Rose Hill Marple station also serves the town on a spur of the Hope Valley Line which, until 1970, continued towards Macclesfield.

Until the Midland moved to Manchester Central in 1880, as a member of the Cheshire Lines Committee, Marple was where carriages for Liverpool would be attached or detached.

At the time it had extensive station buildings, the Midland waiting room having upholstered seats and a coal fire in an attractive fireplace for cold winter days.

In 1902, when Agatha Christie was twelve, her sister Margaret married James Watts and they lived at Abney Hall, Cheadle.

It is theorised that a train was delayed there for long enough for the station sign to stick in her mind, to resurface in 1932 at the publication of the first novel featuring Jane Marple.

To the east of the station, there is a free car park and the nearest bus stops are 150 metres (160 yd) away on Brabyns Brow.

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.