Manchester Piccadilly station

Manchester Piccadilly
Location
Place	Manchester City Centre
Local authority	City of Manchester
Operations
Station code	MAN
Managed by	Network Rail
Platforms in use	14
Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail
Annual rail passenger usage
2004/05 *	18.959 million
2005/06 *	21.231 million
2006/07 *	14.514 million
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	Greater Manchester
Zone	City (D)
History
Key dates	Opened 1842 (1842)
National Rail - UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Manchester Piccadilly from Office of Rail Regulation statistics.
UK Railways Portal

Manchester Piccadilly station, known locally as just Piccadilly, is the principal railway station of Manchester in England. It serves intercity routes to London Euston, Birmingham New Street, Cardiff Central and the south, Edinburgh, Glasgow Central, and routes throughout northern England. Operated by Network Rail, it is the largest and busiest of the five city centre railway stations in Central Manchester/Salford, the others being Manchester Victoria, Salford Central, Deansgate and Manchester Oxford Road.

Piccadilly is one of the busiest major stations in England outside London for passenger usage, and was the busiest in 2006.^[1] It is the fourth busiest station in the United Kingdom outside London for footfall (visitor numbers).^[2] It is one of 18 British railway stations managed by Network Rail. According to an independent poll carried out in 2007, Manchester Piccadilly has the highest customer satisfaction level of any UK station, with 92% of passengers satisfied with the station; the national average was 60%.^[3]

History

Railway Clearing House diagram of railways in Manchester in 1910

The station was originally opened on 8 May 1842 and was initially known as Store Street station and as Bank Top station. It was the terminus of the Manchester and Birmingham Railway, who shared it from August 1844 with the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway. It was renamed London Road station in 1847, around the time the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway was formed (later to become the Great Central Railway). The Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway (MSJAR) opened its line from Manchester Oxford Road station to London Road on 1 August 1849 and built its own platforms adjacent to the main part of the station. These platforms were from then on referred to as the MSJAR or South Junction platforms. During the early 1880s the whole of the station was enlarged. The MSJAR platforms and the bridge over Fairfield Street were demolished and the new island platform, on new girder bridges, was opened on 16 May 1882.

During the first two decades of the 20th century, London Road station was served by the London & North Western Railway, the Great Central Railway and through running powers, the North Staffordshire Railway. Following the 1923 railway grouping, the station was served by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and the London and North Eastern Railway. Even after nationalisation in 1948, London Road station was operated as two independent sides, separated by formidable iron railings located where platform 5 now is. On one side was the London Midland Region of British Railways; on the other was the Eastern Region.

In 1910 a second nearby terminus, Mayfield station, was opened to cope with the huge volume of passengers. It was closed generally to passenger trains by 1952 but remained in use until August 1960 for "overflow" local services and also for one major passenger train, the Pines Express from Bournemouth to Manchester. It reopened as a parcels depot in 1970 but closed again. The long-disused building is visible across Fairfield Street from platforms 13 and 14.^[4]

London Road station was renamed to its present name of Manchester Piccadilly when it was rebuilt and reopened on 12 September 1960 for the new London Midland Region electric train services to London. The MSJAR platforms and the bridges over Fairfield Street were replaced again at this time. The island platforms were built on top of a new pre-stressed concrete slab bridge with cantilevered sides for the tracks. The MSJAR platforms were further rebuilt and lengthened in 1988 in connection with the opening of the Windsor Link. The glass roof over the terminal platforms was completely replaced in the late 1990s. The train shed is a Grade II listed building. In 2001-2002, as part of preparations for the 2002 Commonwealth Games the remainder of the station was rebuilt, to designs by BDP, greatly increasing the size of the station concourse and improving access for road traffic.

The station undercroft (two levels below the main rail platforms) has been converted to provide two platforms for the Manchester Metrolink tram system, which opened in 1992.

Description

National Rail station

The terminal part of the station consists of twelve platforms, while the busiest part of the station consists of platforms 13 and 14, the former MSJAR platforms, which are now used by through services via Manchester Oxford Road to North Wales, Liverpool, North-Western England, Glasgow and Edinburgh, including through services from Manchester Airport.

Facilities

The station side-wall showing the elevation of the platforms, which are on a level with the brown brickwork

Interior shot of the station with the Victorian trainshed.

The Fairfield Street entrance, at basement level, serves the car park, taxi rank, and the Manchester Metrolink station. Above, at track level, is a large modern concourse into which the main entrance from Piccadilly Approach feeds. It contains ticket offices, information points, seating, modern timetables, public toilets, shops (including, but not limited to, Sainsbury's, WH Smiths and Thorntons) and food/drink outlets (including, but not limited to, Millies Cookies, The Upper Crust, Burger King and Starbucks). Above the concourse is a second level of food outlets (including KFC) and bars, as well as the Virgin Trains First Class Lounge.

On the main concourse, glass doors within a large glass wall lead to platforms 1 to 12 in the main trainshed. A travelator leads to the upper concourse linked by footbridge, steps and lift to platforms 13 and 14. This island lounge contains a WH Smiths and Costa Coffee bar, as well as customer toilets and a 'departure lounge' with seating. There are also vending machines and two waiting areas/snack bars on platforms 13/14.

Manchester Piccadilly is fully accessible for disabled people, including (as well as static stairs), escalators and lifts to all levels, wide access doors and gates, Braille, and hearing loops throughout, as well as disabled toilet facilities.

Manchester Piccadilly handles about 1,000 train movements daily.

Manchester Metrolink station

Manchester Piccadilly station is currently the terminus for Manchester Metrolink services to Bury, Altrincham, and Eccles. The Metrolink station, situated underneath the mainline station, is one of eight serving Manchester City Centre, within the system's City Zone.

The station is the busiest on the Metrolink network. As currently (2007) structured, one platform is used to handle all arrivals before the tram travels empty into the tunnel below the mainline station and then reverses direction to arrive at the departure platform; in earlier years one platform was used to handle all arrivals from Altrincham/departures to Bury, and the other platform was used for arrivals from Bury/departures to Altrincham and all services to/from Eccles, with a crossover built just outside the station to allow access to and from either platform.

The tram stop has recently gone under a major refurbishment, and now displays the new Metrolink livery (yellow and silver).

Images

(GMPTE stop information)

Services

A Virgin Trains Pendolino awaiting departure to London

The station concourse; platforms at this terminus station are behind a glass screen.

Manchester Piccadilly is currently served by six train operating companies.

Northern Rail

• Local train services to stations in the Manchester area, primarily to destinations to the south and east of the city. These include Buxton, Crewe, Chester, Glossop, Hazel Grove, Macclesfield, Manchester Airport, Marple, Sheffield, Stockport, and Wilmslow.

Services are also operated to the north and west of the city to places such as Blackpool North, Bolton, Liverpool, Preston, Southport, and Wigan.

These are operated by a variety of trains of Class 142 (Pacers), Class 150 and Class 156 Sprinter DMUs, or Class 323 electric units.

Arriva Trains Wales

• Hourly services via Chester and the North Wales Coast Line to Llandudno.
• Hourly services via Shrewsbury and the Welsh Marches Line to Cardiff Central, with many services continuing to Carmarthen or Milford Haven. Class 175 Coradia units operate almost all of Arriva Trains Wales' services out of Manchester, with Class 158 units occasionally substituting.

CrossCountry

• Hourly services to Bournemouth, via Birmingham New Street, Reading and Southampton Central.
• Hourly services to Bristol Temple Meads via Birmingham New Street and Cheltenham Spa. All CrossCountry services operate using Voyager DEMUs.

East Midlands Trains

• Hourly service from Liverpool Lime Street via Piccadilly to Sheffield and Nottingham, with most trains continuing to Norwich. Class 158 Express units are used for these services.

First Transpennine Express operate services on three routes.

• The North TransPennine route sees a quarter-hourly service to Leeds via Huddersfield, with one train per hour continuing to each of Hull, Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Scarborough. In the opposite direction, one train per hour continues from Piccadilly to each of Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Airport. A two-hourly service to Leeds and York operates after midnight, providing a 24-hour service.

• The South TransPennine route runs from Manchester Airport via Piccadilly to Sheffield and Cleethorpes, operating every hour.

• The TransPennine North West services run from Manchester Airport via Piccadilly to Preston via Bolton and Chorley every half hour, with trains continuing to Blackpool North every hour, and each of Barrow-in-Furness and Windermere every two hours, as well as continuing to Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central, some of which are combined with services to Windermere, Blackpool North and Barrow-in-Furness.

Class 185 Desiro units now work the majority of services, replacing the class 158s on the North and South services, and the class 175s on the North West services. Most of the Manchester-Hull services are operated by Class 170 Turbostar units.

Virgin Trains

• Three trains per hour to London Euston via Stoke-on-Trent and Crewe as part of their West Coast franchise. These services are operated using Pendolino trains.

Northern Rail Class 323

First TransPennine Express Class 170.

Pendolino and Voyager Trains

References

Unofficial Train timetable for Manchester Piccadilly

External links

• Station information on Manchester Piccadilly station from Network Rail

Manchester Lines - City Centre and North, (Past, Present and Future)

Moston Bowker Vale Newton Heath(Closed) Dean Lane Crumpsall Central Park Monsall Clayton Bridge Woodlands Road Park Miles Platting Edge Lane Clayton Oldham Road New East Victoria Station Holt Town/Sportcity Exchange Shudehill/Pollard Street Ardwick High Street/ Piccadilly Station; Mayfield ;Ashburys Market Street/ Piccadilly Gardens /Gorton Moseley Street/Oxford Road St Peter's Square / Central/G-Mex Deansgate Liverpool Road ;Cornbrook Cornbrook Pomona Trafford Bar To Warrington Firswood To Altrincham