TRANSPORT | Manchester Victoria Station

[Isaac Newell]

Piccadilly is a very poor station because it is stub end. They really ought to knock it down and build a new station further down the line at Ardwick.
Big wide platforms at this new station would replace the cramped platforms 13/14 which would disappear with Piccadilly. West Coast Line trains could still terminate there but all platforms would be through platforms. The arches into the demolished Piccadilly could be utilized for a tram connecting the city centre with the new station and a taxi/busway.

[Mez]

It has so much Potential, it makes me mad.
I go there every week to travel to Greenfield and on certain days,with eyes squinted, it feels like it could be Prague or Bern.
That useless sloping land with that grotty barbers (hanging ditch?) NEEDS to be sorted out for Victoria to truely feel like a class staition. Imagin a row of HIGH class restaurants/bars along that stretch. It would look and feel so much better. Much like the Gare du Nord in Paris.

Come on MCC!

[andysimo123]

There are ways to improve. Such as put a complaint in every week. Then get your family and friends to send complaints in. Within a month you would have loads of people involved or get the Manchester Evening News to do a story on it. That would get the Manchester MPs, involved and they would do the work for you.

[Farsight]

Where do the trains go to from Victoria these days?

And is there an underlying problem wherein all the money seems to get spent down London way like we were talking about on the MetroLink thread?

[Potato Man]

Originally Posted by Farsight

Where do the trains go to from Victoria these days?

http://www.livedepartureboards.co.uk...dep.aspx?T=MCV

Check out the live departure board. Nothing near as interesting a range of services as Piccadilly (although that Wigan Wallgate via Walkden service sounds pretty special!)

[Latic]

Originally Posted by Farsight

Where do the trains go to from Victoria these days?

And is there an underlying problem wherein all the money seems to get spent down London way like we were talking about on the MetroLink thread?

Basically is you're communting into the city from Wigan, Oldham, Rochdale, Huddersfield or Saddleworth using the smaller stations then Victoria is your station. There are also services to Liverpool, Southport and Leeds, mostly stopping at all the stations en-route.

Perhaps the problem is that it will be more of a restoration job then a development so there is less financial incentive. There are things like the wonderful victorian front, the mural showing all the old routes and the blue dome in the Cafe. It could be a really elegant and historic in contrast to the Ultra-modern Piccadilly.

One thing that worries me is the ever present threat of the glass in the roof falling onto your head!

[Zim Flyer]

I think the key is to fight tooth and nail to make sure what happened to Birminghams Victorian stations doesn't happen to Victoria, ie they demolish and replace with some horrible concrete carpark type station.

I think the first priority is to sort out the roof, this will buy us time to raise the money to revamp it properly. A leaking roof will in the mean time shorten it's life span rapidly.

Anyway, here are some pictures of inside Victoria Station. Permision given from www.thetrams.co.uk:

[Accura4Matalan]

Last time I went to Victoria, some of the Metrolink section was sealed of with construction hoardings... they doing something there?

[andysimo123]

Originally Posted by Accura_Preston

Last time I went to Victoria, some of the Metrolink section was sealed of with construction hoardings... they doing something there?

Ye its so you cant get in.

[future.architect]

Originally Posted by Accura_Preston

Last time I went to Victoria, some of the Metrolink section was sealed of with construction hoardings... they doing something there?

no, much worse

one of the platforms is sealed off because the leaky roof makes the tiled floor slippy.

[Northbeach]

Get cheeky Griff Rhys Jones involved again.

It has so much Potential, it makes me mad.
I go there every week to travel to Greenfield and on certain days,with eyes squinted, it feels like it could be Prague or Bern.
That useless sloping land with that grotty barbers (hanging ditch?) NEEDS to be sorted out for Victoria to truely feel like a class staition. Imagin a row of HIGH class restaurants/bars along that stretch. It would look and feel so much better. Much like the Gare du Nord in Paris.

Not sure what that land is called Mez, but nice thoughts there.
We'll see how far this city can take itself then; a rather ambitous tower scheme next door and an injection of trams and perhaps we'll see this station reanimated.

[Farsight]

Thanks for the timetable link Potato Man. I didn't see Blackpool or Fleetwood on the departures or arrivals. And I seem to remember as a kid pulling into Victoria from all sorts of places. Now it looks like it serves just Greater Manchester and a couple of outposts. Can anybody tell me if it's busy, say on a weekday morning?

[Irish Blood English Heart]

I get the train to/from Ashton and Stalybridge sometimes. the stations never very busy but the little 2 carriage trains are ramned.

[Jongeman]

It's very busy in rush hours.

Victoria's main services are the Ashton/Stalybridge/Wakefield line, Bradford and Leeds via Rochdale, stopping trains on the Oldham and Rochdale loop, all trains to Blackburn and Clitheroe via Bolton, Wigan Wallgate via Bolton, Southport and Kirkby via Walkden and Wigan, and Liverpool via St Helens. There may also be Chester trains via Newton-le-Willows, but I'm not sure. In all, several important commuter routes are still handled by Victoria.

[Farsight]

I kinda get the feeling it's been relegated to a suburban station, withering and fading on a shrinking vine while London gets billions for Olympian stuff like Channel Tunnel Rail Link and Crossrail that bring "national" benefits and suck up the money that was earmarked for MetroLink and other schemes. If this is the situation, I hold out absolutely no hope of anything happening to change Victoria's fortunes.

Apart that is, from total redevelopment, the economics of which is driven by property values rather than passenger footfall.

The problem here is that this baby has no bathwater, and soon somebody will be eyeing up the bath.

[richieboy]

"London" isn`t getting billions for crossrail ..this mancunian victim complex matyrdom bollocks is starting to get on my bollocks!

[future.architect]

Originally Posted by richieboy

"London" isn`t getting billions for crossrail ..this mancunian victim complex matyrdom bollocks is starting to get on my bollocks!

well whatever, theres the ctrl and of course the jubilee line extension - "the most expensive railway ever built" not to mention the east london line extension, dlr extension and croydon tramlink? anyone, no?

ive made my point!

[caw123]

Originally Posted by richieboy

"London" isn`t getting billions for crossrail ..this mancunian victim complex matyrdom bollocks is starting to get on my bollocks!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4261701.stm

Only £10bn. Loose change eh?

[andysimo123]

Originally Posted by richieboy

"London" isn`t getting billions for crossrail ..this mancunian victim complex matyrdom bollocks is starting to get on my bollocks!

Dont ever try and say that. Your'll a large bunch of angry mancs at your door.

[retep68]

Originally Posted by retep68

Station building looks great from the outside, but is very shabby inside (I was in there the other day). I believe it's owned by Network Rail and is still occupied (sparsely). The rest of the station certainly needs a big re-furb as well. I'm not aware of NR having anything in the pipeline for Victoria though.

Further to that - Network Rail DO own the building. They started a re-furb on it a year or two a go, found asbestos and stopped, will need sorting at some point though.