Manchester Central railway station

Manchester Central
General information
Location	City of Manchester
Platforms	9
History
Original company	Cheshire Lines Committee
Pre-grouping	Cheshire Lines Committee
Post-grouping	Cheshire Lines Committee London Midland Region of British Railways
Key dates
1 July 1880	Opened
5 May 1969	Closed

Manchester Central railway station is a former railway station in Manchester City Centre, England. One of Manchester's main railway terminals between 1880 and 1969, it now houses an exhibition and conference centre named Manchester Central.

History

The station was built between 1875 and 1880 by the Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC), and was officially opened on 1 July 1880. The architect was Sir John Fowler and the engineers were Richard Johnson, Andrew Johnston and Charles Sacré for the three companies which formed the CLC.

While the main station was being built a temporary facility called Manchester Free Trade Hall Station (after a landmark building nearby) was in use from 9 September 1877. This consisted of two wooden platforms serving four tracks. When Central opened the temporary station was converted to become Manchester Central Goods.

On 6 October 1965, The final victim of the Moors Murders, 17-year-old apprentice engineer Edward Evans was met at the station by Ian Brady before he was brutally killed with an axe.

Construction details

The overall roof is single span of an arched design. Materials - wrought-iron framework of lattice design, glass covered the middle half, timber (inside) and slate (outside) covered the outer quarters. The two gable screens were glazed in a square grid pattern with timber boarding surrounding the outer edges. It was 550 feet (168 m) long with a span of 210 feet (64 m), and was 90 feet (27 m) high at its apex above the railtracks. It was constructed by Andrew Handyside and Co.. The substructure and masonry partition were provided by Robert Neill and Sons of Manchester. Underneath the train shed there is a large brick undercroft with intersecting tunnel vaults. This was used for storage and was connected to the adjacent goods sidings by a carriage lift.

Manchester Central Station on a winter's day in 1961

A wooden building was erected at the front of the station, housing ticket offices, waiting rooms and so on. This was planned to be a temporary structure, to be replaced by a grander edifice, for example a hotel and railway offices as at London St Pancras, but the provisional construction remained in use until the station closed. The Midland Hotel was built by the Midland Railway in 1898-1903 on an adjacent site.

Railway usage

Manchester railways 1910

Midland lines

The Midland Railway (MR), one of the CLC's partners, at last had a secure Manchester terminus for its services, including its expresses to London St Pancras. Beginning in 1938, the London Midland and Scottish Railway (successor to the MR) ran two prestige expresses, The Palatine and the Peaks, the former stopping en route at Chinley, Millers Dale, Matlock, Derby and Leicester.

Between 1960 and 15 April 1966, during the electrification of the West Coast Main Line, Central Station was the terminus for the Midland Pullman, a streamlined blue six-coach diesel multiple unit. This stopped only at Cheadle Heath (now closed), before running fast to St Pancras.

Services through Millers Dale finished in 1968 when the line was closed. The station continued to provide local services for a while, but finally closed to passengers on 5 May 1969, when remaining services were switched to Manchester Piccadilly station.

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Terminus		Cheshire Lines Committee Manchester South District Line		Chorlton-cum-Hardy Line and station closed
		Cheshire Lines Committee Manchester to Liverpool Line		Trafford Park Line closed, station open
		Cheshire Lines Committee Mid-Cheshire Line		Sale Line closed, station open

Post-railway era

Dereliction and redevelopment

Central Station car park (1980)

Main article: Manchester Central (Conference Centre)

For over a decade, Central Station fell into a dilapidated state and was used as a car park. The property was eventually acquired by Greater Manchester Council and in 1982 work began on converting the abandoned building into an exhibition centre, which opened in 1986 as the Greater Manchester Exhibition and Conference Centre ("G-Mex") (later renamed Manchester Central in honour of its railway history). The undercroft was converted into a car park, serving also Bridgewater Hall nearby.

The advent of light rail

A Metrolink tram (1992)

The opening in 1992 of the Metrolink light rail system has seen the conversion of suburban heavy rail lines such as the former Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway to Altrincham, and there are further proposals to re-open the disused Cheshire Lines Committee route via Didsbury. With the introduction of Metrolink, rail services from south Manchester run once more to Central Station. However, instead of trains running into the Central Station arch, light rail vehicles now cross the railway viaduct and stop at Deansgate-Castlefield Metrolink station (formerly G-Mex). They then run down a ramp which runs parallel to Lower Mosley Street, alongside the south-eastern side of the former train shed, before reaching street level where they operate as trams and head towards St Peter's Square.

Gallery

• 
  Derelict station in 1981
• 
  Derelict platforms
• 
  Platform detail
• 
  Inside the derelict station
• 
  Looking towards the platforms
• 
  GMEX Centre in 2007
• 
  1894 map showing the location of Central Station

See also

• The Great Northern Warehouse A former railway building nearby, now a leisure/shopping complex
• Grade II* listed buildings in Greater Manchester

References

• A Guide to Civil Engineering in Manchester
• The Lincolnshire & East Yorkshire Transport Review.