Manchester station group
{{Short description|Four stations in Manchester, England}}
{{redirect|Manchester railway station|the station in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts|Manchester station (MBTA)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2017}}
File:Greater Manchester Railways without Metrolink.svg
File:MANCHESTER STNS ticket.jpg North West route, the Northern route or from Victoria by Northern Trains]]
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.{{cite web|url=http://orr.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/23356/estimates-of-station-usage-2015-16-methodological-report.pdf|title=Estimates of Station Usage 2015–16 -Methodological Report|page=57|work=Office of Rail and Road}} 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 {{rws|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 {{rws|Saltburn}} to Manchester Airport now calls at Victoria, Oxford Road and Piccadilly.
Rail passengers may board or disembark at any one of these four stations.{{cite web |title=FAQs – I have bought a train ticket that states Manchester Stations as the destination. Can I use this on the Metrolink in the city centre? |url=http://recruitment.metrolink.co.uk/contactus/faqs.asp |work=Metrolink |access-date=2013-02-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130119050338/http://recruitment.metrolink.co.uk/contactus/faqs.asp |archive-date=19 January 2013 |url-status=dead }} 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.{{cite web |title=Freedom of Information – Subsidies and passenger numbers for National Rail, Manchester Metrolink and London Underground |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/5020/dft-f0008947.pdf |work=gov.uk |date=31 May 2012 |access-date=2013-02-09}}
When using the National Routeing Guide, Salford Central is shown as part of the Manchester Group.{{Cite web|url=http://iblocks-rg-publication.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/group_stations.pdf|title=National Rail Station Groups|access-date=12 March 2017}} 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.
Use in Metrolink Zone 1
{{main|Zone 1 (Manchester Metrolink)}}
{{Manchester Central Metrolink lines|inline=}}
=Greater Manchester passengers=
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.{{Cite web |title=Free Travel on the Metrolink |page=4 |url=http://www.tfgm.com/Corporate/Documents/Information/11-0807-CTLZ-2011-Campaign-A5-AW.pdf |work=TfGM |access-date=2013-02-08 }}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{Cite web |title=Freedom of the City |url=http://www.tfgm.com/Corporate/Pages/Freedom-of-the-city.aspx |work=TfGM |access-date=2013-02-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407091515/http://www.tfgm.com/Corporate/Pages/Freedom-of-the-city.aspx |archive-date=7 April 2014 |url-status=dead }} The Freedom of the City scheme was introduced in 2005 by GMPTE, now Transport for Greater Manchester.{{cite web |title=Free tram rides for train riders |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/4385122.stm |work=BBC News |date=28 October 2005 |access-date=2013-02-08}} Zone 1 includes ten Metrolink tram stops:
=National Rail passengers=
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.
Future
{{See also|Northern Hub|Ordsall Chord}}
File:Northern Hub - Manchester schematic improvements.jpg. Salford Central is not part of the Manchester station group.]]
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.{{Cite web |last=Timan |first=Joseph |date=2023-05-25 |title=Plans for new Piccadilly platforms to solve Manchester rail chaos pulled |url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/long-held-plans-two-new-26986599 |access-date=2023-10-22 |website=Manchester Evening News |language=en}} The implementation of the Northern Hub proposals would reduce journey times to and from Liverpool by 15{{nbsp}}minutes, Leeds by 15{{nbsp}}minutes and Sheffield by 5{{nbsp}}minutes.{{Cite web |title=Northern Hub |url=http://www.networkrail.co.uk/improvements/northern-hub/ |work=Network Rail |access-date=2013-02-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120929093128/http://www.networkrail.co.uk/improvements/northern-hub/ |archive-date=29 September 2012 |url-status=dead }}
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Stations
=In use=
| class="wikitable sortable"
! Station ! class="unsortable" |Image ! Location ! Managed by ! National services ! Annual ! Annual ! Annual ! Annual ! Annual ! Open ! Terminal ! Through ! Category |
| Deansgate
| 75px | Northern | Northern | {{increase}} 0.456 | {{increase}} 1.323 | {{decrease}} 0.213 | {{increase}} 0.805 | {{increase}} 0.968 | 1886 | 0 | 2 | D |
|---|
| Oxford Road
| 75px | Northern | East Midlands Railway | {{increase}} 9.301 | {{decrease}} 6.366 | {{decrease}} 1.026 | {{increase}} 3.872 | {{increase}} 4.658 | 1849 | 1 (none in future plans – see Northern Hub) | 4 | C1 |
| Piccadilly
| 75px | Piccadilly | Avanti West Coast | {{increase}} 30.133 | {{increase}} 32.198 | {{decrease}} 5.188 | {{increase}} 19.581 | {{increase}} 23.558 | 1842 | 12 | 2 (4 in future plans – see Northern Hub) | A |
| Victoria
| 75px | Hunts Bank | Northern | Northern | {{increase}} 8.914 | {{increase}} 9.570 | {{decrease}} 1.542 | {{increase}} 5.820 | {{increase}} 7.003 | 1844 | 2 | 4 | B |
| Total
| | | | | {{increase}} 48.805 | {{increase}} 49.459 | {{decrease}} 7.969 | {{increase}} 30.078 | {{increase}} 36.187 | | 15 |12 |
Closed
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.{{cite web |title=Manchester Exchange |url=http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/m/manchester_exchange/index.shtml |access-date=2013-02-09}} Consequently, trains to Exchange and Central stations were withdrawn; the latter was granted Grade II* and later converted into an arena and exhibition centre.
| class="wikitable sortable"
! Station ! class="unsortable" |Image ! Location ! Managed by ! Open ! Closed ! Terminal ! Through ! Notes |
| Central
| 75px | 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
| 75px | Salford | London, Midland and Scottish Railway | 1884 | 1969 | 0 | 5 | Had the longest platform in the world. |
| Liverpool Road
| 75px | Liverpool Street | Liverpool and Manchester Railway | 1830 | 1844 | 2 | 0 | The first urban train station in the world |
| Mayfield
| 75px | Piccadilly | London and North Western Railway | 1910 | 1960 (to passengers) | 5 | 0 | Located adjacent to Piccadilly. Station remains today and can be seen on approaching Piccadilly. |
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Greater Manchester railway stations}}
{{Manchester Metrolink stations}}
{{coord missing|Greater Manchester}}