railway stations 1865 establishments in England Marple, Greater Manchester