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Manchester Victoria or Manchester Piccadilly

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Philip

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With the completion of the recent refurbishment of Manchester Victoria, I'm wondering which of these two mainline Manchester stations people prefer to use, or which do you like more - and why?

And slightly differing from the theme, but when you think of Manchester and London mainline stations, which station in each city first comes to your mind? I'm not including Birmingham and Liverpool here because these are pretty obvious.
 
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unlevel42

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For me the most useful Manchester station is Oxford Road.
I always look to see if I can make my connection there rather than at Piccadilly or cross town.
 

D6975

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When I was much younger you didn't have a choice, most destinations were only realistically reachable from one or the other. Back then Vic was a very nice station to sit on, not the dank hole that it is now. Nowadays lots of places like Leeds and Liverpool and others can be reached from both, so now it's Pic that's the better place to sit and has decent food options too.
 
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Victoria for me as its the nearest station for TPE Trains.
Its always been a Favourite of mine since being a child.

Piccadilly [2nd] If I wish to travel to London or the south coast.
 

deltic

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When I was much younger you didn't have a choice, most destinations were only realistically reachable from one or the other. Back then Vic was a very nice station to sit on, not the dank hole that it is now. Nowadays lots of places like Leeds and Liverpool and others can be reached from both, so now it's Pic that's the better place to sit and has decent food options too.
When I was young Victoria was a dark desolate place only enlivened by Class 40s on freights being banked and the very occassional Deltic on a transpennine service. The highlight at Piccaddily was seeing what would bring in the Harwich Boat Train. Both were pretty dead stations on a weekday afternoon when I bunked off games at school to go spotting in the 1970s. Both stations now are far busier and light years better than they were in the past.
 

YorkshireBear

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Victoria as it has faster trains to Leeds and is closer to a lot of the socialising I do in the city centre.
 

LNW-GW Joint

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Piccadilly has the best facilities, Oxford Road is the most convenient for the city centre but is a dump, and Victoria is much improved but fails to impress, especially the platforms under the Arena.
I guess Picc and Vic now have roughly similar Metrolink services (none at Oxford Road without a walk)
Connectivity across Manchester would have been much improved if the Ordsall Curve had delivered 3tph as promised. 1tph is useless.
Victoria and Oxford Road work badly as termini.
Salford Central is near to Victoria but is badly sited from a railway point of view; platforms on the Liverpool/Chord lines would make things even worse.
 

miami

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Deansgate was always my favourite as a kid. Ultimately depends where you want to go though, very few places where you can reasonably choose between the two.
 

GRALISTAIR

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Piccadilly has the best facilities, Oxford Road is the most convenient for the city centre but is a dump, and Victoria is much improved but fails to impress, especially the platforms under the Arena.
That would be my summary too. Manchester Victoria has the most happy memories for me. I used to get the Northern Counties Transport Society coach from outside the station and have a pint in (The Dome?? I think) 1970s. In the 1980s I used to do Peak and Generator bashing from Victoria too. Not as much fun these days - too dark and dank.
 

Dr Hoo

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With the completion of the recent refurbishment of Manchester Victoria, I'm wondering which of these two mainline Manchester stations people prefer to use, or which do you like more - and why?
Could you clarify which elements you regard as 'recent? Has there just been some 'ribbon cutting' ceremony that I've missed?

(For practical purposes I haven't been there since Covid broke.)
 

cle

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Victoria is under-rated as a location in town. When I lived in Manchester, it was a forgotten, dark little place for trains to Oldham and Rochdale/.

Manchester's centre of gravity moved somewhat towards Victoria with the Selfridges, Printworks etc developments ~2000, but then moved back towards Piccadilly as the NQ and Ancoats exploded, culturally. Overall, the city has grown in every direction and a lot overall, and jobs are dotted all over - plus the western edges of Castlefied towards Cornbrook, and of course, the Quays.

In short, they all matter and play a bigger role as the city has grown. It really depends on where you're coming in from. I always think the Wales services could be consolidated out of Victoria (mainly to make a hub for Warrington and Chester fasts, along with Chat Moss) - and Piccadilly is West Midlands and South West/East. They mostly are delineated in a clear enough way.
 

Mcr Warrior

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With the completion of the recent refurbishment of Manchester Victoria, I'm wondering which of these two mainline Manchester stations people prefer to use, or which do you like more - and why?
Think it depends on where you are going. Getting to somewhere like Hebden Bridge is fairly impractical to/from Piccadilly, whereas somewhere like Glossop is not so good to/from Victoria.

Valid question, though, if you have a genuine choice of Manchester stations, for example when travelling to/from somewhere like Huddersfield.

And in answer to the OP's question, reckon I prefer departing from Piccadilly and arriving at Victoria.
 

miami

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I always think the Wales services could be consolidated out of Victoria (mainly to make a hub for Warrington and Chester fasts, along with Chat Moss) - and Piccadilly is West Midlands and South West/East. They mostly are delineated in a clear enough way.

The Cardiff ones too? How much extra does going from Crewe, squeezing through Winsford, upto Warrington, then across take?


Currently it's about 35 minutes from Picadilly to Crewe. From Victoria to Bank Quay is about 30 minutes, then another 20 even if the paths could be made work.
 

Philip

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Could you clarify which elements you regard as 'recent? Has there just been some 'ribbon cutting' ceremony that I've missed?

(For practical purposes I haven't been there since Covid broke.)
I meant the work which was completed within the last 5 or so years, renovating the western side of the station.
 

flixtonman

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As a former resident in the south of Manchester, I preferred to use Manchester Piccadilly simply because my local train service went directly to and from there - and it was nearer to my place of work than Manchester Victoria.
Further, by using Manchester Piccadilly, I could reach every station accessible from Manchester Victoria by one change at Salford Crescent via a more frequent direct service than the direct service currently between Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Victoria.
In addition, the south-bound rail services from Manchester Piccadilly are far better than those from Manchester Victoria, and the west-bound and Wales-bound services are at least as good or, if not at least as good, better than the disadvantages associated in journeying to Manchester Victoria to access its services to the same places.
Finally, there remains much that is glorious about Manchester Victoria in terms of its ambience and history - but it is not an appropriate gateway to Manchester in 2021.
 

WatcherZero

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Victoria is the most convenient for the areas of the city that I frequent, Piccadilly is the more pleasant station experience though.
 

flixtonman

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I should have dealt with the last part of Philip's question, namely - which station in Manchester first comes to mind. I suggest, tentatively, that it is Manchester Piccadilly [formerly Manchester London Road for this purpose] on the basis that there were more 'named' trains from Piccadiily/London Road. I have not researched the facts in support of this suggestion, so I am happy to be corrected and therefore enlightened.
 

185

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Neither. Both have become crowded, cramped and horrid since the gatelines arrived. Imo.

Victoria's gateline should be moved back, all steps removed - station steps to footbridge relocated, the lift in the middle of the concourse & all arena steps removed - relocated outside the station totally. Better platform lighting on 3-6 and build a new wider footbridge at the centre of platforms with access down on both sides of it.

Piccadilly should have all catering & retail outlets in the centre removed & demolished, move the ticket office under the tower block and open the crowded concourse up, ie destroy 'the mall' - dark and dingy.
 
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GrimsbyPacer

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Piccadilly is effectively two separate stations, platforms 13 & 14 are so far to reach via lifts and supermarket conveyor belts, we find it easier to get off at Stockport in Cheshire to get on trains through Manchester to Blackpool, and Liverpool. It's no good as an interchange at least from a Trans-Pennine South Line perspective.

Oxford Road and Victoria are better.
 

Revaulx

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When I started commuting into Manchester at the start of Gramnar School I had a choice: electric to Oxford Road or diesel to Central. Whenever possible I’d opt for the latter, despite it being far less handy for the bus to school. Alas I no longer had a choice after a few months :frown:

Oxford Road, and the Piccadilly through platforms, were actually perfectly pleasant places when they only had to accommodate the services for which they were designed. Both are absolute hellholes now though.

Pre 1940 Blitz, the Victoria-Exchange complex must have been seriously impressive. The extensive bomb damage was never properly repaired, and they became desperately run down and sad. The 1990 massacre of what was left was an absolute disaster, and the “recent refurbishment” is distinctly underwhelming.

Java is a great little coffee shop though.
 

billio

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Victoria is under-rated as a location in town. When I lived in Manchester, it was a forgotten, dark little place for trains to Oldham and Rochdale/.

Manchester's centre of gravity moved somewhat towards Victoria with the Selfridges, Printworks etc developments ~2000, but then moved back towards Piccadilly as the NQ and Ancoats exploded, culturally. Overall, the city has grown in every direction and a lot overall, and jobs are dotted all over - plus the western edges of Castlefied towards Cornbrook, and of course, the Quays.

In short, they all matter and play a bigger role as the city has grown. It really depends on where you're coming in from. I always think the Wales services could be consolidated out of Victoria (mainly to make a hub for Warrington and Chester fasts, along with Chat Moss) - and Piccadilly is West Midlands and South West/East. They mostly are delineated in a clear enough way.
To some extent I would agree with this, but ... . From my own experience coming from Leeds it is very useful to have trains that call at all three major stations - Piccadilly, Victoria, Oxford Road - because from time to time it is more convenient to alight or board from a particular station. My only irritation was the service to Eccles which at the time I was going there required an almost 30 minute wait at Victoria. But still, waiting was much quicker than the tram.
(Off-topic : it is a shame that Leeds does not have a TPE station at the eastern end of the city centre as that would be most useful.)
 

ClagLover

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I prefer Piccadilly for convenience and facilities but I have a huge soft spot for the tiled map in Victoria
 

YorksLad12

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Piccadilly is effectively two separate stations, platforms 13 & 14 are so far to reach via lifts and supermarket conveyor belts, we find it easier to get off at Stockport in Cheshire to get on trains through Manchester to Blackpool, and Liverpool. It's no good as an interchange at least from a Trans-Pennine South Line perspective.
It was two stations originally, I thought? But with what are now P13 & 14 a bit further west?

For me it's Piccadilly from Leeds. As a relative latecomer to trans-Pennine train travel that's where I always ended up. For work tha usually means 2 Piccadilly Place, then 4 Piccadilly Place ;)

But if heading to Liverpool, Victoria every time.
 

js1000

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I don't think they're bad stations. Likewise Oxford Road.

They've just been outgrown by Manchester's growth over the past 10-20 years. A lot of the infrastructure such as the footbridge over Victoria or platforms 13/14 were never designed for the amount of passengers that now use these stations. One of the advantages of Covid is that platforms 13/14 are a lot more manageable and less of a scrum which they became after May 2018 timetable changes.
 

Vinnym

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Travelling to Manchester from Liverpool, I prefer Victoria. The service is quicker and pre Covid 2 tph and you don’t have to suffer the awful congestion that is 13-14 at Piccadilly
 

jfollows

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It was two stations originally, I thought? But with what are now P13 & 14 a bit further west?
Are you thinking of Mayfield, which closed to passengers after the western electrification but remained in use for parcels for quite a number of years - with the goods bridge over to the Post Office building on the eastern side of the layout (which ended up with "farting" in the windows before it was repurposed again)? I suspect you are.

EDIT per Wikipedia: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Mayfield_railway_station)
The site was converted into a parcels depot, which opened on 6 July 1970.[4] Royal Mailconstructed a sorting office on the opposite side of the main line and connected it to Mayfield with an overhead conveyor bridge, which crossed the throat of Piccadilly station. The depot closed in 1986, following the decision by Parcelforce, Royal Mail's parcels division, to abandon rail transport in favour of road haulage. The building has remained disused since then,[13] with the tracks into Mayfield removed in 1989, as part of the remodelling of the Piccadilly station layout. The sorting office was briefly reused as an indoor karting track, but has now been rebuilt as the Square One development, prestige offices used by Network Rail; the parcel conveyor bridge was removed in 2003.
...and for many months if not years someone modified the "k" in "karting" to be an "f"

I went to a meal there (Mayfield) a couple of years ago and now the site is being repurposed which is good news.
 
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Statto

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Victoria, easier interchange to Metrolink than Piccadilly, although the platforms are awful under the Arena, Piccadilly is a pain in the backside when going to/from P13/P14, but Piccadilly has the better facilities.
 

HSP 2

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I the old (70s - 80s) day it was Victoria for me, a big Victoriana station with clear air above the through roads, the third rail electrics in the bay platforms. What have we got now a massive concrete block over all of the main platforms whose platforms are mainly used by Diesel trains. But the tram platforms have got that huge "glass" dome over them. Saying that thank god all of that Victoriana survived the rebuild.
In the old days I didn't use Pic that much as IIRC the rover ticket wasn't valid there. Use it more than Vic. now as it's a direct service to and from home plenty of shops and lots of fresh air.
I've always surprised that Mayfield has not been mentioned as the starting point for the widening of the Castle field corridor.
 

Dr Hoo

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I generally agree with the majority. Victoria is better for city centre location and Metrolink interchange. Piccadilly is far and away the best for facilities.

Coming into Manchester from the Hope Valley (or returning to there after a long day) the shops and refreshment choices at Piccadilly are really convenient. I don't have access to a Boots, Sainsbury's, M&S, Greggs, etc. locally.

I'll take the, ahem, bracing fresh air of P13&14 at Piccadilly over the dingy fume-logged through platforms at Victoria any day.

(I must admit that I have always disliked Victoria, even back to the old station, which I just recall in steam days. It somehow seemed to me to be mainly a parcels depot with passengers allowed to pass through it. The surviving historic and architectural bits are all very charming in their own way but just not very 'useful'.)
 
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