Manchester Victoria station

Manchester Victoria
Victoria Railway Station in October 2009
Location
Place	Manchester city centre
Local authority	City of Manchester
Coordinates	53°29′14″N 2°14′33″W / 53.4872°N 2.2424°WCoordinates: 53°29′14″N 2°14′33″W / 53.4872°N 2.2424°W
Grid reference	SJ839989
Operations
Station code	MCV
Managed by	Northern
Number of platforms	6
DfT category	B
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2010/11	6.667 million
2011/12	6.782 million
2012/13	6.851 million
2013/14	7.241 million
2014/15	7.282 million
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	Greater Manchester
Zone	City (D)
History
1844	Opened
1902	Extended
1993–96	Northern portion reconstructed
2014–15	Renovated
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Manchester Victoria from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Manchester Victoria railway station in Manchester, England is the city's second largest mainline railway station and one of nine Metrolink tram stops within the city zone. It lies to the north of the city centre on Hunts Bank, close to Manchester Cathedral. Victoria is Manchester's tertiary station (after Piccadilly and Oxford Road) in the Manchester station group and the busiest station managed by Northern.

The station predominantly hosts local and regional services to destinations in northern England, such as Rochdale, Bradford, Leeds, Newcastle, Huddersfield, Wigan, Southport, Blackpool, and Liverpool using the original Liverpool to Manchester line. Most trains calling at Victoria are operated by Northern, except for TransPennine Express services from Liverpool to Newcastle and during engineering works, when some trains are diverted from Piccadilly.

Several former railway lines into the station have been converted to tram operation as part of the Metrolink system: The line to Bury was converted in the early 1990s as part of the first phase of the Metrolink system, and the line through Oldham to Rochdale was converted during 2009-2014. Trams switch to on-street running once they emerge from Victoria Station and continue southwards through the city centre to Piccadilly or Ashton-under-Lyne.

In 2009, Victoria was voted the worst category B interchange station in the United Kingdom.^[1] The station underwent a two-year £44 million modernisation programme from 2013 which was completed in August 2015.^[2][3] Renovation entailed electrification of lines through the station, a new Metrolink stop with an additional platform, restoration of listed features, upgraded retail units, and a new roof.^[4][5] As part of the Northern Hub plan, Victoria will become the rail hub for trans-Pennine services when the Ordsall Chord is completed in 2018, and passenger numbers are expected to rise to 12 million when the station serves more destinations.^[6]

History

Railway Clearing House map of central Manchester railways in 1910

Platforms 11 (left) and 12 (right), looking west towards Manchester Exchange in 1964

The station in 1988. Showing the former platforms and trainshed, which now lie under the Manchester Arena

In 1838 Samuel Brooks, vice-chairman of the Manchester and Leeds Railway (M&LR) bought land at Hunt's Bank close to the cathedral and presented it to the company for a station to replace the inconveniently located Manchester Oldham Road railway station opened by the company on 3 July 1839. The station was a long, low single-storey building designed by George Stephenson and completed by John Brogden^[7][8] on 1 January 1844. It was named Victoria by permission of Queen Victoria. The long single platform handled M&LR trains to Leeds and elsewhere at its eastern end. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway extended its line from Ordsall, near the original Manchester Liverpool Road railway station, and its trains operated from Victoria's western end from 4 May 1844.^[9]

By the mid-1840s six railway companies operated from the station connecting Manchester to London, Glasgow, Liverpool, Leeds and Sheffield. Victoria Station came to dominate the Long Millgate area and was one of the biggest passenger stations in Britain.

Overlooking the station concourse in 2012 before re-development in 2014.

Victoria was enlarged by William Dawes, who is responsible for most of its facade, in 1909. The enlarged station was erected on land consecrated as a burial ground on 1 January 1815 by the Bishop of Chester; it was acquired by the Manchester and Leeds Railway in 1844.^[10] The enlarged station had 17 platforms. Wealthy commuters travelled from Blackpool and Southport faster than is possible today (e.g. 45 minutes from Southport in 1910, 67 today; and 65 minutes from Blackpool in 1910, 77 today) in specially-constructed club cars hauled by express steam locomotives. The non-stop services were abandoned in the early 1960s.

The Edwardian station has a 160 yards (146 m) façade with an iron and glass canopy bearing the names of the original destinations served, and a tile mural depicting the routes of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway that operated most trains from the station between 1847 and 1923, when it became a constituent of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. Canopies covering the waiting area for taxi cabs damaged in the Provisional IRA 1996 bombing have been restored. The cast-iron train sheds behind the façade are 700 yards (640 m) long. The station was approached by a wooden footbridge over the River Irk until the river was culverted.

In 1884 Manchester Exchange Station, operated by the rival London and North Western Railway, was built alongside Victoria and after 1929, a single passenger platform which linked the stations was the longest passenger platform in Europe at 2,194 feet (669 m). Exchange Station closed in 1969 and its services were transferred to Victoria. Its site opposite the cathedral is now a car park. Platforms 1–3 at Victoria were also closed.

In the early 1970s, the Picc-Vic tunnel project proposed building an underground station, Victoria Low Level.^[11] The tunnel project was cancelled and rail improvements concentrated on the introduction of light rail. The station received Grade II listed building status in 1988 for its period features and neo-Baroque Edwardian facade, ticketing hall, Victorian dome, tiled map of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and a memorial for servicemen who did not return after World War I.^[12]

Manchester Arena was joined to the station between 1992 and 1996 by means of a raft above the station's through platforms. It is accessed via stairs on Hunts Bank and from the station concourse. During its construction the station was reduced in size from 14 platforms to 6. Most through tracks were removed, along with platforms 12—17 and their overall roof and platform buildings.

Renovation

The completed new roof at Victoria in October 2015

Station concourse following completion of the new roof.

In 2009 the station was identified as the worst category B interchange station because of its dilapidated fabric and environment. The Transport Secretary, Lord Adonis, announced that, with nine others, it would receive a share of £50 million for a refurbishment programme.^[13] Victoria's £5m share of the 'Better Stations' Network Rail funding for improvements was cancelled in the June 2010 budget cuts,^[14] but replacement funding was arranged.^[15] On 16 February 2010 Network Rail announced its intention to refurbish the station in the Northern Hub improvement proposals turning it into an interchange for local and regional services throughout north-west England. In August 2010, Network Rail announced the work would go ahead, despite withdrawal of the £5 million funding.^[16] Station improvements include an ETFE roof, restoration of its walls, exterior canopy and period features, new platforms for additional services, improved access to the Manchester Arena and improved retail and dining facilities.^[17]

The Ordsall Chord linking Victoria to Piccadilly will be operational in 2016 and additional platforms will be built by 2019 to provide extra capacity.^[18] It is anticipated that, as a result of re-routing services, passenger numbers will increase to 12 million by 2019, compared with 6.6 million in 2011/12.^[19] Construction of the Ordsall Chord will allow trains to run directly between Piccadilly and Victoria, shortening journey times on TransPennine Express routes between Manchester Airport and Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Hull and Scarborough. An express service from Liverpool Lime Street to Newcastle via Victoria is operated by TransPennine Express. Reinstatement of the south and west curve at Todmorden on the Caldervale Line facilitated a direct service between Victoria and Burnley Manchester Road Station for the first time in almost fifty years. As part of Network Rail's electrification strategy, overhead electric wires will be erected from Victoria to Liverpool, Preston via Bolton, and Blackpool, and on the North TransPennine route to York via Leeds, allowing most services to be operated by electric traction.^[17]

Work on restoring the station began in April 2013.^[20] The old roof was dismantled in autumn 2013.^[21] Installation of the £17 million ETFE roof began on 4 May 2014, and the 15th and final roof beam was lifted into position on 13 October 2014. Installation of the ETFE sheeting was completed in spring 2015, and the station upgrade was completed in August 2015,^[3] with the official reopening that October.^[22]

National Rail services

Tiled Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway map at Victoria Station.

Manchester Victoria is served by two train operating companies, primarily Northern and TransPennine Express for its Liverpool to Newcastle service. It is occasionally used by CrossCountry services during engineering works.

Northern operates Class 142 Pacers and 150 or 156 Sprinter DMUs on most train services around Manchester, while the Leeds Calder Valley services are usually operated by British Rail Class 150, Class 155 or 158 Sprinter DMUs. The Leeds via Dewsbury services mainly use 3-car Class 144 Monday - Friday, although at weekends this service sees other classes on the route such as a pair of Class 153 DMUs or Class 150 or 155.

Sometimes night services between Manchester Airport and York operate via Manchester Victoria, but do not call and continue via Ashton-under-Lyne to rejoin the usual route at Stalybridge, or continue through Rochdale and Hebden Bridge before reaching Huddersfield. A limited service between Manchester Airport and Victoria via Salford Crescent operates calling at Salford Crescent, Manchester Oxford Road, Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Airport.

Service summary

Westbound services

• 2 trains per hour (tph) to Wigan Wallgate (via Bolton)
• 1tph to Kirkby (via Atherton)
• 1tph to Southport (via Atherton)
• 1tph to Blackpool North
• 1tph to Clitheroe
• 2tph to Liverpool Lime Street (1 express, 1 stopping)

Eastbound services

• 1tph to Blackburn via Todmorden
• 2tph to Stalybridge (stopping)
• 1tph to Huddersfield
• 1tph to York
• 3tph to Leeds (2 via Bradford Interchange & 1 via Dewsbury)
• 1tph to Newcastle (express via Huddersfield, Leeds and York)

Victoria Metrolink stop

Victoria
Metrolink
Victoria Metrolink stop in October 2015
Victoria Location of Victoria in Greater Manchester
Location
Place	Manchester city centre
Local authority	City of Manchester
Coordinates	53°29′15″N 2°14′30″W / 53.4874°N 2.2418°W
Grid reference	SJ840990
Platforms	4
Fare zone information
Metrolink Zone	D (City)
Present status	In operation
History
Conversion to Metrolink operation	4 June 1992
City Centre Legend to Bury to Rochdale City Zone Victoria Exchange Square Shudehill Market Street Second City Crossing  Piccadilly  Gardens St Peter's Square Piccadilly Deansgate-Castlefield ( Deansgate) New Islington Cornbrook to Ashton- under-Lyne to MediaCityUK and Eccles Trafford Bar to Altrincham to East Didsbury and Manchester Airport
UK Trams portal

Manchester Victoria is served by Manchester's Metrolink light rail system, at the northern edge of the City Centre zone, on the Bury Line and Oldham and Rochdale Line. Metrolink services run through Victoria to Altrincham, Bury, East Didsbury, Oldham, Rochdale, Piccadilly & Ashton-under-Lyne. Trams enter Victoria station from Shudehill Interchange by crossing Corporation Street and Long Millgate and passing through a specially constructed arch in the station wall. From there they curve right and stop at the Metrolink platforms.

The Metrolink stop is at the southern end of the station near the exits, occupying the site of the former Bury electric train platforms. The Metrolink stop was built with three platforms, A, B and C; Platform A, close to the point where the trams enter the station, was used for Bury-bound trams, but is closed to the public because of leaks in the station roof. Platforms B and C are on an island platform further along the tracks.

The Metrolink system was opened in 1992, the result of a project to link Piccadilly and Victoria Stations with a rail line running across the city.^[23] Earlier proposals involving an underground railway were abandoned but Greater Manchester Council secured funding for a light rail system. The system is based on conversion of selected British Rail lines to light rail operation, linked by on-street tram tracks. The Bury line to Victoria opened as a Metrolink line in 1992, replacing heavy rail trains with Metrolink trams.

The Metrolink line from Victoria to Oldham opened on 13 June 2012, replacing the long-established heavy rail line. Trams on this route run from East Didsbury through the city centre before continuing to Oldham and beyond. The Oldham extension runs via a temporary station, 'Oldham Mumps', close to the site of Oldham Mumps railway station, demolished in 2010/11 after the Oldham Loop heavy rail line closed before its conversion to the Metrolink line. The Mumps section has been abandoned and the line has now been diverted to pass through the streets of central Oldham, via several new stations, including one in Oldham town centre. Services were extended from Oldham Mumps to Shaw along the Oldham loop line on 16 December 2012, to Rochdale railway station on 28 February 2013 and to East Didsbury on 23 May 2013. From 11 February 2013, services from Bury to Piccadilly were extended to Droylsden, and to Ashton-under-Lyne on 9 October 2013.

The Metrolink platforms at Victoria closed temporarily on 21 February 2014 for a period of nine months, to allow them to be rebuilt.^[24] In October 2014 it was announced that Metrolink services stopping at Victoria station would not resume until early 2015.^[25] The stop reopened on 18 February 2015 and trams began calling at the new platforms.^[26]

Services

Services mostly run every 12 minutes on all routes.

Gallery

• 

  Manchester Victoria railway station entrance

• 

  The main railway station concourse

• 

  Entrance to Platforms 3-6

• 

  A Northern Class 158 waiting on Platform 1 in 2012

• 

  The railway station in 2013, with a Northern Rail Class 153 awaiting departure, viewed from the Metrolink platforms.

References

Footnotes

Citations

1. "Is Victoria UK's worst station?". BBC News. 17 November 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
2. "Manchester Victoria station's restoration works start". BBC News. 9 April 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
3. http://www.railtechnologymagazine.com/Rail-News/manchester-victoria-upgrades-to-be-finished-this-month
4. "Engineering work at Manchester Victoria stops trains". BBC News. 15 November 2013.
5. "Manchester Victoria Metrolink station closes for upgrade". BBC News. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
6. "Manchester Victoria Station redevelopment". Network Rail. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
7. Marshall, J.D. (1970). The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, volume 1. David and Charles. p. 56. ISBN 0-7153-4352-1.
8. Wells, Jeffrey (2000). The Eleven Towns Railway. Railway and Canal Historical Society. p. 74.
9. Ferneyhough 1980, p. 105
10. Axon 1886, p. 147
11. "SELNEC Picc-Vic Line". SELNEC PTE. October 1971. publicity brochure
12. Historic England. "Victoria Station including concourse to rear with restaurant and booking hall (1254725)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
13. Weaver, Matthew (17 November 2009). "Off the rails: Britain's 10 worst stations named and shamed". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 7 March 2012.
14. "Manchester Victoria station's £30m revamp now uncertain". BBC News. 25 May 2010.
15. "£50m revamp for 'worst stations'". BBC News. 17 November 2009. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
16. "Victoria revamp to get go-ahead despite cash blow". Manchester Evening News. 4 August 2010.
17. "North West electrification". Network Rail. n.d. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
18. "Manchester Victoria - Timeline". Network Rail. Archived from the original on 7 June 2012.
19. "Report for Resolution - Manchester Victoria Station" (PDF). Manchester City Council. 20 December 2012. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
20. "Manchester Victoria station's restoration works start". BBC News. 9 April 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
21. "Manchester Victoria station redevelopment". Network Rail. n.d. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
22. "Manchester Victoria reopens after £44m upgrade". BBC News. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
23. Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (1984). "Light Rapid Transit in Greater Manchester". GMPTE. - publicity brochure
24. "Metrolink: Time to make Victoria posh" (Press release). Transport for Greater Manchester. 6 February 2014. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
25. "Manchester Victoria station's Metrolink stop to be completed in early 2015" (Press release). Network Rail. 21 October 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
26. "Manchester Victoria Metrolink stop reopens in £44m upgrade". BBC News. 18 February 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2015.

Bibliography

• Axon, William E. (1886). "The annals of Manchester: a chronological record from the earliest times to the end of 1885". Manchester and London: J. Heywood, Deansgate and Ridgefield. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
• Bairstow, Martin (1987). The Manchester & Leeds Railway : the Calder Valley Line. M. Bairstow. ISBN 0-9510302-6-4.
• Ferneyhough, Frank (1980). Liverpool & Manchester Railway 1830-1980. Book Club Associates.
• Wray, Tom (2006). "Manchester Victoria Station".

Further reading

• "Manchester Victoria rebuild is approaching completion". RAIL. No. 341 (EMAP Apex Publications). 7–20 October 1998. p. 11. ISSN 0953-4563. OCLC 49953699.

External links

• Train times and station information for Manchester Victoria station from National Rail
• Tram times and station information for Manchester Victoria station from Manchester Metrolink
• More photos of the Metrolink at Victoria

Manchester Lines
Legend
City Centre and North: Past, Present and Future  Manchester Metrolink Main Line services   to Rochdale to Oldham Moston Newton Heath Newton Heath and Moston to Bury Bowker Vale Crumpsall to Tameside Abraham Moss Clayton Bridge Woodlands Road Park Queens Road Central Park Monsall to Tameside Miles Platting Edge Lane Clayton Hall Oldham Road Velopark Manchester Victoria Holt Town Exchange to Salford Etihad Campus New Islington Ardwick Shudehill Ashburys High Street; Manchester Piccadilly Mayfield Market Street; Piccadilly Gardens to South Manchester Exchange Square Gorton Mosley Street Oxford Road St Peter's Square to Belle Vue Manchester Central ; Deansgate- Castlefield Deansgate Liverpool Road to Hyde Road to Tameside Cornbrook Cornbrook to Salford Pomona to Eccles Trafford Bar to Trafford to Trafford Firswood to Altrincham to Chorlton