Manchester Oxford Road railway station

"Oxford Road railway station" redirects here. For the former halt on the Varsity line, see Oxford Road Halt railway station.

Manchester Oxford Road
Location
Place	Manchester
Local authority	Manchester
Coordinates	53°28′26″N 2°14′32″W / 53.4739°N 2.2422°W / 53.4739; -2.2422Coordinates: 53°28′26″N 2°14′32″W / 53.4739°N 2.2422°W / 53.4739; -2.2422
Grid reference	SJ840974
Operations
Station code	MCO
Managed by	Northern Rail
Number of platforms	5
Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage
2004/05 *	0.562 million
2005/06 *	0.625 million
2006/07 *	4.331[1] million
2007/08 *	1.249[1] million
2008/09 *	5.212[1] million
2009/10 *	6.650 million
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	Greater Manchester
History
Original company	Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway
Pre-grouping	MSJA
Post-grouping	MSJA
20 July 1849	Opened
1960	Rebuilt
National Rail - UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Manchester Oxford Road from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Please note: methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

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Manchester Oxford Road Railway Station is a railway station in the city of Manchester, England.

The station is at the junction of Whitworth Street West and Oxford Street, on an elevated line between Deansgate and Piccadilly stations.

It serves the southern part of Manchester city centre, including the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University, and is on the most-served bus route in Europe,^[2] with up to 140 buses an hour serving various suburbs of south Manchester.^{[citation needed]} It also serves the BBC's Manchester studios and is within walking distance of Manchester's main shopping district.

The station has a ticket office, waiting rooms, automatic ticket gates, toilets, a buffet and a newsagent.

It stands on a line from Manchester Piccadilly westwards towards Liverpool, Preston and Blackpool. Trains in the eastbound direction go beyond Piccadilly to Crewe, Leeds, Sheffield and other towns across Northern England.

History

The station opened as Oxford Road on 20 July 1849 by the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway (MSJAR).^[3] The station was the headquarters of the MSJAR from opening until 1904. Initially it had two platforms and two sidings, with temporary wooden buildings. To allow for extra trains in connection with the Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition in Trafford in 1857, extra platforms and sidings were built. In 1874 the station was completely rebuilt. The station then had two bay platforms and three through platforms. Further reconstruction took place during 1903-04. From 1931 it was served by the MSJAR's 1500 VDC electric trains to Altrincham.

As the station had become dilapidated by the 1950s, and as part of the electrification and modernisation of the Manchester to London line, it was replaced by the current building in 1960 (architects W. R. Headley, Max Glendinning). This was designed in a distinctive style in concrete and wood with curves bringing to mind the Sydney Opera House. It is a grade II listed building. From July 1959 the Altrincham electric trains began terminating at Oxford Road in two new bay platforms, still with 1500V DC electrification. The remaining three platforms were electrified at 25 kV AC from Manchester Piccadilly, one of these being a terminus platform. The whole station was reopened on 12 September 1960.

Due to the closure of Manchester Central railway station in 1969, further rebuilding of Oxford Road station took place with one of the bay platforms being taken out of use and a new through platform being built (platform 1) and the others being renumbered accordingly. The track layout was also changed so that there were now four through platforms and one bay platform. In 1971 the whole station became electrified at 25 kV AC with the re-electrification of the line to Altrincham. From this point, local trains from Altrincham started running through to Piccadilly and on to Crewe, and Oxford Road became predominantly a through station, with many fewer trains terminating there.

Use of the station increased from May 1988 with the construction of the Windsor Link between Deansgate and Salford Crescent, linking the lines to the north and south of Manchester. This led to further investment in the station, including the installation of computer screens. For years the station's platform buildings were encased in scaffolding (to hold the structure up) and the whole station was in a sorry state: eventually refurbishment was completed in 2004.

In 1992 the station's original raison d'etre as the terminus for Altrincham disappeared with the conversion of the Altrincham line stopping service to light rail operation as part of Manchester Metrolink. Oxford Road, once served almost entirely by suburban stopping trains, now has many more longer-distance services as well.

Service pattern

Northern Rail

• 1tph to Hazel Grove
• 1tph to Preston
• 1tph to Southport
• 1tph to Liverpool Lime Street via Newton-le-Willows
• 2tph to Liverpool Lime Street via Warrington Central
• 2tph to Manchester Airport

First TransPennine Express

• 1tph to Liverpool Lime Street
• 1tph to Scarborough
• 1tph to Blackpool North
• 1tph to Lancaster, continuing alternately to Barrow-in-Furness and either Glasgow Central or Edinburgh
• 2tph to Manchester Airport

Arriva Trains Wales

• 1tph to Llandudno or Holyhead
• 1tph to Manchester Piccadilly

East Midlands Trains

• 1tph to Liverpool Lime Street
• 1tph to Norwich

This is reduced on a Sunday, most services operating hourly. There are various other peak services.

All eastbound trains (those to Hazel Grove, Scarborough, Nottingham, Norwich and Manchester Airport) also call at Manchester Piccadilly.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Figures not comparable because of changes in definition.
2. ^ "Manchester travel guide". http://wikitravel.org/en/Manchester#By_bus. Retrieved 2009-03-20. 
3. ^ Dixon, Frank (1994). The Manchester South Junction & Altrincham Railway (2nd ed.). Oxford: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-454-7. 

External links

• Images of England - photograph and details from listed building text

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Manchester Piccadilly		First TransPennine Express North TransPennine		Birchwood
Manchester Piccadilly		First TransPennine Express TransPennine North West		Deansgate
Manchester Piccadilly		East Midlands Trains Liverpool-Norwich		Birchwood or Warrington Central
Manchester Piccadilly		Arriva Trains Wales Chester to Manchester Line		Newton-le-Willows
Manchester Piccadilly		Northern Rail Liverpool to Manchester Line		Deansgate
Manchester Piccadilly		Northern Rail Liverpool to Manchester Airport Line		Newton-le-Willows
Manchester Piccadilly		Northern Rail Manchester to Preston Line		Deansgate
Manchester Piccadilly		Northern Rail Stafford-Manchester Line		Deansgate
Manchester Piccadilly		Northern Rail Manchester Airport-Southport		Salford Crescent
	Disused railways
Terminus		BR (London Midland Region) Mid-Cheshire Line		Sale 1969–89 Line closed, station open