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Manchester Victoria to rival Piccadilly

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Craig

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Interesting idea, it would take some of the pressure off platforms 13/14 at Piccadilly. They'd have to do a fair bit of work to Victoria though, it's a bit of a **** hole compared to Picc :lol:
 

gordonthemoron

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Interesting idea, it would take some of the pressure off platforms 13/14 at Piccadilly. They'd have to do a fair bit of work to Victoria though, it's a bit of a **** hole compared to Picc :lol:

Yes but the Victoria bar/buffet is a great place to pick up tickets for sold out gigs at GMEN Arena. Went to see Bowie in 2003, someone was giving away tickets!
 

The Snap

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Interesting idea, it would take some of the pressure off platforms 13/14 at Piccadilly. They'd have to do a fair bit of work to Victoria though, it's a bit of a **** hole compared to Picc :lol:

Too right, Vic is falling down. In overhaul would be nice, and loads more serivces will be good too. It would make the line near my house busier with a bigger range of traction :lol:
 

Mushroom

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Amazing how times change, a lot of the problems we have today are short sighted decisions of the 60s/70s and 1980s. One such move was in the late 1980s, all loco hauled trans-Pennine (Via Standedge) trains were diverted from Victoria into Piccadilly, in some cases through the manic platforms 13/14, and replaced by 3 car Sprinters, albeit with a greater frequency.

Not long before that Marylebone station was going to be closed, and trains diverted into Paddington. Thank god they didn’t do that, Paddington would never have coped.

Are we talking Manchester or London here?
 

87015

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Can't be too many years since they finished rebuilding Man Vic last time? That wasn't a fast project either, was roofless for years IIRC, some pretty severe rationalisation aswell...
Is there that much capacity for extra services? Always appears to be a shambles when i'm there!
 

metrocammel

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Can't be too many years since they finished rebuilding Man Vic last time? That wasn't a fast project either, was roofless for years IIRC, some pretty severe rationalisation aswell...
Is there that much capacity for extra services? Always appears to be a shambles when i'm there!

Yeh, it was in the early 90's that the wantom destruction of Victoria happend. First of all, over half the station had an arena (Nynex as it was) plonked on top of it- (there was once about 14+ platforms at Vic!- compared with the pathetic 6 today!). Then, the low numbered platforms (Bury line) got taken out of use with the Metrolink destruction of the station - and thus leaving a skeleton of its former self. The old Bury platforms are still extant, but could never be used again, as they are "marooned" by the Metrolink. Apparently, according to the station manager when I was on WE there, the old wood-panelled t/o is to be converted into a cafe (as there are too many ticket windows for the size of the t/o- which dates back to L&Y days) - a new travel centre will open where the current "Northern Belle" office is. They are also going to spend £££ on making the "new bit" brighter, as at the moment is it (and always has been) dark and dingy- with terrible ventilation. It is amazing really that the graneoise L & Y station buidings have survived really, as the way the rest of the station was mutilated in the 90's - it was pretty lucky they didn't buldoze them, and put some plastic -portacabin ticket office / waiting shelter up(!)
 

TomBoyRacer

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Yes but the Victoria bar/buffet is a great place to pick up tickets for sold out gigs at GMEN Arena. Went to see Bowie in 2003, someone was giving away tickets!

I was at that Gig. In fact i've seen a few gigs at the MEN and have been there when it's on. Lovely place for the touts to congregate. Also once worked backstage once and there's a stairwell whcih has views right down the viaduct. if only I had a camera! Vic has the potential to be a lovely station and it could benefit from some more long distance workings. also more services to stockport via reddish to maybe take the pressure off the roads and make a better case for keeping the line open. I'd love to see Liverpool- Newcastle/ scarborough to be regarded as one of the more important workings again, with more cars as they often become overcrowded especially around leeds. Also, the site of exchange statoion or the old line that went to red bank carriage sidings could be used to store ECS to alleviate pressure on the station if it does get busier. Just hope they don't get rid of that lovely route map in the entrance.
 

evil_hippo

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This is a great idea; The chaos of platforms 13 and 14 must put passengers off. It is certainly no way to wait for and board a long distance train to Glasgow or Edinburgh. However, it seems a big u-turn after the recent diversion of the Liverpool and Southport fasts into Piccadilly.

I also notice it claims the Oldham loop is to be converted to metrolink soon. If this plan has got the go ahead it's the first I've heard of it!
 

Bonemaster

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Diverting services into a single station on its own is not in itself a bad idea, it opened up many connections through the single station, and passengers having to drag luggage accross Manchester or pay the extra to use the metrolink is not attractive to passengers.

However what Manchester Picc does not have is enough space on the through plaforms for all passengers to use the through trains, if capacity can be addressed and sustained it makes sense to concentrate on single city locations, the thing manchester needs most is a flyover at Ardwick Junction to make the whole thing flow easier
 

theblackwatch

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This is a great idea; The chaos of platforms 13 and 14 must put passengers off. It is certainly no way to wait for and board a long distance train to Glasgow or Edinburgh.

When the station was revamped and a new waiting room put at the top of the stairs to platforms 13/14, the idea was thsat passengers should stay in the waiting room upstairs until their train was announced. Not surprisingly, this seems to have failed - you can't suddenly expect passengers to change the habits of a lifetime, and act as if they were at an airport!
 

matt

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When the station was revamped and a new waiting room put at the top of the stairs to platforms 13/14, the idea was thsat passengers should stay in the waiting room upstairs until their train was announced. Not surprisingly, this seems to have failed - you can't suddenly expect passengers to change the habits of a lifetime, and act as if they were at an airport!

Isnt that what they want to do when then refurbish Birmingham New Street?
 

Max

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When the station was revamped and a new waiting room put at the top of the stairs to platforms 13/14, the idea was thsat passengers should stay in the waiting room upstairs until their train was announced. Not surprisingly, this seems to have failed - you can't suddenly expect passengers to change the habits of a lifetime, and act as if they were at an airport!

I seem to remember they did something like this at Ashford International when we caught our Eurostar, they opened the gates when the train was on the approach. All seemed a bit pointless really since the line speed through Ashford isn't exactly huge anyway! It's not as if there would be any danger in letting people go down to the platforms early. Also, the trains are all pretty well spaced out, and I can't imagine people waiting ages for their train on those cold platforms.
 

womer UK

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There was talk of some of the pressure being taken off Piccadilly by relaying track and reopening Manchester Mayfield for some surburban services
 

Craig

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There was talk of some of the pressure being taken off Piccadilly by relaying track and reopening Manchester Mayfield for some surburban services
Wouldn't that only really be useful for through services (which wouldn't be easy to build) as anything that currently terminates at Piccadilly would have to cross the lines for platform 13/14 to get into Mayfield?
 
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