Manchester Victoria Station - History

History

In 1838 Samuel Brooks, vice-chairman of the Manchester and Leeds Railway (M&LR) bought land at Hunt's Bank close to the cathedral and presented it to the company for a station to replace the inconveniently located Manchester Oldham Road railway station opened by the company on 3 July 1839. The station was initially a long, low single-storey building designed by George Stephenson and completed by John Brogden on 1 January 1844. It was named Victoria by permission of Her Majesty. The long single platform handled M&LR trains to Leeds and elsewhere at its eastern end. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway extended its line from Ordsall, near the original Manchester Liverpool Road railway station, and its trains operated from Victoria's western end from 4 May 1844.

By the mid-1840s six railway companies operated from the station connecting Manchester to London, Glasgow, Liverpool, Leeds and Sheffield. Victoria Station came to dominate the Long Millgate area and was one of the biggest passenger stations in Britain.

Victoria was enlarged by William Dawes, who is responsible for most of the remaining facade, in 1909. The enlarged building was erected on land consecrated as a burial ground on 1 January 1815 by the Bishop of Chester; this land was acquired by the Manchester and Leeds Railway in 1844. It was enlarged to 17 platforms. Wealthy commuters travelled from Blackpool and Southport rather faster than is possible today (e.g. 45 minutes from Southport in 1910, 67 today; and 65 minutes from Blackpool in 1910, 77 today) in specially-constructed club cars hauled by express steam locomotives. These non-stop services were abandoned in the early 1960s.

The Edwardian building has a 160 yards (146 m) facade, which carries an iron and glass canopy bearing the names of the original destinations served, and a tile mural depicting the routes of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, which operated most of the trains from the station between 1847 and 1923, when it became one of the main constituents of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. Canopies covered the waiting area for taxi cabs until they were damaged in the Provisional IRA 1996 bombing. They have been restored. The cast-iron train sheds behind the façade are 700 yards (640 m) long. Initially the station was approached by a wooden footbridge over the River Irk, which has subsequently disappeared beneath culverting alongside the cathedral.

From 1884, Victoria Station was adjacent to Manchester Exchange Station, operated by the rival London and North Western Railway, and, from 1929, a single passenger platform which linked the stations was the longest passenger platform in Europe at 2,194 feet (669 m). Exchange Station closed in 1969 and its services were transferred to Victoria. Its site opposite the cathedral is now a car park.

In the early 1970s, as part of the Picc-Vic tunnel project, there were proposals to build an underground station, Victoria Low Level. The project was cancelled and subsequent rail improvements concentrated on surface projects and the introduction of light rail.

Victoria is the main station for the Manchester Arena, which was joined to the station between 1992 and 1996 by means of a raft above the through rail platforms. The principal access to the Arena is via stairs on Hunts Bank and an entrance from the main station concourse. During construction of the arena, the station was reduced significantly in size. Most of its through tracks were removed, along with the former platforms 12—17, their overall roof and platform buildings.