Fairfield railway station serves the Fairfield area of Droylsden, Tameside, Greater Manchester and is 3.1 miles (5 km) east of Manchester Piccadilly station. It was opened by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway in 1892, when the branch to Chorlton-cum-Hardy opened, and replaced an earlier station that had opened with the line in 1841. The original station was east of the present station. For a suburban station Fairfield has very low passenger usage (see figures right).
The station has two platforms. At one stage it had six with two lines one on each side of the current railway track, with the current two platforms operated as island platforms. This configuration was unusual as nearby stations on the line were built with four lines - two for local trains and two for express services. Remnants of the closed platforms can still be seen. Before Beeching this station, known as Fairfield for Droylsden, was a junction with a pair of lines from the east breaking off and running to the south thereby facilitating a route to Longsight and south Manchester. By means of a switchback to Gorton & Openshaw this branch enabled the turning round of locomotives without need for a turntable in the area, which could have been invaluable for servicing both the Guide Bridge yards and the facilities of "Gorton Tank" and Beyer, Peacock loco factories.