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Manchester Victoria Station

2M views 8K replies 446 participants last post by  Tony_H1 
#1 ·
A hidden jewel in Manchester's transport arsenal, if only a bit of money was spent on it, it would mean Manchester having 2 world class Rail gateways, with Piccadilly Being the ultra modern one and Victoria being it's classy Sister.

Its a crying shame whats happened to Victoria, its dark, dingy, is only served by crappy cattle wagons, and has no shops whats so ever.

If only the council and the train companies would step in to clean up the place and give it the attention her achitects envisaged,

Get it sorted, its closer to The City Centre then Piccadilly and would be a even classier station.
 
#122 ·
It would benefit from seeing the completion the city room, new roof, office tower and all that stuff proposed before the Olympic bid. They only did half a job on it.

Longfjord and Rolls - you two both remember Victoria when it had the underpass thing to the platforms. It's a damn sight better than it was back then......it's not unpleasant now really.
 
#123 ·
I actually prefered the underpass to the stairs - mainly cos i'm a fat lazy bastard but there was a certain gritty 'romance' to that underpass (all you Brief Encounter fans out there will know what i mean) and it also reminds me of the pre MEN Arena days when i lived in Eccles and didnt have a care in the world.
I'm sure Victoria station was a lot busier in those days but then again Wagon Wheels seem a lot smaller nowadays aswell!
 
#129 ·
Victoria had 17 platforms in the underpass era. We used to get the train from Werneth to Victoria, platform one in the stub end then walk to platform 15 for the Southport train, one Wednesday, every summer, aunties, uncles, cousins, grandparents, the lot.

Victoria is now too small to expand, there are only 4 through tracks and the stub end platforms are too short for anything more than a local train.
 
#131 ·
Isaac Newell said:
Victoria had 17 platforms in the underpass era. We used to get the train from Werneth to Victoria, platform one in the stub end then walk to platform 15 for the Southport train, one Wednesday, every summer, aunties, uncles, cousins, grandparents, the lot.

Victoria is now too small to expand, there are only 4 through tracks and the stub end platforms are too short for anything more than a local train.
Its just a simple case of rejigging things about, theres no reason why the met cant be moved to the right onto the car park next door, I think theres room for 4 platforms there, instead of the present two, think this would ease any potential overcrowding problems on the Met network in future too.

This moving of Met traffic would free up space for a further 4 platforms in the station ontop of the 6 that already exist. Making 6 terminal platforms in the direction of yorkshire, and 4 through platforms on the Arena end for services to Lancashire and Merseydive.

I also believe that Victoria, and Salford Central for that matter, would benefit heavily from the completion of the track at Castlefield, to give both stations access to the South Manchester electrafied services. This would improve Chapel Street's fortunes, it would also enhance the investment potential of areas like Spinningfields, Green Quater and Greengate, not to mention improving access to the Arena.

Its has the potential to be a beautiful place, and a great welcoming face for travellers to Manchester, Victoria needs to be utilised more.
 
#132 ·
Terminal platforms stop trains from going elsewhere, they have to turn back and restrict operating patterns. I cannot see more terminal platforms being built. There is a lot of prime building space on the terminal side of the station.

The transport system must be allowed to evolve and I cannot see Victoria ever being more than an inner city stop, convenient for the Arndale etc.

A Castlefield curve will allow trains to stop at all innercity stations and then carry on out of the city. A train could depart Stalybridge, stop at Guide Bridge, Fairfield, Piccadilly, Oxford Road, Deansgate, Salford Central, Victoria, Ashton and finish at Stalybridge.

However I still think that building some platforms south of the MSJA junction at Piccadilly would be a better option for the Manchester rail system.
 
#133 ·


You could also use Mayfield station but a connecting bridge would need to be built to the MSJA viaduct to make it a through station.

My own preference would be to sell Piccadilly and build a through station with a lot of platforms next to Mayfield.

That would free up some good building land and push central Manchester further out.
 
#134 ·
Isaac Newell said:
Terminal platforms stop trains from going elsewhere, they have to turn back and restrict operating patterns. I cannot see more terminal platforms being built. There is a lot of prime building space on the terminal side of the station.

The transport system must be allowed to evolve and I cannot see Victoria ever being more than an inner city stop, convenient for the Arndale etc.

A Castlefield curve will allow trains to stop at all innercity stations and then carry on out of the city. A train could depart Stalybridge, stop at Guide Bridge, Fairfield, Piccadilly, Oxford Road, Deansgate, Salford Central, Victoria, Ashton and finish at Stalybridge.

However I still think that building some platforms south of the MSJA junction at Piccadilly would be a better option for the Manchester rail system.
If Manchester is a beacon for the north, a tourist destination and a place to be, it needs more then one terminus. Train journeys have to finish somewhere, and why cant they finish in one of our oldest and potentially prettiest train stations. Victoria should be our link to yorkshire and the North East and Vise-Versa, no doubt about it.

I totally agree about utilising Mayfield, maybe releaving pressure on Piccadilly's 13 and 14, which in my opinion should only be used for Virgin trains and Airport services (meaning both have the freedom to be increased in frequency). As well as this, Mayfield can also free up Piccadilly's terminus platforms for more national services, which at present are being taken up for trains to Glossop, New Mills Central and the like.

If there are more platform spaces in our stations, this will ensure a greater potential for the number and frequency of services locally and nationally, surely a good thing.
 
#136 ·
There could be some regional politics going on here.
Is it a coincedence that the station that greets passengers from London and the affluent south has had heavy investment, where as the scummy northerners coming in to Victoria dont 'deserve' the same investment?
 
#138 ·
My ideas for victoria station.....

1st build vector tower but push it to over 200m mark
2nd demoilish the arena complex and build it across the road on boddingtons but bigger say about 25000 seat? Also add a ice rink or two on the side and mabbe a tower of 30 to 40 storeys.
3rd open up the station where the arena was get some light into it!! Build some more office and homes but not over the station it self.
 
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