with extra trains to/from Stockport at peak times on weekdays. There is a 2-hourly service on Sundays to Chester, Manchester Piccadilly and Southport. In December 2008 services were revised with the additional morning Chester to Manchester peak services terminating at Stockport, and the additional Manchester to Chester evening peak services starting instead at Stockport, which has prompted an online petition. The revision was necessary to allow the operation of additional services between Manchester and London Euston over the already congested Stockport railway viaduct. The 15:49 Chester to Manchester service was lost altogether, as was the Saturday 07:30 Chester to Manchester service. However, the Sunday service was significantly improved, increasing to a 2-hourly service that runs from Chester to Southport via Manchester Piccadilly, rather than a 3-hourly service between Chester and Altrincham. The average journey time to and from Manchester in the current timetable is between 38 and 49 minutes. This is due to Northern Rail timetabling trains to take longer than expected, to meet punctuality targets. Times to and from Chester take between 41 and 46 minutes, for the same reason. Passengers numbers at Knutsford are currently increasing by as much as 27% per annum. Knutsford is also the most used station between Mouldsworth and Navigation Road (not including Metrolink figures at Altrincham and Navigation Road.) Also, more passengers board and alight Mid Cheshire line services at Knutsford station than at Stockport station or Chester station. Knutsford has poorer bus services than other nearby towns which, contributes to more rail use. Future As part of Northern's proposed December 2022 timetable (which focuses on additional services within the Manchester area), an additional 4 trains per day between Chester and Stockport (2 in each direction) have been proposed during peak hours on Mondays to Saturdays. These services are aimed at those who are commuting to and/or working in Manchester and Stockport. This change will increase the number of trains departing Chester on the line to 20 per day, with the number departing Stockport also increased to 20 per day. The 2 hourly Sunday service will remain the same, at 7 trains per day. A campaign was set up by the Knutsford Guardian in 2007 for a later train from Manchester Piccadilly to Knutsford on Friday and Saturday evenings than the current last train which leaves Manchester Piccadilly at 23:17. The 00.32 Saturday Morning Only Manchester Piccadilly to Chester train currently runs non-stop