Manchester Piccadilly station
Manchester Piccadilly is the main railway station of the city of Manchester, in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, England. Opened originally as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchester Piccadilly in 1960. Located to the south-east of the city centre, it hosts long-distance inter-city and cross-country services to national destinations including London, Birmingham, Nottingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth, Reading, Southampton and Bournemouth; regional services to destinations in Northern England, including, Liverpool, Leeds,, Sheffield and York; and local commuter services around Greater Manchester. It is one of 19 major stations managed by Network Rail. The station has 14 platforms: 12 terminal and two through platforms. Piccadilly is also a major interchange with the Metrolink light rail system with two [|tram platforms] in its undercroft.
Manchester Piccadilly is the busiest station in the Manchester station group. As of December 2024, it is the second-busiest station in the United Kingdom outside of London, and is also one of the busiest interchange stations outside London, with over 2million passengers changing trains annually. The station hosts services from six train operating companies.
Between the late 1990s and early 2000s, Piccadilly station was refurbished, taking five years and costing £100million ; it was the most expensive improvement on the UK rail network at the time. Further improvements and expansion plans have been proposed. In December 2014, a Transport and Works Act application was submitted for the construction of two through platforms as part of the Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Oxford Road Capacity Scheme. In September 2019, Network Rail declared the Castlefield corridor through Manchester 'congested'. Despite this, in 2023, these plans were withdrawn in favour of "a new approach", comprising upgrades to other stations in Manchester.
History
Origins
In June 1840, the Manchester and Birmingham Railway opened a temporary terminus on its line to Stockport on Travis Street. A large site, long by wide, was cleared of terraced houses and industrial premises to make way for the permanent station Store Street which was built on top of a viaduct, above ground level. The station was opened adjacent to London Road on 8 May 1842. It had two platforms, offices and passenger amenities and by then the line had been extended to Crewe.Store Street was designed by M&BR's chief engineer, George W. Buck, who designed many of the line's structures including the Stockport Viaduct. Charles Hutton Gregory was the assistant engineer. The station was shared from the beginning with the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway following an agreement made by the promoters in 1837.
The M&BR amalgamated with other railway companies to create the London and North Western Railway in 1846. The SA&MR changed its name to the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway three years later.
Manchester London Road
In 1847, the station was renamed London Road. In 1849 the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway began using the station after its line from was extended. Its single platform which opened on 1 August 1849 to the south of, and adjacent to the main part of station, was the predecessor of through platforms 13 and 14. The MSJA&R's line connected to the main line south of the station and formed a through route to the LNWR's line to Liverpool.By the 1850s, London Road was overcrowded and the relationship between the LNWR and MS&LR had deteriorated, due to the latter's decision to cooperate with the Great Northern Railway in providing a rival service to London from the station, in direct competition with the LNWR. Netherless, the two cooperated on rebuilding the station to expand it. The rebuild which started in 1862, allowed the station to be divided; the MS&LR occupying the north-eastern side and the LNWR the south-western side. The station was given a new entrance building and concourse with each company having separate booking offices and passenger facilities. A long iron and glass trainshed was built over the terminal platforms; it had two wide arched spans, one covering the LNWR platforms and the other the MS&LR platforms. On 20 January 1866, a fatal accident occurred during the roof's construction, when part of it collapsed killing two workmen and injuring 30 others. The enquiry determined that the collapse was caused by strong winds and heavy snowfall. At the same time, the viaduct south of the station to Ardwick was widened to carry four tracks, and both companies built goods stations and warehouses to the northern side of the passenger station.
Within ten years, the station was again over-crowded as traffic continued to increase and expansion was again required. Between 1880 and 1883, the LNWR widened its side of the station and built more platforms, which were covered by two more wide arched spans to the trainshed. At the same time, the MSJ&AR platform was taken out and rebuilt as an island platform on a girder bridge over Fairfield Street and linked to the main station by a footbridge. In May 1882, the improvements were opened.
In 1897, the MS&LR changed its name to the Great Central Railway ; it opened its own direct route from the station to London in 1899.
In 1910, the adjacent Mayfield station opened with four platforms to alleviate overcrowding at London Road. The stations were linked by a footbridge. Mayfield station closed to passengers in 1960 and to all traffic in 1986. The derelict station has remained in situ despite proposed redevelopment schemes including reopening it to relieve demand. In October 2013 the station's roof/canopies were demolished due to safety concerns.
Following the 1923 railway grouping, the LNWR amalgamated with several other railway companies to create the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, and the GCR amalgamated with other railways to create the London and North Eastern Railway. The division of the station was maintained and it continued to be operated as two separate stations even after the nationalisation of the railways in 1948: One side was used by the London Midland Region of British Railways and the other by Eastern Region.
Manchester Piccadilly
Between 1958 and 1966, London Road was rebuilt in the West Coast Main Line modernisation programme undertaken by British Railways. It was renamed Manchester Piccadilly on 12 September 1960. Piccadilly is the name of a road and Piccadilly Gardens is nearby.The London Midland Region rebuilt the station at a cost of £1.75million in preparation for electric train services to London. Most of the station was rebuilt, except for the Victorian trainsheds which remained mostly unaltered, although the two 1880s spans were shortened towards the concourse end. The station was reconstructed in two phases, 1958–1960 and 1963–1966; the break was the result of a national credit squeeze restricting funding for railway modernisation.
The former MSJA&R through platforms and bridges over Fairfield Street were rebuilt on a prestressed concrete slab bridge with cantilevered sides for the tracks. The layout in the trainshed was reconfigured to add several platforms. A new concourse and entrance were built, alongside which was a ten-storey office block which housed British Rail staff. On 11 May 1966, work was completed for the introduction of electric expresses to London.
The approach to the station was also redeveloped. The LNWR goods warehouse alongside the station approach closed in 1965 and a curved office block, Gateway House, was opened in its place in 1969.
Piccadilly remained open throughout the reconstruction, but there was disruption, and many trains were diverted to or stations. When the work was completed, those stations were no longer required; they were closed and their services were diverted into Piccadilly.