Deansgate-Castlefield is a
tram stop
A tram stop, tram station, streetcar stop, or light rail station is a place designated for a tram, streetcar, or light rail vehicle to stop so passengers can board or alight it. Generally, tram stops share most characteristics of bus stops, ...
on
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...
's
Metrolink light rail system, on
Deansgate in the
Castlefield
Castlefield is an inner-city conservation area in Manchester, North West England. The conservation area which bears its name is bounded by the River Irwell, Quay Street, Deansgate and Chester Road. It was the site of the Roman era fort of Mam ...
area of
Manchester city centre
Manchester City Centre is the central business district of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England situated within the confines of Great Ancoats Street, A6042 Trinity Way, and A57(M) Mancunian Way which collectively form an inner ring road. ...
. It opened on 27 April 1992 as G-Mex tram stop, taking its name from the adjacent G-Mex Centre, a concert, conference and exhibition venue; the G-Mex Centre was rebranded as
Manchester Central in 2007, prompting the Metrolink stop to be renamed on 20 September 2010. The station underwent redevelopment in 2014–15 to add an extra platform in preparation for the completion of the Second City Crossing in 2016–17.
Deansgate-Castlefield serves as a
transport hub
A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles and/or between transport modes. Public transport hubs include railway stations, rapid transit stations, bus stops, tram stops, airports and ferry slips. F ...
by integrating with
National Rail
National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the ...
services from
Deansgate railway station
Deansgate is a railway station in Manchester city centre, England, west of Manchester Piccadilly, close to Castlefield at the junction of Deansgate and Whitworth Street West. It is part of the Manchester station group.
It is linked to Deansga ...
by a footbridge. Exits from the station lead to the
Great Northern Warehouse
The Great Northern Warehouse is the former railway goods warehouse of the Great Northern Railway in Manchester city centre, England, which was refurbished into a leisure complex in 1999. The building is at the junction of Deansgate and Peter S ...
, the reconstructed
Mamucium
Mamucium, also known as Mancunium, is a former Roman fort in the Castlefield area of Manchester in North West England. The ''castrum'', which was founded c. AD 79 within the Roman province of Roman Britain, was garrisoned by a cohort ...
Roman Fort, the
Beetham Tower, and
Deansgate Locks. Part of
Zone 1, the stop is one of the most used on the Metrolink network.
History
Manchester Central railway station
Manchester Central railway station is a former railway station in Manchester city centre, England. One of Manchester's main railway terminals between 1880 and 1969, it has been converted into an exhibition and conference centre, originally know ...
, one of the city's main railway terminals, was built between 1875–80 by the
Cheshire Lines Committee
The Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) was formed in the 1860s and became the second-largest joint railway in Great Britain. The committee, which was often styled the Cheshire Lines Railway, operated of track in the then counties of Lancashire a ...
railway company and served as the terminus for
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...
express services to London. The station was notable as an engineering feat – its
huge
wrought-iron
Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" t ...
single-span arched roof, spanning 210 feet (64 m), 550 feet (168 m) long and 90 feet (27 m) high is claimed to be the widest unsupported iron arch in Britain after
London St. Pancras
St Pancras railway station (), also known as London St Pancras or St Pancras International and officially since 2007 as London St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Borough of Camden. It ...
.
[ ]
![G-Mex station, Manchester Metrolink - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/G-Mex_station%2C_Manchester_Metrolink_-_geograph.org.uk_-_360043.jpg)
Following the
Beeching cuts
The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the M ...
, the station was deemed surplus to requirements and closed to passengers on 5 May 1969. The listed building survived as a local landmark, and after serving as a car park, the old station was refurbished and re-opened as an exhibition and conference centre.
With the opening of the Metrolink system, rail services were able to operate once more from south Manchester to Central Station; however, instead of trains running into the Central Station arch, light rail vehicles now run alongside the south-eastern side of the former train shed, down a ramp which runs parallel to Lower Mosley Street, before reaching street level where they operate as trams and head towards
St Peter's Square. The viaduct arches beneath the station, overlooking the Rochdale Canal, have since been refurbished and converted into the Deansgate Locks development comprising bars, restaurants and a comedy club.
Central Station featured in early proposals to build a light rail system in Manchester; the station featured in 1984 publicity with an interchange to Deansgate;
[ - publicity brochure] by 1987, the station had acquired the name 'G-Mex' and the system was now known as 'Metrolink'.
Renaming
In August 2010 Metrolink announced it would be changing the name of the stop from 'G-Mex' to 'Deansgate-Castlefield'. On 2 September 2010, signs at the stop were changed to 'Deansgate-Castlefield'; a couple of days later temporary vinyl GMEX stickers were placed on top which were removed on 20 September 2010 when the name change was made.
2015 redevelopment
It had been thought for some time that the second city crossing (2CC) expansion would require a third platform at the stop. However, 2011 proposals showed St Peter's Square as a major 4-platform interchange, putting the third platform at Deansgate-Castlefield into doubt. Manchester City Council was also known to be working on a proposal to better integrate the tram stop and Deansgate railway station as well as creating a key interchange, which remained unaffected by the 2011 2CC proposals. At MIPIM 2010 proposals were unveiled for a redevelopment of the area behind the conference centre. The ambitious scheme envisioned a pedestrian skypark walkway along the side of the conference centre to ground level creating better pedestrian access to both the conference centre and the city centre itself; a new bridge to link to Deansgate railway station, replacing the tired and unappealing original; and the creation of a new train shed on the viaduct for the tram stop's three platforms including access to ground level. The new island platform opened in December 2014 and additional green themed modifications (such as a
living wall) were added in 2015.
Services
Service pattern
At peak times (07:15 – 19:30 Monday to Friday, 09:30 – 18:30 Saturday):
*10 trams per hour to Altrincham
*5 trams per hour to Ashton-under-Lyne
*5 trams per hour to Bury
*10 trams per hour to East Didsbury
*5 trams per hour to Eccles
*5 trams per hour to Etihad Campus
*5 trams per hour to Manchester Airport
*5 trams per hour to MediaCityUK
*5 trams per hour to Piccadilly
*5 trams per hour to Rochdale Town Centre
*5 trams per hour to Shaw and Crompton
*5 trams per hour to Victoria
Offpeak (all other times during operational hours):
*5 trams per hour to Altrincham
*5 trams per hour to Ashton-under-Lyne
*5 trams per hour to East Didsbury
*5 trams per hour to Eccles via MediaCityUK
*5 trams per hour to Manchester Airport
*5 trams per hour to Piccadilly
*5 trams per hour to Rochdale Town Centre
*5 trams per hour to Victoria
References
External links
Tram times station informationfor Deansgate-Castlefield Metrolink station from
Manchester Metrolink
Manchester Metrolink (branded locally simply as Metrolink) is a tram/ light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. The network has 99 stops along of standard-gauge route, making it the most extensive light rail system in the United Ki ...
City centre Metrolink mapManchester Central proposal(from roughly 5:15)
{{Greater Manchester Metrolink stations
Tram stops in Manchester
Tram stops on the Eccles to Piccadilly line
Tram stops on the Altrincham to Bury line
Tram stops on the East Didsbury to Rochdale line
Tram stops on the Altrincham to Piccadilly line
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1992