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The Manchester to Preston Line runs from the city of Manchester to Preston, Lancashire. It is largely used by commuters entering Manchester from surrounding suburbs and cities, but is also one of the main railway lines in the North West and is utilised by intercity servces for Scotland and the north. Electrification ends just north of Deansgate. There are however no plans to electrify the line fully, especially now that the Chat Moss route between Manchester and Liverpool is to be electrified in the next few years.

The line is one of the busiest in the North West, with at least seven trains per hour in each direction during the day, with the Virgin Voyager service from Manchester to Scotland running every two hours during the day, giving a frequency of 15 trains every two hours in each direction.

The line speed is currently 75mph, but could be increased to allow faster running for the high speed express services.

The line begins at Manchester Piccadilly, which offers rail links to most large cities in the country. Trains using the line will call at the through platforms 13 and 14 to run onto the line. It then follows the route of the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway as far as Deansgate, where it uses the Windsor Link to reach Salford Crescent.

The line then skirts the outer suburbs of Salford and then passes through the suburbs of Bolton including Kearsley and Farnworth, following the Irwell Valley for much of the route. After Bolton, the line cuts through the western suburbs of Bolton including Lostock and Horwich, before entering Lancashire and passing through the town of Adlington and on to Chorley, before joining the West Coast Main Line at Euxton Junction.

To its north, the line merges into the West Coast Main Line. To the south, many trains continue on the line to Manchester Airport. Some services also enter it from the Ribble Valley Line at Bolton.

Three operators operate services along the length of the route:

• Northern Rail operate services from Buxton, Alderley Edge (Sundays only), Manchester Airport, Manchester Victoria, and occasionally Chester and Huddersfield to Blackpool North, Wigan Wallgate, Wigan North Western, Southport, Blackburn and Clitheroe. They stop at the smaller suburban stations along the line. Northern generally operate stopping services calling at most or all of the stations on the line.
• TransPennine Express operate express services that only call at selected stations on the route. They are generally services that start at Barrow-in-Furness, Blackpool North, Windermere and occasionally Preston. They follow the line to Manchester Piccadilly and continue south to Manchester Airport.
• Virgin Trains operate express services from Manchester Piccadilly and one service a day from Birmingham New Street. They run to Glasgow Central or Edinburgh Waverley. These services call at the principal mainline stations of Preston and Manchester Piccadilly at either end of the line, and usually call at Bolton. The service from Glasgow Central to Birmingham New Street also calls at Wigan and does not use the line through Chorley, instead using the more local link line from Wigan to Lostock railway station via Hindley and Westhoughton. This service will continue until December 2007, when TransPennine Express will take over with a new higher frequency Manchester Airport to Scotland service. Class 220 'Voyagers' will at that point cease operation on this route and will be replaced by Class 185 'Desiro' units.

In addition, several operators use the line partially. Arriva Trains Wales operate services that stop only at Manchester Oxford Road before branching off at Ordsall Lane Junction onto the older, northern section of the two Liverpool to Manchester Lines, making their way to Llandudno and occasionally to Holyhead. Central Trains also operate their Citylink services between Norwich or Cambridge and Liverpool Lime Street, as well as various other Northern Rail services that also operate into Liverpool.

The line is an important diversionary route at weekends, used in conjunction with the Crewe to Manchester Line to divert away from a large section of the West Coast Main Line if required. The convenience is that this only adds 45 minutes to a journey and negates the need for costly bus replacement services. Some freight still uses this line, especially during the peak periods during the day. It is, however, a primary passenger route in the North West of England.