Manchester Piccadilly station
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Manchester Piccadilly station is the principal railway station of Manchester in England. It serves intercity routes to London Euston, Birmingham New Street and the south, Glasgow Central, and routes throughout the north of England. It is one of two major railway stations in Manchester, the other being Manchester Victoria.
The station was originally opened in 1842 as London Road station, the terminus of the Manchester and Birmingham Railway. The terminal part of the station contains 12 platforms, while the busiest part of the station is platforms 13 and 14 which served the former Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway, (opened in 1849), which provides the only through route for trains running through Manchester from southeast to northwest (e.g. Bournemouth - Reading - Birmingham - Manchester - Preston - Glasgow).
In 1911 a second terminal, Mayfield station, was opened to cope with the huge volume of passengers. It was closed again to passengers in 1952, serving as a goods depot for some time after that. The now-disused building is still intact and visible across Fairfield Street from platforms 13 and 14.
The station was renamed Manchester Piccadilly when it was rebuilt in 1960 for the new electric train services to London. The glass roof over the terminal platforms was completely replaced in the late 1990s. In 2001-2002, as part of preparations for the 2002 Commonwealth Games the remainder of the station was rebuilt, greatly increasing the size of the station concourse and improving access for road traffic.
In the mid 1990s the station undercroft (2 levels below the main rail platforms) was converted to provide two platforms for the Manchester Metrolink tram system, where Piccadilly station is currently the terminus for services to Bury, Altrincham, and Eccles.
Piccadilly station handles approximately 1,000 train movements daily.
External links
- Station information (http://www.networkrail.co.uk/Stations/stations/manchesterpiccadilly/Default.aspx) on Manchester Piccadilly station from Network Rail
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