Manchester Oxford Road railway station is a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England, at the junction of Whitworth Street West and

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and as ...

. It opened in 1849 and was rebuilt in 1960. It is the second busiest of the four stations in

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. ...

. The station serves the southern part of Manchester city centre, the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

and

Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...

, on the line from westwards towards

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

, Llandudno,

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, and

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

. Eastbound trains go beyond Piccadilly to , , , , and . The station consists of four through platforms and one terminating bay platform. The station sits on a Grade II listed viaduct, which was built in 1839 as part of the

Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway The Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway (MSJ&AR) was a suburban railway which operated an route between Altrincham in Cheshire and Manchester London Road railway station (now Piccadilly) in Manchester. The MSJ&AR line operat ...

. To reduce load on this viaduct, the station unusually utilises laminated wood structures as opposed to masonry, concrete, iron or steel.

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

describes it as a "building of outstanding architectural quality and technological interest; one of the most dramatic stations in England". It was Grade II

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

in 1995. Architectural critic

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...

described the station as "one of the most remarkable and unusual stations in the country". It has long been envisaged, since the

Manchester Hub The Northern Hub was a rail upgrade programme between 2009 and 2020 in Northern England to improve and increase train services and reduce journey times between its major cities and towns, by electrifying lines and removing a major rail bottlenec ...

plan in 2009, that the station will be upgraded and, in October 2016, a

Transport and Works Act The Transport and Works Act 1992 (TWA) was established by the Parliament of the United Kingdom to provide a system by which the construction of rail transport, tramway, inland waterway and harbour infrastructure could proceed in the UK by orde ...

application was submitted to extend platforms at the station as part of the wider ''Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Oxford Road Capacity Scheme''. As of 2019, this application remains active but has not been approved by government. As a key transition node for both north–south and east–west transpennine routes, it is a recognised bottleneck and is the most delayed major station in the United Kingdom according to a ''

Which? ''Which?'' is a United Kingdom brand name that promotes informed consumer choice in the purchase of goods and services by testing products, highlighting inferior products or services, raising awareness of consumer rights and offering independen ...

'' study in 2018 with over three quarters of services failing to depart on time during peak hours. In an attempt to obligate the DfT to provide funding for the Oxford Road upgrade to improve punctuality, Network Rail declared the

Castlefield Corridor The Castlefield corridor (also known as the Deansgate corridor) is a railway corridor between Castlefield junction and Fairfield Street junction in Greater Manchester, England. The corridor forms the eastern end of the southerly Liverpool–Ma ...

'congested' in September 2019.

History

The station opened as Oxford Road on 20 July 1849 and was the headquarters of the

(MSJAR) until 1904. The station was built on the site of 'Little Ireland', a slum "of a worse character than

St Giles Saint Giles (, la, Aegidius, french: Gilles), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 6th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly lege ...

", in which about four thousand people had lived in "measureless filth and stench" (according to

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' The Condition of the Working Class in England ''The Condition of the Working Class in England'' (german: Die Lage der arbeitenden Klasse in England) is an 1845 book by the German philosopher Friedrich Engels, a study of the industrial working class in Victorian England. Engels' first book, ...

'') and of a gasworks which was relocated to the west. The station buildings, which were temporary wooden structures, were accessed by an inclined esplanade winding to the right from Gloucester Street (now Whitworth Street West) to reach their north front. There was a single platform on the north side of the line through to Manchester London Road (now

Manchester Picadilly Manchester Piccadilly is the principal railway station in Manchester, England. Opened as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchester Piccadilly in 1960. Located to the south-east of Manchester city ...

) and a second platform on a west-facing siding. To allow for extra trains in connection with the Manchester

Art Treasures Exhibition The Art Treasures of Great Britain was an exhibition of fine art held in Manchester, England, from 5 May to 17 October 1857.contract ticket holders in 1863 included in its list of complaints the want of punctuality "especially as at Oxford Road station there is only one platform used for both passengers and milk". From 1854 onwards, Oxford Road served as the terminus for a service to Liverpool, independent of the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

(LNWR) (one of the joint owners of MSJAR). The rail service went no further than Garston, with the final leg of the journey being made by steamer, but it alerted the LNWR to the possible use of the MSJAR by its co-owner, the

Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) was formed in 1847 when the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway joined with authorised but unbuilt railway companies, forming a proposed network from Manchester to Grimsb ...

(MS&LR) to reach areas west of Manchester. Consequently, in 1857, when the MSJAR began (the decision being taken on the casting vote of the board's chairman, by rotation) running an Oxford Road - London Road service, the LNWR took strenuous measures to discourage it. Every train of the service was flagged down just short of the London Road platform and not allowed to proceed further, passengers being told they were liable to prosecution for trespass if they got out. Goods going beyond the MSJAR were not handled at Oxford Road between March and July 1865 whilst some enlargement (and widening) work was carried out. The MS&LR pressed ahead with the joint lines to give it direct and independent rail access to Liverpool, but the LNWR blocked any matching improvement to the MSJAR and to Oxford Road, only offering to let these go ahead when the scheme for

Manchester Central 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 ...

was brought forward. To defeat the Bill for the scheme, the LNWR then promised to cooperate with the MS&LR in widening the MSJAR and enlarging Oxford Road. However,

Edward Watkin Sir Edward William Watkin, 1st Baronet (26 September 1819 – 13 April 1901) was a British Member of Parliament and railway entrepreneur. He was an ambitious visionary, and presided over large-scale railway engineering projects to fulfil his b ...

, chairman of the MS&LR, later complained that the LNWR had ensured no improvement took place before the MS&LR had its route to Liverpool. In October 1874, with

Liverpool Central railway station Liverpool Central railway station in Liverpool, England, forms a central hub of the Merseyrail network, being on both the Northern Line and the Wirral Line. The station is located underground on two levels, below the site of a former mainline ...

now open, a letter to the press complained that with the additional services over the Cheshire Lines now using Oxford Road it was dangerously overcrowded. In the two and a half hours from 8am, thirty-seven trains were booked to call at Oxford Road: this was far too many considering there was but one platform. Frequently, passengers were compelled to alight outside the station, sometimes on the siding rails, at risk of personal injury, because of "the blocked-up state" of the station. Furthermore, it was rumoured that the LNWR was planning to run a competing service (via Broadheath and Warrington) between Oxford Road and

Liverpool Lime Street Liverpool Lime Street is a terminus railway station and the main station serving the city centre of Liverpool. Opened in August 1836, it is the oldest still-operating grand terminus mainline station in the world. A branch of the West Coast M ...

: if this were true, then it would further worsen the congestion, and the

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

should forbid it In 1876, about twelve thousand pounds was spent on enlarging the station facilities, including the provision of a refreshment room; the station was then said to be handling about a hundred thousand passengers a week. Train-handling congestion was eased when

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 ...

came into use, and in 1892 the MSJAR, under pressure to greatly improve

Knott Mill Knott or The Knott may refer to: * Knott, Caldbeck, a mountain in the northern part of the English Lake District * The Knott, a mountain in the eastern part of the English Lake District * Knott, Skye, a location in Highland, Scotland * Knott, T ...

, rejected the suggestion of Manchester Corporation that it could kill two birds with one stone by replacing its two existing unsatisfactory stations with a single new, thoroughly satisfactory, station somewhere between them. The MSJAR offered instead a limited reconstruction of the waiting rooms and booking hall; it also rejected the council's offer of assistance with providing a more suitable approach to the station only to accept it two years later. Press articles on the golden jubilee of the line in 1899 noted that the platform layout was still that of 1849 and somewhat of a museum piece: "if the station were to be designed today.. it would have a platform on each side of the main line, an advantage which its frequenters know it does not possess..." and better use would be made of the space currently taken up by the terminal platform, used principally for special trains, mostly those serving

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

during the cricket season. Manchester Oxford Road station exterior - geograph

Manchester Oxford Road, 1992 (geograph 5354071)

Reconstruction took place during 1903–04. The approach was further improved, the ticket office and the refreshment room were expanded, and the MSJAR offices were removed. They were to have been moved to an adjacent building, but this proved unnecessary: the 78-year-old manager and secretary retired at the end of 1903, and administration of the line was taken over by an LNWR District Superintendent based at

Manchester Exchange railway station Manchester Exchange was a railway station in Salford, England, immediately north of Manchester city centre, which served the city between 1884 and 1969. The main approach road ran from the end of Deansgate, near Manchester Cathedral, passing ov ...

:. An island platform was added on the through lines, coming into use in November 1904. From 1931, it was served by the MSJAR's 1500 V DC electric trains between

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

and

Manchester Piccadilly Manchester Piccadilly is the principal railway station in Manchester, England. Opened as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchester Piccadilly in 1960. Located to the south-east of Manchester city ...

. From July 1959, Altrincham electric trains were cut back from Piccadilly to terminate at Oxford Road in two new bay platforms. The station's other lines were re-electrified at . The whole station was again rebuilt and reopened on 12 September 1960, to a design by W.R. Headley and Max Clendinning of British Rail's London Midland region, encompassing three overlapping cones for the main structure. The station's location on a viaduct running through the city centre required its load to be lightened, which the architects achieved by using wood for the station structure and platform canopies. When

closed in 1969, further rebuilding took place: one of the bay platforms was taken out of use and a new through platform provided (platform 1), the others being renumbered accordingly. In 1971, the Altrincham line was re-electrified at and the 1930s DC trains withdrawn; from then on, local trains from Altrincham ran through to Piccadilly and on to . Oxford Road this, once again, became predominantly a through station. Use of the station increased in 1988 when the Windsor Link between Deansgate and

Salford Crescent Salford Crescent railway station is a railway station in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, opened by British Rail in 1987. The station is west of Salford Central, west of Manchester Victoria and west of Manchester Piccadilly. It consist ...

opened, connecting lines to the north and south of Manchester. This led to further investment in the station, including the installation of computer screens. In 1992, the Altrincham line stopping service was converted to light rail operation for the

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 Kin ...

. Oxford Road, once served almost entirely by suburban stopping trains, has now returned to having many more longer-distance services. The station, a Grade II listed structure, requires frequent maintenance. In 2004, the station roof was partially refurbished to prevent leaking. In 2011, the platform shelters, seats and toilets were refurbished at a cost of £500,000. In 2013, the station received a £1.8million renovation to improve access, including lifts and an emergency exit. On 10 December 2017, with the opening of the

Ordsall Chord Ordsall Chord, also known as the Castlefield Curve, is a short railway line in Ordsall, Salford, England, which links and Manchester Oxford Road to , designed to increase capacity and reduce journey times into and through Manchester. It allows ...

, it became possible for trains to run from to . Initially an hourly Northern service operated to the Calder Valley but, from May 2018, the

TransPennine Express TransPennine Express (TPE), legally First TransPennine Express Limited, is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operates the TransPennine Express franchise. It runs regional and inter-city rail services between the major c ...

(TPE) to and services were rerouted through the station.

Future

In the

Northern Hub The Northern Hub was a rail upgrade programme between 2009 and 2020 in Northern England to improve and increase train services and reduce journey times between its major cities and towns, by electrifying lines and removing a major rail bottlenec ...

plans, the platforms will be extended to allow use by longer trains. The bay platform will be removed to allow the other platforms to be extended. Under controversial plans much of the nearby area's Victorian character will be razed, including the Salisbury pub, and the group of streets nearby known as 'Little Ireland'.

Architecture

The station had become dilapidated by the 1950s and, in connection with the electrification and modernisation programme of the Manchester to London Euston line in 1960, the old buildings were replaced by the current structure by architects

William Robert Headley William Robert Headley was an architect who is best known for his modernist railway stations for the London Midland Region of British Railways in the early 1960s. He joined railway service in 1947, achieved his diploma of the Architectural Asso ...

and

Max Clendinning Max Clendinning (26 September 1924 in County Armagh, Northern Ireland – 4 June 2020) was an architect and interior designer. Clendinning is best known for his 1965 design of the "slot-together but sturdy looking" Maxima chair, inspired in par ...

and structural engineer Hugh Tottenham. It was designed in a distinctive style in concrete and wood with curves bringing to mind the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

. The station is a grade II listed building. 'Pevsner' calls it "One of the most interesting and innovative buildings of the period ... the most ambitious example in this country of timber

conoid In geometry a conoid () is a ruled surface, whose rulings (lines) fulfill the additional conditions: :(1) All rulings are parallel to a plane, the '' directrix plane''. :(2) All rulings intersect a fixed line, the ''axis''. The conoid is a rig ...

shell roofing" (p. 36) and "One of the most remarkable and unusual stations in the country both for the architectural form and the technological interest...it is the most dramatic and it is an important example of the deployment of timber to achieve large roof spans incorporating

clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...

lighting."(p. 178) The choice of timber was forced by the weak viaduct on which the station is situated; anything heavier could have compromised its structural strength. The station has three overlapping conoid structures although they are only viewable from above. The light conoid roofs allow for a column-free interior space, maximising space and reducing load. Despite its architectural acclaim, the structure began to deteriorate within ten years. The roof started to leak and for years the station's platform buildings were encased in scaffolding and other metalwork, partly to support the structure and prevent material falling on the platforms and passengers. Partial remedial refurbishment was completed in 2004. File:Manchester Oxford Road railway station (geograph 2299847).jpg, A

Class 323 The British Rail Class 323 are electric multiple unit (EMU) passenger trains built by Hunslet Transportation Projects and Holec. All 43 units were built from 1992 through to 1995, although mock-ups and prototypes were built and tested in 1990 ...

and the distinctive canopies File:Oxford Road station - platform canopy and waiting room (geograph 5724039).jpg, Platform 2 File:Oxford Road Station, Oxford Road, Manchester (2) (geograph 3699623).jpg, Platform 4 File:Oxford Road station - waiting room (geograph 5724043).jpg, Waiting shelter

Service pattern

First TransPennine Class 185, 185135, Manchester Oxford Road railway station (geograph 4020146)

Northern Trains Northern Trains, branded as Northern, (legally Northern Trains Limited) is a State-owned enterprises of the United Kingdom, publicly owned train operating company in England. It is owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT) ...

** 1tph to via ** 2tph to via Bolton ** 1tph to via ** 1tph to via (stopping service) ** 11tpd to ** 4tpd to ** 4tph to

Manchester Airport Manchester Airport is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England, south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2019, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passenger numbers and the busiest of those n ...

** 1tph to ** 1tph to ** 1tph to via (semi-fast) ** 2tph to ** 1tp2h to ** 1tp2h to *

Transport for Wales Transport for Wales (TfW; cy, Trafnidiaeth Cymru; cy, TrC, label=none) is a not-for-profit company owned by the Welsh Government and managed at arms length by its appointed board. TfW oversees the Transport for Wales Group (TfW Group) consi ...

** 1tph to or (2 trains per day, weekdays only; 1 to Bangor on Saturdays only) via

(some services terminate at Chester) ** 1tph to *

East Midlands Railway Abellio East Midlands Limited, trading as East Midlands Railway (EMR), is a train operating company in England, owned by Abellio, and is the current operator of the East Midlands franchise. History In March 2017, the Department for Transport a ...

** 1tph to via (fast) ** 1tph to via This is reduced on a Sunday, most services operating hourly. All eastbound trains (those to , and ) also call at .

References

External links