Track & Signalling Upgrades Set for Manchester Piccadilly

Network Rail has announced investments of almost 8 million GBP to improve tracks, points and signalling systems on the southern approach to Manchester Piccadilly station.

The upgrades will be the first carried out since the 1980s, and will see the replacement of 11 sets of points, renewal of 9,000m of cabling, upgrade of timber sleepers and the modernisation of lineside equipment across six lines.

The works are expected to improve reliability at the station, with no trains set to run between the south and east of the city into the station for a period of nine days over between Saturday 14 and Sunday 22 February.

A number of trains from across the north will also be impacted by the essential upgrades, as well as direct connections to Manchester Airport station.

Services that typically run to and from Manchester Piccadilly will terminate at other stations, including Stockport, during the closure.

Whilst the train shed itself (platforms 1–12) will close; the station’s concourse will remain open to the public, with a limited westbound service operating from platforms 13 and 14.

Julien Dehornoy, Network Rail’s North West & Central deputy regional managing director, said:

We’re investing £7.9m in renewing the Piccadilly corridor, a stretch of track critical to the journeys of around 400,000 trains into Manchester every year.

This work is going to significantly reduce disruption for the many passengers who regularly use this route. Once the job is done, we will have a better, more reliable railway.

The major overhaul over six railway lines can only take place during a full railway closure and we are working closely with train operators, TfGM and Manchester City Council on alternative travel plans to keep people on the move, the full details on which will be published in mid-November.