Friday 2 Aug 2013
Raising the roof at Manchester Victoria station
- Region & Route:
Passengers using Manchester’s Victoria station are only one year away from enjoying a newly revitalised, lighter and brighter station as part of a £44m investment programme being delivered by Network Rail.
The project to rebuild the station includes replacing four sections of the old, leaky steel roof which will be recycled and replaced with a stunning new roof which will flood the station with natural light.
Dyan Crowther, Network Rail route managing director said: “Rebuilding Manchester Victoria is an integral part of our investment plans for the North which will help provide over £4bn worth of wider economic benefits to the region. The refurbished station will be safer, brighter and more spacious and will transform Victoria into a transport interchange able to cope with the expected increase in passenger numbers in the north.”
Lee Wasnidge, Area Director for Northern Rail said: “As the old roof is dismantled and a new Manchester Victoria starts to appear, our customers will be able to see the station transform before them. This refurbishment project will not only help provide additional rail capacity to the city but will also preserve the heritage of the station while providing a bright and modern environment for our customers.”
Councillor Andrew Fender, Chair of the Transport for Greater Manchester Committee, said: “The new roof for Victoria is one of the most striking changes being made and something that regular passengers will no doubt welcome with open arms. It’s key to the transformation of the station to a welcoming, world class facility and I very much look forward to its completion.”
Demolition teams are working throughout the summer to remove the old roof and will shortly be installing new steel beams up to 120 meters long which will support the new roof structure. The roof is due for completion in summer 2014 with the station refurbishment scheduled for completion early in 2015.
Notes to editors
The concourse at Manchester Victoria will be partially closed on Sunday 11 August from 14.00 hours until the early hours of Monday morning to facilitate dismantling of the roof section
The concourse will be closed from the toilets near Soldier’s Gate to Northern Rail’s Customer Information Point. There will be no access to the station platforms from Long Millgate or Victoria Station Approach:
- access to the station will be from the bottom of platform three. The entrance and exit will be clearly marked with additional staff on duty to assist customers
- platforms one and two will be out of use
- platforms four, five and six can be accessed by the over bridge as normal
- the ticket office will be open as normal with additional staffing in place
- train services will be running as normal with some platform alterations.
Please allow extra time for your journey and if you have any questions, please speak to a member of Northern Rail staff.
The Victoria Metrolink stop will also be closed with the nearest station, Shudehill around 120m from Victoria
Built in 1844, Manchester Victoria is a transport interchange station for train, tram and bus welcoming over six million passengers annually
Various parts of the Victoria building are Grade II listed
Labelled as Britain’s ‘worst station’ in 2009 (DfTs “Better Stations” report), the current facilities meet neither basic passenger expectations nor project the welcoming modern image expected by the many visitors arriving into Manchester
Manchester Victoria is at the heart of Network Rail’s investment plans for the North to to stimulate economic growth and enable up to 700 more trains to run across the north every day carrying 44m more passengers per year
The redevelopment of the station includes:
Improvements to the footbridge spanning platforms 3-6 allowing for future growth in passenger numbers
The old leaky roof replaced with a stunning new roof structure made from ETFE, the same material used at the Eden Project and the roof at Manchester Piccadilly station
Sympathetic refurbishment to Grade II listed parts of the Victoria Buildings, (including the war memorial, glass dome, Soldiers Gate and the wall map) restoring them to their former glory
• Refurbishment of the external glass canopy, new lighting and glazed entrances to revitalise the Victoria Buildings
• Revamp of existing retail spaces and provision of new retail facilities for a better shopping experience
• Improvements to the ticket hall and external improvements to the paving on station approach
• The Metrolink facilities in Victoria are being upgraded to provide additional capacity as the network expands, this work is being incorporated into the re-roofing works
• Electrified rail lines to the station
Contact information
Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41
Latest travel advice
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Journalists
Network Rail press office - North West & Central Region
0330 854 0100
NWCmediarelations@networkrail.co.uk
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