A grandad who led a battle to bring a new railway station to his community has been named transport campaigner of the year.

Eugene Ring, 70, persuaded rail bosses that a new station at Baguley, next to Wythenshawe hospital, was desperately needed.

The proposed station, which will serve trams and heavy rail, is now due to be built as part of the Manchester airport Metrolink extension and will open in 2016.

Mr Ring, chair of the Wythenshawe Railway Action Group, has now been honoured for his efforts at the prestigious Sheila McKechnie Foundation awards.

The grandad-of-seven, a retired manager with BT, said the creation of the Stockport-Altrincham line station was a victory for thousands of residents.

He said: “Wythenshawe, population 72,000 and almost 100 years old, is the largest town in Europe without a railway station, despite the fact that a rail line runs right through the area.

“It will go a long way to eradicating the social isolation felt by so many of the young people living here, they will be directly connected to work and friends in neighbouring towns.”

The campaign group was founded in 2008, when residents discovered that a railway line serving the area was misrepresented in literature sent out to thousands of households as part of the congestion charge referendum.

Driven by this mistake – which showed the mid-Cheshire rail line several miles from its actual location – campaigners joined forces to lobby for more services in their area.

They successfully persuaded local transport bosses to consider building a new stop, after gaining hundreds of signatures in support.

They argued that a new one on Southmoor Road, which would also serve the Roundthorn Industrial Estate, could help create a jobs boom for the area.

Mr Ring received his award from TV newsman John Snow at a ceremony in London.

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