Manchester closures could cause chaos for years. Two city centre stations could be closed at the same time, and the outcome could well be no better than it is today. Both stations feed into the Castlefield Corridor, a notorious bottleneck that constrains the whole North of England network. Choosing not to do anything has already cost multi-millions. Questions are being asked in Manchester about the wisdom of abandoning an ambitious enhancements programme, at the same time as proposing a highly disruptive and lengthy closure of a vital and historic city centre station.
Alarm bells ringing
Network Rail, the national infrastructure agency, has plans for Manchester Oxford Road, which is already the third busiest station in the city. It’s just that they haven’t shared many of those plans just yet. However, they are optimistic about the improvements. “It will deliver more reliable journeys, helping to address the current bottleneck between Deansgate and Piccadilly stations,” said a statement. “Our proposals will also enable longer trains and more services to use the station, meaning more passengers can access services.”
Alarm bells rang when Network Rail announced just two low-key drop-in sessions to examine the plans in more detail. Those sessions are scheduled for February. Local media has uncovered some concerning details about the plans. Possibly most puzzling is the claim that Oxford Road will be able to handle greater numbers, when its historic provision of six platforms is reduced to just three. Oxford Road’s four through platforms were augmented by two short-length terminating bays, which have been reduced to one, almost abandoned track. Operationally, three more versatile platforms may be more useful, even if the arithmetic doesn’t add up.