The coming of the railways was the reason Chinley grew from the tiny hamlet it had been, and the village is actually named after its railway station. Previously, the names Maynestonefield or Four Lanes End were used. Chinley railway station was once an important railway junction on the Midland Railway's Dore and Chinley (or Hope Valley) line and its London-bound extension through Millers Dale, and it was common to have to change trains in Chinley en route to Manchester, London or Sheffield. The station is now a single 'island' platform on the trans-Pennine line between Sheffield and Manchester Piccadilly. It is, however, one of the only two stations between Stockport and Sheffield where express trains stop in peak hours.