The Anonymous Widower

Manchester Piccadilly, Liverpool Lime Street And Some Other Stations Compared

I am doing this exercise to get a handle on the scale of the problem at Platforms 13 and 14 at Manchester Piccadilly station.

In 2018/19, these were some passenger statistics for the two stations and some others.

• Birmingham New Street station handled 47.928 million passengers on its thirteen platforms or 3.62 million per platform per year.
• Brighton station handled 17.385 million passengers on its eight platforms or 2.17 million per platform per year.
• Bristol Temple Meads station handled 11.368 million passengers on its thirteen platforms or 0.87 million per platform per year.
• Cardiff station handled 14.205 million passengers on its eight platforms or 1.78 million per platform per year.
• Chelmsford station handled 8.927 million passengers on two platforms of 4.46 million per platform per year.
• Crewe station handled 3.318 million passengers on its twelve platforms or 0.28 million per platform per year.
• Deansgate station handled 0.458 million passengers on its two platforms or 0.23 million per platform per year.
• Doncaster station handled 3,918 million passengers on its nine platforms or 0.44 million per platform per year.
• East Croydon station handled 24.770 million passengers on its six platforms or 4.12 million per platform per year.
• Exeter St. Davids station handled 2.620 million passengers on its six platforms or 0.44 million per platform per year.
• Gatwick Airport station handled 21.225 million passengers on its seven platforms or 3.03 million per platform per year.
• Leeds station handled 30.839 million passengers on its seventeen train platforms or 1.81 million per platform per year.
• Leicester station handled 5.582 million passengers on its four platforms or 1.40 million per platform per year.
• Liverpool Lime Street station handled 14.221 million passengers on its eleven platforms or 1.29 million per platform per year.
• London Bridge station handled 61.308 million passengers on its fifteen platforms or 4.08 million per platform per year.
• London Fenchurch Street station handled 18.508 million passengers on its four platforms or 4.63 million per platform per year.
• London Paddington station handled 38.18 million passengers on its thirteen platforms or 2,94 million per platform per year.
• Manchester Oxford Road station handled 9.338 million passengers on its five platforms or 1.87 million per platform per year.
• Manchester Piccadilly station handled 30.252 million passengers on its fourteen platforms and two tram platforms or 1.89 million per platform per year.
• Manchester Victoria station handled 8.950 million passengers on its eight platforms or 1.12 million per platform per year.
• Newcastle station handled 8,914 million passengers on its twelve platforms or 0.74 million per platform per year.
• Nottingham station handled 8.005 million passengers on its nine platforms or 0.89 million per platform per year.
• Peterborough station handled 5.060 million passengers on its seven platforms or 0.72 million per platform per year.
• Preston station handled 4.646 million passengers on its nine platforms or 0.52 million per platform per year.
• Reading station handled 17.081 million passengers on its fifteen platforms or 1.14 million per platform per year.
• York station handled 9.991 million passengers on its eleven platforms or 0.90 million per platform per year.

These figures have given rise to a few thoughts.

Brighton

Brighton station is an eight platform terminal station, that handles a lot of passengers, considering that the City doesn’t have any mass transit system and passengers rely on walking, bicycles, buses and private cars for onward travel.

• There are upwards of eight trains per hour (tph) at the station to and from London, all of which can be up to twelve cars.
• The West Coastway and East Coastway Lines have at least six tph in the Off Peak.
• Arriving passengers can walk straight through the wide gate line and out to walking routes and the buses, with leaving passengers walking the other way.

I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that Brighton station is at capacity.

Chelmsford

It is truly remarkable that Chelmsford station is the second busiest station in terms of passengers per platform per year on my list.

• The station has two separate platforms on either side of the tracks.
• Access is via wide stairs and lifts.
• The station appears to handle five tph in both directions in the Off Peak, with up to twice that number in the Peak.
• Most trains calling at the station are between eight and twelve cars.
• Chelmsford station could get even busier in terms of passengers when the new longer Class 720 trains and Class 745 trains are brought into service in the next twelve months, as these trains have higher capacities, than the current trains.
• It is aimed, that the new trains though will have level access between train and platform, at some point in the future.

I very much feel, that Chelmsford shows what can be done at an ordinary two platform station with the application of good simple design.

London Fenchurch Street

London Fenchurch Street is the busiest station on my list.

• The limited number of platforms will increase the number of passengers per platform per year.
• The station has two entrances to each platform.
• Arriving passengers can walk straight through the wide gate line at the main entrance and down escalators to walking routes at street level, with leaving passengers walking the other way.
• Many trains in the Peak are twelve cars.
• Adding extra platforms would be difficult.

It does appear, that work has been done to maximise the station’s capacity.

Crewe, Doncaster, Exeter St. Davids, Newcastle, Peterborough, Preston and York

All these stations are interchange stations on the main lines, that may have been improved, but have not been substantially rebuilt.

They all manage to handle between 0.5 million and 1 million passengers per platform per year.

Leeds

Leeds station has been improved over the last few years.

• There are six through platforms and eleven where trains can terminate.
• After passing through the gate line, passengers are in a concourse from where long distance services to London and the North and local services to Bradford, Harrogate, Ilkley and Skipton can be boarded.
• A new wide bridge with escalators, a lift and steps leads from this concourse across the through lines and platforms to the other side of the station.
• There are lifts and escalators from the bridge to some of the through platforms and the terminating platforms beyond them.
• At the far side of the bridge, a new Southern entrance has been added.

<The bridge works well and shows how a wide bridge over or a wide concourse under the tracks, can improve circulation in a station.

If you compare the bridge at Leeds, with the bridge at Reading, which was designed at around the same time, the Reading one is better in that it is wider and has more escalators, with one up and one down escalator to each pair of platforms.

Was a certain amount of design at Leeds station performed by accountants?

London Bridge

London Bridge station shows what can be done by applying good design in a new or rebuilt station.

• There are nine through and six terminal platforms.
• All platforms can take full-length twelve-car trains.
• There is a massive concourse underneath all fifteen platforms.
• There are lots of escalators and lifts between the concourse and the platforms.
• Steps provide additional and reserve capacity.
• Passengers changing between routes can take an escalator or lift to the concourse and another one to their new route.
• Arriving passengers can walk straight through the wide gate lines and out to walking routes, the Underground and the buses, with leaving passengers walking the other way.
• London Bridge station was designed by Grimshaw Architects

It is a design with a wow factor that works very well.

Reading

Reading station is another good design applied to a rebuilt station.

• There are nine through platforms,  three East-facing bay platforms and three West-facing bay platforms.
• All through platforms can take full-length trains.
• All bay platforms are a level walk from the Southernmost through platform and the main entrance gate line to the station.
• There is a massive bridge over all nine through platforms.
• There are lots of escalators and lifts between the bridge and the through platforms.
• Steps provide additional and reserve capacity.
• Passengers changing between routes can take an escalator or lift to the bridge and another one to their new route.
• Arriving passengers can walk straight through the wide gate lines and out to walking routes, the car-parks and the buses, with leaving passengers walking the other way.
• Reading station was designed by Grimshaw architects.

It is a design with a wow factor that works very well.

Redesigning Manchester Piccadilly

Could some of the principles of these stations be applied to rebuilding Manchester Piccadilly station?

There are currently twelve terminal platforms numbered 1-12 in the main part of the station.

• Platforms 1 to 4 are used for services to Marple, New Mills, Rose Hill and Sheffield via the Hope Valley Line, and services on the Glossop Line.
• Platforms 5 to 9 are the longest and used by Avanti West Coast and CrossCountry services.
• Platforms 10 to 12 are shorter than the others and are usually used to accommodate local trains to Crewe and Manchester Airport, plus Mid-Cheshire line, Buxton Line and South Wales services.

The two through platforms 13 and 14 are on the Southern side of the station.

These ideas might be possible.

A Wide Bridge Or Concourse Connecting The Platforms At The London End

Currently, there is a bridge over the platforms 1 to 12 at the London end, but compared to the bridges at Leeds or Reading stations, it is a rather feeble affair.

• It is narrow.
• It doesn’t have any kiosks or shops.
• It is only connected to the platforms by steps.

Could this be replaced by a wide bridge, like say the one at Reading?

It would certainly give advantages if it could!

• Passengers arriving in Manchester Piccadilly needing to change to another service, might find it more convenient to use the bridge, rather than exit on to the main concourse.
• The bridge could be designed as a waiting area, with kiosks, shops, cafes and other facilities.
• The bridge would be connected to all platforms by escalators and lifts.
• Steps would provide additional and reserve capacity.

Note that if you buy a ticket to Manchester stations, that allows you to go to either Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Oxford Road, Deansgate or Manchester Victoria stations, So a quick route up and down an escalator at the London end of Piccadilly station to Platform 14 would be very convenient.

Access To Platforms 13 And 14

Compared to the wide island platforms at Leeds and Reading, platform 13 and 14 are a bit narrow, but I’m fairly sure, that a good layout for escalators and lifts could be designed, so that access to these two platforms can be improved.

Trains Through Platforms 13 and 14

These must be arranged, so that they are all similar with wide double doors and step-free access between platform and train.

Improvement Along The Castlefield Corridor

Various improvements need to be done on the Castlefield Corridor.

• Deansgate can be improved to provide better access to the Metrolink at Castlefield.
• Manchester Oxford Road station needs a complete rebuilt and a better track layout.
• The Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Airport service via Warrington and Manchester Oxford Road needs a strong rethink.

It appears that it has already been decided to reduce the number of trains, as I wrote about in Castlefield Corridor Trade-Off Plan For Fewer Trains.

Wide Gate Lines

Passengers arriving at Manchester Piccadilly station in the main part of the station should be able to walk forward to a gate line stretching right across all the platforms.

• The present gate line isn’t continuous.
• There is still a lot of manual checking of tickets.

The current layout can certainly be improved.

Access To Metrolink

I also wonder if better access to the Metrolink could be provided, so that passengers access the Metrolink station from inside the gate line. Now that the Metrolink allows contactless ticketing, this might be easier.

Conclusion

I believe there’s a solution in there somewhere!

March 21, 2020 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Architecture, Brighton Station, Castlefield Corridor, Chelmsford Station, Leeds Station, London Bridge Station, Manchester Metrolink, Manchester Piccadilly Station, Manchester Victoria Station, Reading Station