Most trains to Ashton-under-Lyne travel on the Huddersfield Line from Manchester Victoria to the Yorkshire town, while others head to Stalybridge, and some Manchester trains continue on to Wigan Wallgate and Southport. For arrivals heading further afield, the Ashton-under-Lyne Metrolink station, for tram services, is a three-minute walk west of the railway station, passing through the site of the original 1846 station, which has long been removed to make space for the car park.
Many of the town's landmark 19th-century buildings, however, still stand in testament to the prosperity brought to the area by the Industrial Revolution. And the history of industry and trade in the town is explored in the Portland Basin Museum, south of the town centre. Today the heart of Ashton-under-Lyne is the shopping precinct opposite the station, The Arcades, and the market, which is open six days a week and just a three-minute walk away from the station.