Salford Central railway station is in the city of
Salford, Greater Manchester
Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county aft ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, close to
Spinningfields
Spinningfields is an area of Manchester city centre, in North West England, developed in the 2000s between Deansgate and the River Irwell by Allied London Properties. The £1.5 billion project consists of twenty new buildings, totalling approxima ...
and
Deansgate
Deansgate is a main road (part of the A56) through Manchester City Centre, England. It runs roughly north–south in a near straight route through the western part of the city centre and is the longest road in the city centre at over one mile ...
. It is served by trains to and from
Manchester Victoria
Manchester Victoria station in Manchester, England is a combined mainline railway station and Metrolink tram stop. Situated to the north of the city centre on Hunts Bank, close to Manchester Cathedral, it adjoins Manchester Arena which was ...
, towards
Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...
and
Wigan Wallgate
Wigan Wallgate railway station is one of two railway stations serving the town centre of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. The station serves two routes, the Manchester-Southport Line and the Manchester- Kirkby Line. It is 16 miles north-w ...
.
History
The
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 ...
opened on 29 May 1838 as a terminus on the
Manchester and Bolton Railway
The Manchester and Bolton Railway was a railway in the historic county of Lancashire, England, connecting Salford to Bolton. It was built by the proprietors of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal Navigation and Railway Company who had in 1 ...
and was originally named ''Salford railway station''.
In 1843, a connection to
Manchester Victoria
Manchester Victoria station in Manchester, England is a combined mainline railway station and Metrolink tram stop. Situated to the north of the city centre on Hunts Bank, close to Manchester Cathedral, it adjoins Manchester Arena which was ...
was built, carried on iron columns. The roof suffered from corrosion caused by the sulphurous emissions of locomotives passing through the station and one was replaced after only four years. Between April 1858 and August 1865, to avoid confusion with
Salford (Oldfield Rd), the station was named ''Salford (New Bailey Street)'', after which it reverted to its original name of ''Salford''.
To avoid confusion with the newly built Salford Crescent station, in 1988 it was renamed ''Salford Central''.
For many years the station was served at peak times only.
With only platforms 1 and 2 currently in use (platforms 3 and 4 have been disused since the early 1990s), the station is now managed by
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) ...
and has undergone a major transformation involving construction of a new ticket office as well as making the station building fully accessible by the use of ramps from the entrances to the ticket office and lifts and ramps from the ticket office to the platforms.
Location
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. ...
is accessible either on foot or by a short ride on public transport. Salford is also served by
Salford Crescent railway station
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 ...
, close to the
University of Salford
, caption = Coat of ArmsUniversity of Salford
, mottoeng = "Let us seek higher things"
, established = 1850 - Pendleton Mechanics Institute 1896 – Royal Technical Institute, Salford 1967 – gained ...
and Salford Precinct. The £700m
Middlewood Locks development will be served by Salford Central.
Facilities
The ticket office is manned from 06:25 to 19:35, six days per week (closed late evenings and on Sundays, so tickets must be purchased on the train at these times). The ticket hall is connected to the platforms via inclined ramps that are suitable for mobility-impaired users. There are shelters and snack/drink vending machines at platform level, along with timetable posters, digital display screens and automated announcements to provide train running information.
Services
The station has a frequent service on weekdays and Saturdays (typically 6 tph each way), with all trains to and from Victoria calling here. Destinations served include and (via ) and , and (via Bolton) westbound and (via ) and eastbound (some services also terminate at Victoria).
The station was formerly closed on Sundays, but since the summer 2018 timetable change was introduced on 20 May all trains between Salford Crescent and Victoria now call here.
Future development
A Network Rail report suggests building platforms on the line to
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 ...
(via ), the lines of which run through the station but are not provided with platforms. This scheme has since been adopted by
Transport for Greater Manchester
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is the public body responsible for co-ordinating transport services throughout Greater Manchester in North West England. TfGM is responsible for investments in improving transport services and facilities. ...
and included in their Capital Works Programme for 2015–16 to 2020–21. This will see an additional platform built and the old platforms 3 & 4 reopened, at a cost of £20.5 million and will allow Liverpool, Chester & Manchester Airport-bound trains (using 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 allow ...
) to call here.
All lines through the station have now been electrified and electric working on the Preston via Bolton route commenced on Monday 11 February 2019 utilising Class 319 Electric Multiple Units.
References
Bibliography
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External links
{{Greater Manchester railway stations
Railway stations in Salford
DfT Category E stations
Former Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway stations
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1838
Northern franchise railway stations