The 208th video of my train spotting adventures.
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This video starts day 2 of a Manchester rail trip, coming in via the Metrolink to Manchester Victoria railway station. A large 6-platform regional, central and metro interchange station, it was built back in 1844 by the Manchester and Leeds Railway (M&LR) company, which had been founded only a decade prior in 1836. The line originally terminated at Manchester Oldham Road further up the line in the Leeds direction back after 1839, but once the company realised joining their line up with the Liverpool & Manchester Railway (L&MR) would be advantageous for Yorkshire - Liverpool connections, they constructed Manchester Victoria roughly a decade later; Oldham Road became a goods depot until its closure in 1968. Manchester Victoria for a long while had each company running separate services from either end of the station, until later down the line when the L&MR became the Grand Junction Railway (GJR) in 1845, which in turn became the London & North Western Railway (LN&WR) in 1846; the M&LR joined the new Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) the following year.
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Expansion came to the station gradually over many decades. Initially Victoria had but one platform which was roughly 852ft or 260m long. In 1865, four bay platforms were added on the eastern side, and one on the western side; a second through platform was added to the north, and a new eastern wing of the station was added. Two decades on the L&YR bought land to the north and formed another bay and 5 through platforms by 1884; at the same time, the LNWR opened its own station to the southwest, Manchester Exchange. The greatest extent of Victoria came by 1904 with the addition of extra bay platforms to the south, bringing its maximum total platforms to 17. Many platforms allowed for intense parcel and newspaper traffic; to help facilitate this, an overhead carrier system was in operation until 1940, with electrically powered suspended carts moving parcels and etc around the station.
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The L&YR merged with the LN&WR in 1922, becoming the LMS' largest constituent company. After 1929, Victoria and Exchange were joined by extending Victoria's Platform 11 over the River Irwell, called Platform "11 Middle", to Exchange's Platform 3, becoming Europe's longest rail platform at a whopping 2,238ft or 682 metres, over three times the length of modern day Victoria's platforms, able to handle three full passenger trains (long pre-modern steam trains) at a time! Exchange closed later on in 1969, its services moving to Victoria; the site today forms part of a redevelopment of new offices which began in 2015. Bomb damage during WW2 destroyed the parcel office and parts of the original roof; the office was repaired but parts of the platform roofs were simply taken down. The station later came into ownership of British Railways in 1948.
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The 'Picc-Vic' scheme was a plan to provide a London Underground-style metro between Piccadilly and Victoria in the early 1970s. By the late 1970s costs meant the project was scrapped; eventually, light rail was proposed instead, leading to the formation of the Manchester Metrolink in 1992.
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By the 1980s/1990s British Rail began to concentrate more regional services into Manchester Piccadilly. In 1989 the Windsor Link from Salford opened, letting services from Bolton and Lancaster to be diverted down via Oxford Road, and later that year trans-Pennine services were also diverted. Parts of Victoria were sold for redevelopment, and the platforms reduced right down to just 6. Manchester Arena was soon built between 1992-1994, leading to most of the through platforms being removed alongside Platforms 12-17, reducing it down to four through tracks and four bay tracks/platforms; two of the four bay platforms would inevitably go to the Metrolink.
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Back in 2009 Victoria was ranked as one of the worst stations in Britain, needing heavy renovation. Beginning in 2013, renovation work began in full force, completed later in 2015. This included a new canopy roof, restoration of graded walls, improved Arena access, improved retail & dining facilities and improved wheelchair/disabled access.
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Filmed on the:
Calder Valley Line (terminus)
Huddersfield Line
Ribble Valley Line (terminus)
West Coast Mainline - Manchester-Preston Line
Manchester-Southport Line
Kirkby Branch Line
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Services seen:
TPE) Services towards Huddersfield, Leeds, York, Scarborough, Saltburn, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Newton-le-Willows, Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Airport.
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NT) Services towards Rochdale, Blackburn, Stalybridge, Bolton, Wigan Wallgate, Headbolt Lane, Newton-le-Willows, Liverpool Lime Street and Southport.
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Trains seen:
TPE) Class 802 Nova 2, Class 185 Desiro
NT) Class 150 Sprinter, Class 156 Super Sprinter, Class 195 Civity, Class 331 Civity, Class 769
GBRf) Class 66
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