manchester victoria
 

i remember going to manchester victoria as a kid,going down the ramp to platforms 13/14 getting a train to blackpool-happy days,sadly its no longer the station it used to be,but still has character and remains my favourite,do any members know anything about the refurbishment the grand old vic was supposed to have?when the roof will be fixed?when oldham loop line trains end next week will any services be added due to there being more paths?there was talk a couple of years ago to re-route rose hill marple trains away from piccadilly via philips park goods line into victoria,this was abandoned why?.

The refurbishment of Victoria is still on the cards, but I can't say more than that.

According to someone I spoke to a week or so ago, there is no agreement for where the trains should operate when the loop services cease to run. They may sit in a siding in 'warm store' for a while. Apparently there needs to be agreement between the DfT (who want them to stay in Manchester) and GMPTE (who don't want to pay for them).

I wish the stationstill had 17 platforms.
Now it has a piddling 6.
They should not have shrunk the station in the first place.
Tear down the MEN arena I say
Its an eyesore.
This is probably the largest station downgrade ever.
I have come to the conclusuion that Beeching had absolutely no clue in what he was doing.
About three quarters of the closed lines are needed again.

Now how do you suppose Beeching would have known that ? He was given a job to do and he did it !!

In hindsight,with foresight it should have been done differently.:D :D

Well I do think he should of know that.
He was given enough evidence.
He worked previously for ICI and they got rid of him.
Wonder why?
Thats right they were sick of him.
Then he came swanning over to poor BR with no railway experience and took over.
He really was kicked out!
My late grandfather was working for ICI at the time, and many years ago he gave me the real story.

The man was a con artist.
The railways were losing money, but thats because it was all going into his pocket.
Beeching was paid twice the amount of the prime minister!
Not having enough money to keep lines open is a rubbish excuse therefore.
Some ofmy grandfathers collegues would often say the same thing.
Sadly, now as people have passed away (in some cases for a long period of time) evidence is hard to come by.

thanks for info on victoria station,just searched and found that the 300 million upgrade and its environs has been put on hold due to the economic downturn,a paltry 9 million has been found to do the roof -7 mil,and the other 2 spent on the station,toilets[much needed they are a disgrace]shelters,seating etc,poor old vic is always last in line to have any money spent on it.

The date is 03/12/09

Vic is an awful place,the oldham loop has gone and the metrolink upgrade begun.

It has recently been voted worst station in the country

I had to use the gents, what an experience......

Can pull it down for me.

Pfft.

Yes, it's a dingy place, but it's wonderful if you ask me. Maybe that's bias nostalga but I still think it's great. Would be better without the Arena blocking all the daylight though.

Yeah I have to agree, there is something nice about it when you use it. It's not like mega clean modernised Piccy on the other side of town. I feel that Manchester Picc is almost 'too perfect' almost airport like. Manchester Victoria has this niceness about it whith its darkner concourse with all the wooden ticket boxes & 'tin can' DMU's :D with all those engine sounds, its really nostalgic when you first walk in.

I like the remaning OLD bits of Man Vic, but the new bit reminds me far too much of Birmingham New Street - and, regardless of what trains come & go there, I've never attached any nostalgia whatsoever to that station - yuchhh. A black hole.

They are currently working on refurbishment of Victoria, but they've just discovered a mass grave underneath the station so I'm not sure if that could delay works.

Isn't there a river running under it too?

The Irwell does pass close by but I think it is as the west end of the station where exchange was.

Yes the River Irk,from what I can gather the river was diverted into a culvert when the station was extended,this culvert then comes out into the Irwell near the site of Exchange station as SFE states.
The general concenus is that it runs under the station concourse and taxi rank.


Cheers John

Both the Irk and the Roch were culverted and join the Irwell adjacent to the old Exchange Station. By the direction from which they enter the Irwell, both must pass under the "old" Victoria Station.

according to network rail,work is finished on platform 2 at vic,platform 1 will be finished in a april/may,new wind break shelters are being put on platforms 3-6 this year,new lighting on the same platforms next year-this is the urgent cash injection provided by the government following man vic being voted worst station in the country,the toilets and the tiled rail map aswell as the ornate rail destinations at the front of the station will also be spruced up,and finally the roof will be replaced,,its nice victoria is getting much needed money being spent on it-especially as vic goes under the wires by 2014 and then the northern hub proposals,according to the latter it says 2 new platforms will be provided for terminating trains from the humber,now im guessing trains from that direction will enter the station via miles platting bank,theres no room for platforms at that end,theres vacant land at the old exchange station site,maybe plans are to send them via piccadilly then the ordsall chord?any one wanting more info on northern hub proposals should ring network rail and request more info,i did and they sent me a bumper 85 page booklet with all the plans-great reading with lots of maps and new routes.

REPLACING viccy roof? I hope they have a design similar to the old one and not a concrete slab on stilts like the rest of the station!

go on yahoo and type-manchester victoria new roof,then click on 30 million for manchester victoria roof,its similar to the boomerang shape of earlier plans,would much prefer reglazing of the old roof,but then again its money..or lack of it.

Lots been said regarding old and new Manchester Victoria. Do any members remember the manic couple of hours after midnight when most of the morning news papers were printed in Manchester,and platform 11 was filled with all manner of van from Red Bank, News paper trains departed to far and wide, some had men travelling on them sorting the papers to be dropped of at the various towns en route.A gang used to travel down from York ever night I think they came from Darlington,doze on way down supper in pub and work home sorting
All the empty vans would be worked back to Red Bank during the morning. Sadly all gone long since but an aspect of Victoria not many people were aware of ,it was all done during the night. Jim.

you haven bieng to wakefield kirkgate then thats the worst

i have been to wakefield kirkgate and thought it a grot spot,man vic has lots of problems but compared to kirkgate its a gem,why wakefield kirkgate wasnt on the top 10 worst stations i dont know,money should be spent on it asap,is it a busy station?only went there once about 5 years ago and was quiet,whether its busy or not a station night or day should be inviting to passengers.

I went to Man Vic every saturday before the Oldham Loop closed, and belive me the toilets are rubbish and i hate using the footbridge, keep thinking I will fall onto the lines

Why, do you have the random ability to fall through glass and / or sheet metal?

The toilets aren't the best.

Are you talking about the stairs to the MEN arena?

Is there anywhere that the the latter eysore could be relocated and we could have more through platforms? Those are needed more than ever now. I have to go through the station on my way to the east lancs on saturday for the small engines day.

the toilets in man vic are disgusting you are soo right,went in there about 5 years ago and went into a cubicle-blood was on the toilet seat,disgusting,after complaining to the station staff,that part of the toilet was closed-i doubt it was just me having a part in that as there are many people who use them,the last time i used those disgraceful so called facilities was when i went to the urinals,sat on the floor were drunks singing-where were the btp?the overbridge at victoria gets very dirty quickly,i sent an e-mail to northern and network rail,i couldnt believe it when early last year there were posters saying were cleaning the footbridge,this should be done anyway,look at the arena staircase its spotless,anyway the overbridge was cleaned and again its filthy,another e-mail me thinks,vic is a grot spot but things are changing for that station..northern hub etc,wakefield kirkgate is terrible tho.

worst uk stations funding axed
 

:mad:according to bbc north west news,the government have axed the emergency funding for the top ten worst rail stations in england,stockport,wigan north western crewe etc will get ziltch,whilst manchester victoria will get some more work done,but on a smaller scale,its gone from a 300 mil + redevelopment to 30 mil, now its scaled down again,its a joke

Well I am talking without experience of "Man Vic", but it is the same with any of our old stations, if they are reopened again or rebuilt or whatever, they never regain the character that they had originally, it is such a shame.
My favourite station for atmosphere when I was a kid, was Birmingham Snow Hill, the old Snow Hill. Not everyones "cup of tea" no doubt, but it was full of character and atmosphere, the same I dare say as Manchester Victoria.
Mind you, the OLD New Street had a lot of character as well but now it is a horrible place, no atmosphere at all...too modern.

48111

Having just spent 6 days in Manchester on a spotting/photo trip, I spent the evening rushour on Friday and Monday evenings at Victoria. I found it very interesting operation wise. With the ex Yorkshire units going into platforms 1 & 2 and the Lancashire locals into 3,4,5 & 6. I positioned myself on the West end of Platform 3 from where I could see most of the action (including the Metro). Platform 6 was almost impossible to see, it being so dark.
If HSE were on the ball, the toilets would be condemned, but they are the only ones available. They were stinking and badly needed a dose of bleach, but at least they were free. The Gents at Piccadilli station cost 30 pence; surely the dearest pee in Britain!

Liverpool Lime Street, Birmingham New Street & London Euston also charge 30p for the privilege, whereas many other main-line stations are completely free (e.g. Preston, Warrington Bank Quay, Crewe, Stafford, Bristol Temple Meads). Not sure why there is such a discrepency. I suppose it is true to say though that where you have to pay, the toilets are generally more modern and of a higher standard.

I know what you mean about Manchester Victoria though. Have travelled through there several times in the last few weeks. So glad the toilets are free, but yes they are in a bit of a state.

The notice they had outside which reads something like "due to repeated incidents of indecent behaviour, the area is now monitored by CCTV" can be a little off putting though.

i used to work in the victoria station buffet bar,as there were problems in the toilets on the main concourse-men looking for men ,drug taking etc,they closed the cubicles on the station,men used to come into the buffet bar toilets and do exactly the same,we then had to have a code to enter the toilets for the same reasons,only available from the bar,i used to clean those toilets each evening,once i found a pair of soiled tights in the mens,and myself and my boss caught a mother and daughter injecting drugs in the womens,this no doubt happens in lots of public places,to pay to have to use a toilet in a puplic place,with an attendant,i feel is worth every penny,they should be free,but would rather go to the loo and pay-rather than go when dodgy characters are hanging around in unstaffed loos.

track-relaying
 

the east end junction at manchester victoria was closed this sunday,as i was leaving victoria on the tram yesterday,their was a ballast train and they were track re-laying on the platform 6 up fast line,today i went past again and it looks like its been done right up the miles platting incline,those guys at network rail dont waste anytime.

I had the misfortune to use Preston in november it was chaos with no information useless signage and the buffet was something from the victorian era.A station that is great is Glasgow Central it is easy to use signage good and the info boards well positioned and readable not so sure about low level but at least it provides a good service.By the way the loo,s are clean and policed.Virgin run Preston so that say,s it all.

Do any of the posters on this thread remember the incident when a local train crashed through the buffers and finished up just short of the booking offices .

I was at the station a couple of weeks ago and, like the immediate area as you exit onto Hanging Ditch, it is, to say the least - a mess.

Hi Curtis,
In the last ten years they have built a new double faced platform for the Metro and platforms 1 & 2 for the Yorkshire terminating trains. Now you want more development?
Some people are never satisfied!

You can see why people dislike it though Tony.

I personally like Victoria station itself, but I'm a glass half full man. I don't like the way the Arena has attached itself to it like a great big sea mine, since it's the main reason in my opinion the place looks so dark and depressing. If the place was still full of natural light it would be a million times better.

The roof has also seen better days and to see it restored and the rest of the building polished up would make my day. :)

But yeah that damn Arena. It's "bad news". >_>

I remember the times of the nightly News Paper Trains coming ang going.
If you got legged up at Guide Bridge, you could always get home to Dewsbury on the 02:15 Leeds Papers.
This train did a shunt at Dewsbury from the down line to the up.
Then the lads from Menzies would unload the train and get them out to the newsagents.

victoria station.
 

Hi Tony,

We appear to be at slight cross purposes here.

I'm not critising the work that's been done in regards to platforms or any other related infrastructure.

My comments are aimed at the poor appearance of some of the retail outlets in the station hall, for example, the derelict sandwich shop located near the main entrance.Full of debris and assorted worn out fixtures and generally filthy it's not exactly a welcoming sight for the visitor - regular or casual.

Hope this clears up the matter

Curtis.

At one time Kirkgate was very busy with the pit trippers, traffic in and out of Cobra and of course traffic from Healey Mills before it closed.
At Kirkgate is a big triangle where you can turn trains.
Just a bit futher round this triangle is Calder Bridge Junction where the old Wakefield Depot was once situated and also Wakefield Power Station.
There are facilities at Calder Bridge to go East towards Normanton, and West to go through Kirkgate Station.If you take the west roads out of Kirkgate you can go upto Wakefield Westgate and Leeds and straight on for HM and Manchester.
All the platforms have permissive working.
To the east at Kirkgate there are an up and down loop, and Turners Lane Junction.
At one time we could sign on and off at Kirkgate, and there was a mess room on the down platform.
Kirkgate SB was situated at the eastern end of the platform, and it was a Porta Cabin,it is now situated in the old goods yard.
Staff were removed from this station in the late 1980's.

noticed in vic on sunday,where the old bank used to be next to the mens toilets,there is a planning application to open a shop selling alcohol,agree about the state of the good life shop,it doesnt look nice[how i miss that place]lovely hot pot they used to sell,and a cup of tea for 55p,the money is available for the roof and the refurb we were promised,but theres a 5 million shortfall, which will have to be found from elsewhere,i love victoria and think its still got that bit of magic about it,i dont think it looks dark anymore on the concourse,but it is on the metrolink platforms,the arena is horrible and much prefer the station more open as it used to be,but surely the arena bumps up passenger numbers?thats a good thing for the station,as well as the 1000 who are employed at jd williams in the arena complex,they use the trains and [sparse]shops on the station,passionate as i am about the once grand old vic,that i feel like standing with a collection tin on the concourse asking for donations to do the place up,hope it gets sorted soon as its the last place in manchester to have[serious]money spent on it..rant over.

the new mace retail outlet is now open in victoria,called in on friday,the old-good life shop is now a small cafe[pasty and a coffee is 3 quid]the rest is alcohol and basics for the every day commuter,this shop looks fine on the station,theres a cash machine too,but it charges.