The first big change to the old way of life was the opening of the Crewe to Manchester railway near the village in 1842. However, Goostrey did not get its own station until 1891. The new station offered a market for milk and produce and brought in occasional trippers, temperance groups or Sunday schools out for a picnic. In the late 19th century, villas were built along Main Road and groups of cyclists began visiting the village, a connection which continues. After the First World War, motor cars were more frequent and the annual Goostrey horseraces became fashionable. Goostrey remained largely a farming community until the late 1930s, when the district council decided to build council housing in the village and to install mains drainage. In 1963, the first of three new estate developments was started and by 1970 the number of houses had quadrupled.