Trains at: Manchester Oxford Road, 24/06/23

A very enjoyable session spent at Manchester Oxford Road where we see plenty of services from Northern, Transpennine Express, East Midlands Railway, Transport for Wales and freight from GBRF.

Manchester Oxford Road was opened in 1849 and was for a time the headquarters of the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway. When the station was opened it was called Oxford Road, when the station was built it had one platform on the North side which would have a line running to Manchester London Road which we all know as Manchester Piccadilly. There was also a platform on the West side of the station. Extra sidings and platforms were built in 1857, this was done because of the Art Treasures Exhibition that was taken place in Manchester at the time, but once the Exhibiton was done the platforms and sispdings were removed. Interestingly the station was also used as a drop off point for milk trains running into the city, so a local committee was formed and in 1863 included in its list of complaints was the fact the the milk and passengers were sharing the same platforms, they wanted action to be taken.

Work had eventually started a few years later after years of legal action between competing railway companies and the owners of the different railway stations, I haven't included that in this description as there is just to much to dissect but please do read up on it as it is truly fascinating in regards to what was taking place!

It was in 1876 that work had begun on the station which saw enlargement of the station facilities including the provision of a refreshments room, at the time the station was taking on average a hundred thousand passengers a week which is just madness when you consider how long ago that was.

Reconstruction of the station took place from 1903 to 1904, the main approach to the station was improved for greater ease of access, the ticket office was given a massive overhaul and the refreshment room was expanded, the island platform was installed in November of 1904. Again there is a lot more to say about all of this but I'm trying to keep it as brief as possible.

The station was given another make over in 1960 and most of the structure was built out of wood because of the fact that the station and the lines coming into and out of it were built on a large viaduct.

The station is now a Grade 2 listed building and is for ever having work done to it to ensure it keeps its charm, most of the time it's the station roof that gets a lot of attention as work is forever taking place to ensure that it doesn't leak when the heavens really open. In 2011 the platform shelters, seats and toilets were all upgraded costing a whopping £500,000 and then 2 years later another £1.8 million was chucked into the overall access to the station for emergency services and the lifts at the South end of the station.

My next film will be from Manchester Victoria.

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