Manchester station group

A ticket from Manchester Stns to Preston. Any route is permitted so the passenger has a choice of embarking from either Piccadilly, Oxford Road or Deansgate on the TransPennine Express North West route or the Northern route, or from Victoria by Northern Rail.

The Manchester station group is a station group (for fares purposes) of four railway stations in Manchester city centre, England consisting of Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Oxford Road, Manchester Victoria and Deansgate.^[1] The station group is printed on national railway tickets as MANCHESTER STNS. For commuters in Greater Manchester the four stations are printed as MANCHESTER CTLZ which additionally permits the use of Metrolink tram services in the City Zone (between Deansgate-Castlefield, New Islington and Victoria).

The Manchester station group does not include Manchester Airport station, nor Salford Central railway stations. Prior to the opening of the Ordsall Chord in 2017, few routes stopped at multiple stations in the group, for instance the TransPennine Express Northwest route called at Deansgate, Oxford Road and Piccadilly. However there has been a sharp increase with more 'through' (as opposed to terminating) services through Manchester as part of the new May 2018 timetable – for example, the TransPennine Express from Newcastle to Manchester Airport now calls at Victoria, Oxford Road and Piccadilly.

It is permitted that 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 the City Zone as it is a locally funded transport scheme by the council tax payers of Greater Manchester (and subsequently funded through TfGM) and receives no national government subsidy.^[3]

Note that when using the National Routeing Guide, Salford Central railway station 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.

Use on Metrolink

Manchester Central Metrolink lines
to Bury to Rochdale City Zone Victoria Exchange Square Shudehill Market Street Piccadilly Gardens St Peter's Square Piccadilly Deansgate-Castlefield ( Deansgate) New Islington Cornbrook to Ashton- under-Lyne to MediaCityUK and Eccles Trafford Bar to Altrincham to East Didsbury and Manchester Airport

Future

A map of the stations in the group and future improvements as part of the Northern Hub. 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.

Central to the plan is the Ordsall Chord (also known as the Castlefield Curve) which will link all four of Manchester's main stations. Two new through platforms will be built at Piccadilly and Victoria will be upgraded. 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.^[8]

Stations

In use

Station	Image	Location	Managed by	National services	Annual entry/exit (millions) 2012/13[9]	Annual entry/exit (millions) 2013/14[9]	Annual entry/exit (millions) 2014/15[9]	Annual entry/exit (millions) 2015/16[9]	Annual entry/exit (millions) 2016/17[9]	Open date	Terminal platforms	Through platforms	Category
Deansgate		Deansgate	Northern	Northern TransPennine Express	0.350	0.370	0.373	0.390	0.421	1886	0	2	D
Oxford Road		Oxford Road	Northern	Northern TransPennine Express Arriva Trains Wales East Midlands Trains	7.149	7.555	7.598	7.962	8.584	1849	1 (none in future plans – see Northern Hub)	4	C1
Piccadilly		Piccadilly	Network Rail	Virgin Trains Northern TransPennine Express East Midlands Trains CrossCountry Arriva Trains Wales	23.158	24.476	24.615	25.793	27.807	1842	12	2 (4 in future plans – see Northern Hub)	A
Victoria		Hunts Bank	Northern	Northern TransPennine Express	6.851	7.241	7.282	7.630	8.226	1844	2	4	B
Total					37.508	39.642	39.868	41.775	45.038		15	14

Closed

A map of Manchester railway junctions and stations in 1910.

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.^[10] 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.

See also

• Station group

References