The Manchester station group is a station group (for fares purposes) of four railway stations in Manchester city centre, England; this consists of Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Oxford Road, Manchester Victoria and Deansgate. [1] The station group is printed on national railway tickets as MANCHESTER STNS. For passengers travelling from one of the 91 National Rail stations in Greater Manchester, the four stations are printed as MANCHESTER CTLZ which additionally permits the use of Metrolink tram services in Zone 1 (between Cornbrook, New Islington and Victoria).
The Manchester station group does not include Manchester Airport station, nor Salford Central. Since the opening of the Ordsall Chord in 2017, there has been an increase of through as opposed to terminating services; for example, the TransPennine Express from Newcastle to Manchester Airport now calls at Victoria, Oxford Road and Piccadilly.
Rail passengers may board or disembark at any one of these four stations. [2] National visitors from outside Greater Manchester with MANCHESTER STNS as the destination are not permitted to use Metrolink in Zone 1, as it is a locally-funded transport scheme and receives no national government subsidy. [3]
When using the National Routeing Guide, Salford Central is shown as part of the Manchester Group. [4] This means that tickets to or from Salford with 'Route: Any Permitted' have the same validity as those to or from MANCHESTER STNS, but cannot be used interchangeably.
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Passengers who travel on rail services from the Greater Manchester area into one of the four Manchester stations will be issued with a ticket stating the destination as Manchester CTLZ as opposed to Manchester Picc or Manchester Vic. This allows visitors to use Metrolink trams between stops in Zone 1 for free on the presentation of a Manchester CTLZ rail ticket. [5] [6] The Freedom of the City scheme was introduced in 2005 by GMPTE, now Transport for Greater Manchester. [7] Zone 1 includes ten Metrolink tram stops:
Passengers travelling into Manchester from outside the Greater Manchester county are not permitted to use rail tickets to travel around the city centre on the Metrolink. As a consequence the destination on the orange rail tickets is stated as Manchester STNS. The Manchester Metrolink is a locally funded transport system which receives no national subsidy from central government. National Rail passengers can use the free buses outside stations to travel around the city centre. [6]
Many journeys which call at Manchester stations slow down due to the populated nature of Greater Manchester and congested routes; Network Rail have described it as a 'bottleneck'. In 2010 the Manchester hub study was released with a series of proposals to decreasing journey times.
The Ordsall Chord (also known as the Castlefield Curve) was opened in 2017, which now links all four of Manchester's main stations. Other proposals are yet to start construction. Two new through platforms were to be built at Piccadilly and Victoria be upgraded. In May 2023 the Department for Transport confirmed that the proposals for two new platforms at Piccadilly were to be withdrawn. [8] The implementation of the Northern Hub proposals would reduce journey times to and from Liverpool by 15 minutes, Leeds by 15 minutes and Sheffield by 5 minutes. [9]
Station | Image | Location | Managed by | National services | Annual entry/exit (millions) 2018/19 [10] | Annual entry/exit (millions) 2019/20 [10] | Annual entry/exit (millions) 2020/21 [10] | Annual entry/exit (millions) 2021/22 [10] | Annual entry/exit (millions) 2022/23 [10] | Open date | Terminal platforms | Through platforms | Category |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Deansgate | Deansgate | Northern | Northern | 0.456 | 1.323 | 0.213 | 0.805 | 0.968 | 1886 | 0 | 2 | D | |
Oxford Road | Oxford Road | Northern | East Midlands Railway Northern TransPennine Express Transport for Wales | 9.301 | 6.366 | 1.026 | 3.872 | 4.658 | 1849 | 1 (none in future plans – see Northern Hub) | 4 | C1 | |
Piccadilly | Piccadilly | Network Rail | Avanti West Coast CrossCountry East Midlands Railway Northern TransPennine Express Transport for Wales | 30.133 | 32.198 | 5.188 | 19.581 | 23.558 | 1842 | 12 | 2 (4 in future plans – see Northern Hub) | A | |
Victoria | Hunts Bank | Northern | Northern TransPennine Express | 8.914 | 9.570 | 1.542 | 5.820 | 7.003 | 1844 | 2 | 4 | B | |
Total | 48.805 | 49.459 | 7.969 | 30.078 | 36.187 | 15 | 12 |
One of the first inter-city railway stations in the world was Manchester Liverpool Road station on Liverpool Street. On 15 September 1830, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened and services terminated at the station. Part of the station frontage remains, as does the goods warehouse. Both of these structures are Grade I protected and are part of the Museum of Science and Industry.
All four of Manchester's termini (Piccadilly, Mayfield, Exchange and Victoria) were not recommended for closure in the first Beeching Report, but the reduced rail traffic caused by the closure of other railway lines meant services were transferred to Piccadilly and Victoria. [11] Consequently, trains to Exchange and Central stations were withdrawn; the latter was granted Grade II* and later converted into an arena and exhibition centre.
Station | Image | Location | Managed by | Open date | Closed date | Terminal platforms | Through platforms | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Central | Castlefield | London Midland Region of British Railways | 1886 | 1969 | 9 | 0 | Closed as part of the Beeching cuts in 1969. Now used as a conference and exhibition centre. Was shortlisted for High Speed 2 terminus. | |
Exchange | Salford | London, Midland and Scottish Railway | 1884 | 1969 | 0 | 5 | Had the longest platform in the world. | |
Liverpool Road | Liverpool Street | Liverpool and Manchester Railway | 1830 | 1844 | 2 | 0 | The first urban train station in the world | |
Mayfield | Piccadilly | London and North Western Railway | 1910 | 1960 (to passengers) 1986 (closed) | 5 | 0 | Located adjacent to Piccadilly. Station remains today and can be seen on approaching Piccadilly. |
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 intercity 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, Newcastle 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 Metrolink is a tram/light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. The network has 99 stops along 64 miles (103 km) of standard-gauge route, making it the most extensive light rail system in the United Kingdom. Over the 2022/23 financial year 36 million passenger journeys were made on the system.
Manchester Victoria station in Manchester, England, is a combined mainline railway station and Metrolink tram stop. Situated to the north of the city centre on Hunts Bank, close to Manchester Cathedral, it adjoins Manchester Arena which was constructed on part of the former station site in the 1990s. Opened in 1844 and part of the Manchester station group, Victoria is Manchester's third busiest railway station after Piccadilly and Oxford Road and the second busiest station managed by Northern after Oxford Road.
Castlefield is an inner-city conservation area in Manchester, North West England. The conservation area which bears its name is bounded by the River Irwell, Quay Street, Deansgate and Chester Road. It was the site of the Roman era fort of Mamucium or Mancunium which gave its name to Manchester. It was the terminus of the Bridgewater Canal, the world's first industrial canal, built in 1764; the oldest canal warehouse opened in 1779. The world's first passenger railway terminated here in 1830, at Liverpool Road railway station and the first railway warehouse opened here in 1831.
Deansgate is a railway station in Manchester city centre, England, 1,100 yards (1 km) west of Manchester Piccadilly, close to Castlefield at the junction of Deansgate and Whitworth Street West. It is part of the Manchester station group.
Manchester Airport station is a railway, tram, bus and coach station at Manchester Airport, England which opened at the same time as the second air terminal in 1993. The station is 9+3⁄4 miles (15.7 km) south of Manchester Piccadilly, at the end of a short branch from the Styal line via a triangular junction between Heald Green and Styal stations. Manchester Metrolink tram services were extended to the airport in 2014 and operate to Manchester Victoria.
The Manchester–Southport line is a railway line in the north-west of England, operated by Northern Trains. It was originally built as the Manchester and Southport Railway. The section between Wigan and Salford is also known locally as the Atherton Line.
The Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway (MSJ&AR) was a suburban railway which operated an 8+1⁄2-mile (14 km) route between Altrincham in Cheshire and Manchester London Road railway station in Manchester.
Liverpool Road is a former railway station on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in Manchester, England; it opened on 15 September 1830. The station was the Manchester terminus of the world's first inter-city passenger railway in which all services were hauled by timetabled steam locomotives. It is the world's oldest surviving terminal railway station. With tracks running at a first floor level behind the building, it could also be considered one of the world's first elevated railway stations.
Deansgate-Castlefield is a tram stop on Greater Manchester's Metrolink light rail system, on Deansgate in the Castlefield area of Manchester city centre. It opened on 27 April 1992 as G-Mex tram stop, taking its name from the adjacent G-Mex Centre, a concert, conference and exhibition venue; the G-Mex Centre was rebranded as Manchester Central in 2007, prompting the Metrolink stop to be renamed on 20 September 2010. The station underwent redevelopment in 2014–15 to add an extra platform in preparation for the completion of the Second City Crossing in 2016–17.
The transport infrastructure of Greater Manchester is built up of numerous transport modes and forms an integral part of the structure of Greater Manchester and North West England – the most populated region outside of South East England which had approximately 301 million annual passenger journeys using either buses, planes, trains or trams in 2014. Its position as a national city of commerce, education and cultural importance means the city has one of the largest and most thorough transport infrastructures which is heavily relied upon by its 2.8 million inhabitants in the Greater Manchester conurbation and further afield in the North West region. Public transport comes under the jurisdiction of Transport for Greater Manchester.
The Windsor Link is a 700-metre railway line in Salford, Greater Manchester that connects Salford Crescent and Manchester Deansgate stations. It was opened by British Rail in May 1988, and came into full use in 1989. This link allows services from the Manchester–Preston line and the Manchester–Southport line, from the north-west of Manchester to directly access Manchester Piccadilly station: Before the link was opened, services from these lines could only run into Manchester Victoria, although indirect access for services from Wigan or Preston to Manchester Piccadilly had been possible via the West Coast Main Line's connection to the Chat Moss route; the northern route of the Liverpool-Manchester lines.
Baguley tram stop is a tram stop on the Airport Line, built for phase 3B of the Manchester Metrolink to Manchester Airport. It opened on 3 November 2014 and is on Southmoor Road next to Roundthorn Industrial Estate and a Tesco supermarket.
Sale Water Park is a tram stop for Phase 3b of the Manchester Metrolink. It opened on 3 November 2014. and is on the Airport Line on Rifle Road near the Sale Water Park.
The Bury Line is a tram line of the Manchester Metrolink running from Manchester city centre to Bury in Greater Manchester. Originally a railway line, it was, along with the Altrincham Line, converted into a tram line during 1991–92, as part of the first phase of the Metrolink system.
The Altrincham Line is a tram line of the Manchester Metrolink running from Manchester to Altrincham in Greater Manchester. Originally a railway line, it was, along with the Bury Line, converted into a tramway during 1991–92, as part of the first phase of the Metrolink system.
This is a list of confirmed or proposed future developments of the Manchester Metrolink light rail system in Greater Manchester, England.
Zone 1 of the Manchester Metrolink light rail network is the heart of the system where all of the other lines converge. Its boundaries are broadly equivalent to those of Manchester city centre, and approximately mirror the city's Inner Ring Road. Within Zone 1, first opened in 1992 as the City Zone, trams largely run along semi-pedestrianised streets rather than on their own separate alignment. The original route between the Altrincham and Bury lines ran to Victoria station via Market Street and High Street, and was soon joined by a branch to Piccadilly station by a three-way delta junction. A second route between the South-West and North-Eastern parts of the network was built to ease congestion on the original line. Opened in 2017, the Second City Crossing (2CC) added one additional stop to the network.
The Castlefield corridor is a railway corridor between Castlefield junction and Fairfield Street junction in Greater Manchester, England. The corridor forms the eastern end of the southerly Liverpool–Manchester line.