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Tuesday 15 Sep 2026

Step change as Manchester Victoria gets major staircase upgrades

Region & Route:

North West & Central

| North West & Central: North West

Staircases at Manchester Victoria station are being overhauled as part of a multi-million-pound investment to improve future journeys for passengers.

Network Rail is building two new flights of stairs on the main link bridge between the station concourse and platforms 4, 5 and 6.

The work will take place from September 2026 until Spring 2027 and has been planned to cause the least disruption to station users as possible.

Currently there are staircases on one side of the bridge. The new stairs are being added opposite – doubling access from the footbridge to platforms and making it easier for those on foot get to and from their train.

Manchester Victoria is one of the busiest stations in the North West - serving 8.3 million passengers annually according to latest figures*.

Construction of the new stairs will take place from September until March. While it won’t impact train services, the look and feel of the station will be different during the work.

Platforms 4, 5 and 6 will be shortened and the closed sections will become the worksite for project contractor Story Contracting Ltd.

The lifts on the link bridge will always remain accessible for passengers throughout both phases of the staircase renewal project.

Network Rail is working closely with station operator Northern to minimise disruption to people as much as possible.

Nicky Gill, Network Rail sponsor, said: "The stair and footbridge improvements at Manchester Victoria station are part of a wider investment across the North West to improve and increase train services in the coming years. When complete it will immediately improve how passengers move between the main concourse and platforms. In the longer-term it’ll mean more trains can serve the station in future.

“We’ve carefully planned our work around events at Manchester AO Arena during the project and are working closely with all train operators while it takes place. I’d like to thank people in advance for their patience while we complete these important upgrades.”

Tony Keeling, Northern Manchester Victoria station manager, said: “We're really pleased this important project is about to get underway as these new staircases will make more space for passengers to access platforms.

“We’ll be working hard to minimise the impact on passengers while the work is being done and will have staff on hand to provide assistance to anyone who needs it.”

Dan Smithson, Story Contracting head of operations, said: “We're proud to be playing our part in improving Manchester Victoria Station for the millions of people who use it each year. 

“Delivering major improvements in a live station environment requires careful planning and close collaboration between all project partners. Our focus will be on delivering the work safely and efficiently, while keeping disruption to passengers and day-to-day station operations to a minimum throughout the project.”

This is one of several projects to improve rail capacity across the North West as part of the Manchester Rail Upgrade between now and the mid 2030s.