Plans to scrap new Manchester railway platforms condemned

Plans for two new platforms were first drawn up over a decade ago

A former rail boss has condemned scrapping plans to build two new platforms at a Manchester station.

The government announced £72m of investment in Manchester stations last month but plans for two new platforms at Manchester Piccadilly were pulled.

Former Head of Investment Planning at Transport for the North (TfN) Jim Bamford, said the new platforms were the only way to increase capacity.

The Department for Transport has been contacted for comment.

Plans were first put forward as a solution to congestion on the Castlefield route over a decade ago at an estimated cost of up to £800m, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Network Rail boss Tim Shoveller revealed other plans would be prioritised, including replacing the four platforms at Oxford Road station with three longer ones.

Speaking ahead of a meeting of metro mayors, council leaders and industry bosses at TfN's Rail North Committee in Leeds Mr Bamford, who retired in 2021, said building two new platforms at Piccadilly were needed to allow the region's rail services to run smoothly.

At the meeting, the committee will be asked to endorse a new approach to rail infrastructure improvements which would "avoid specifying outputs", such as calling for the new platforms at Piccadilly to be built, and instead focus on "outcomes".

Rail minister Huw Merriman announced a £72m upgrade package in Manchester in May

A TfN report will recommend the Castlefield corridor should carry no less than 16 trains per hour each way.

Mr Bamford said building new platforms at Piccadilly was the best way of achieving that.

"The report is quite right to restate that the government should deliver improvements with increased capacity in the Castlefield Corridor with no less than 16 trains per hour able to operate reliably," he said.

"As a 2019 Network Rail report states, that requires construction of two new platforms - 15 and 16 at Piccadilly - as 'no other option comes close to delivering 16 trains per hour'.

Last month, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham welcomed the £72m investment by the government which will pay for a third platform at Salford Crescent and new turnback tracks near Salford Central and Manchester Victoria and allow for improvements to be made to existing platforms at Victoria.

However, responding to the withdrawal of the plans for two new platform at Piccadilly, Mr Burnham called for a "coherent" plan for the railways in the north.

Network Rail said it had not ruled out revisiting the Piccadilly plans, but described the proposal as "hugely expensive" and "incredibly disruptive".