Adequate waiting room at Manchester Victoria

[Andrew Sokill]

Can anyone suggests how Northern Rail can be persuaded to provide a sheltered and secure waiting room at Manchester Victoria?
The present facilities are primitive and unacceptable for a station of such importance.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

Pretty much the whole station is sheltered, platform 5 and 6 are considered underground.

 

[td97]

Pretty much the whole station is sheltered, platform 5 and 6 are considered underground.

It may be sheltered, but the ambient air temperature matches that of the outdoors. Lengthy waits during cold snaps are particularly unpleasant

 

[Geeves]

Can anyone suggests how Northern Rail can be persuaded to provide a sheltered and secure waiting room at Manchester Victoria?
The present facilities are primitive and unacceptable for a station of such importance.

The easiest way would be to try and get the beer house pub to become an open heated waiting area open 24 hours and work as a waiting area as well as a bar. The bar area could easily be secured with a shutter for a small price I'm sure.

There's staff and security there all night one way or the other anyway. Motorway services seem to manage okay! Also an investment of some more of those timer operated heaters wouldn't go amis. Poor passengers are currently hiding in the lifts or huddled in a circle at those ones at the barriers. I agree Victoria is a brutally cold and harsh place to have to wait at night no matter the season.

 

[faltskog36abba]

The easiest way would be to try and get the beer house pub to become an open heated waiting area open 24 hours and work as a waiting area as well as a bar. The bar area could easily be secured with a shutter for a small price I'm sure.

There's staff and security there all night one way or the other anyway. Motorway services seem to manage okay! Also an investment of some more of those timer operated heaters wouldn't go amis. Poor passengers are currently hiding in the lifts or huddled in a circle at those ones at the barriers. I agree Victoria is a brutally cold and harsh place to have to wait at night no matter the season.

There are Coffee shops as well as the Beer House to keep warm, Simply buy a coffee and wait for the train. Its a different matter when they are closed though, I cant see SSP helping out though allowing passengers in when the Beer house is closed- What about drunks and Vandals? Platform 3 -6 have shelters with gaps and no heating, They could of easily been heated and with doors.

 

[TUC]

It may be sheltered, but the ambient air temperature matches that of the outdoors. Lengthy waits during cold snaps are particularly unpleasant

Isn't that the same as at many stations?

 

[mmh]

Platform 3 -6 have shelters with gaps and no heating, They could of easily been heated and with doors.

Often this is a deliberate decision. Just do a search for things like hostile architecture or street furniture to see just how horrible the attitudes that result in things like that are.

 

[Old Yard Dog]

And the lack of toilets on the platform side of the barriers is a disgrace for such a major station. When you think how much money has been spent on it over the years and they can't provide something as basic as a waiting room and toilets.

 

[td97]

Isn't that the same as at many stations?

A heated waiting room is the request here. Preferably inside the gateline.
Even something like the sheds at Manchester Oxford Road would be adequate.

 

[185143]

And the lack of toilets on the platform side of the barriers is a disgrace for such a major station. When you think how much money has been spent on it over the years and they can't provide something as basic as a waiting room and toilets.

To be fair...

And defending Manchester Victoria is not something I often do, London Bridge also doesn't (or at least, didn't?) Have toilets inside the gateline.

 

[Geeves]

Pretty sure Manchester Piccadilly doesn't have toilets inside in the gate line either though I might be wrong!

As for the wind breaks at Victoria you could put those timed electric heaters up and it would make it much more bearable for not too big of an outlay

 

[Trackman]

To be fair...

... London Bridge also doesn't (or at least, didn't?) Have toilets inside the gateline.

It did on the old P1/P2, a men's urinal block, going to stick my neck out I think a Ladies further down the platform.
I wanted a pee once so thought I would wait until I am on the platform, shock horror! they had demolished it! This was part of the station upgrade.

 

[plugwash]

Pretty sure Manchester Piccadilly doesn't have toilets inside in the gate line either though I might be wrong!

Picadillys gate lines don't really have a well-defined "inside" and "outside", passing through the gates is entirely optional.

There is a set of toilets in the "link bridge lounge" and there are no gates between the link bridge and the platforms.

 

[Iskra]

Pretty sure Manchester Piccadilly doesn't have toilets inside in the gate line either though I might be wrong!

As for the wind breaks at Victoria you could put those timed electric heaters up and it would make it much more bearable for not too big of an outlay

It does, they are next to the waiting room at the end of the footbridge/travelators to the isolated platforms.

I agree that the facilities at Manchester Victoria are sub-par.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Apr 2026 ==

There are Coffee shops as well as the Beer House to keep warm, Simply buy a coffee and wait for the train. Its a different matter when they are closed though, I cant see SSP helping out though allowing passengers in when the Beer house is closed- What about drunks and Vandals? Platform 3 -6 have shelters with gaps and no heating, They could of easily been heated and with doors.

They idea that a 5 day a week commuter should spend £25-a-week to be warm at a major station is ridiculous.

 

[faltskog36abba]

It does, they are next to the waiting room at the end of the footbridge/travelators to the isolated platforms.

I agree that the facilities at Manchester Victoria are sub-par.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Apr 2026 ==


They idea that a 5 day a week commuter should spend £25-a-week to be warm at a major station is ridiculous.

It took years for the roof to be fixed at Victoria, Then you have the poor lighting on the through platforms, Victoria always seems the last in the queue when money needs to be spent. I agree with you that Victoria needs heated shelters but will it happen?, I have used Victoria since the 70s and even then we as a family used the Buffet for a hot soup or a Tea to keep warm- Was it the Seasider on platform 12/13.

 

[Andyh82]

And the lack of toilets on the platform side of the barriers is a disgrace for such a major station. When you think how much money has been spent on it over the years and they can't provide something as basic as a waiting room and toilets.

There are barely toilets land side either. Must be the smallest provision for a major station.

When Manchester Victoria was mainly being used by local trains or secondary routes you could argue it was adequate, but they should really have increased and improved the facilities when it started being the main station used by Transpennine Express.

 

[Trackman]

I have used Victoria since the 70s and even then we as a family used the Buffet for a hot soup or a Tea to keep warm- Was it the Seasider on platform 12/13.

It was called The Coastal. I used to like the jumbo sausage rolls they sold.
Thinking back, there were heated waiting rooms on P12/P13 and P14.

 

[faltskog36abba]

It was called The Coastal. I used to like the jumbo sausage rolls they sold.
Thinking back, there were heated waiting rooms on P12/P13 and P14.

Ha I knew it was something to do with the sea. There was a waiting room on Platform 11 long too but I cant remember if it was heated.

 

[duffield]

Sounds like something to bring to Andy Burnham's notice, if he thinks it reflects badly on Manchester he might put some pressure on or even find some money to pay NR to improve matters.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Picadillys gate lines don't really have a well-defined "inside" and "outside", passing through the gates is entirely optional.

There is a set of toilets in the "link bridge lounge" and there are no gates between the link bridge and the platforms.

There aren't but there is usually a manual check to get to the bridge.

I seem to recall there is a sneaky way to bypass the gateline (which I won't post, partly because it is not helpful to have it public, and partly because I just know of it and haven't used it) in some circumstances, though. I expect they very occasionally block it and prosecute people like they do with the similar one at Victoria though.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

I seem to recall there is a sneaky way to bypass the gateline (which I won't post, partly because it is not helpful to have it public, and partly because I just know of it and haven't used it)

When I used it (because it was the most convenient entrance) there was a ticket check, in addition it is so slow, especially if someone has just gone up.
Still quicker than going the long way round but it is a very slow lift.

 

[Tazi Hupefi]

Worth noting that the facilities at Manchester Victoria used to be (for many years) a hotspot for certain types of adult activities which the general public may have found offensive, and led to substantial police covert activities.

Same with some car parks on the not-too-distant Merseyrail network, one of the reasons overnight parking is prohibited!

 

[Bantamzen]

It's not just the lack of platform-side waiting facilities and toilets that are a problem, the whole customer experience is. From the flakiest ticket readers located almost a knee height for most people on the barriers, that regularly cause people problems (it even took me months of regular use of the station to get my technique down), to the dark, dinghy platform ambiance the whole place needs a reworking to make it a more pleasant experience for passengers and staff.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It's not just the lack of platform-side waiting facilities and toilets that are a problem, the whole customer experience is. From the flakiest ticket readers located almost a knee height for most people on the barriers, that regularly cause people problems (it even took me months of regular use of the station to get my technique down), to the dark, dinghy platform ambiance the whole place needs a reworking to make it a more pleasant experience for passengers and staff.

Completely agree, it was sort of fine as a 2-car Pacer and Sprinter version of Liverpool Central where people aren't hanging around and don't really care for needing the loo or a shop (though it did stink of fumes, oil and toilet waste), but as an intercity station it's just plain unfit for purpose. The old building is nice I suppose, but otherwise I struggle to ascribe it any merit at all. It is basically just a fairly fancy tram stop with an absolute dump of a railway station attached to it with almost no redeeming features whatsoever bar the old building.

 

[Trackman]

From the flakiest ticket readers located almost a knee height for most people on the barriers, that regularly cause people problems (it even took me months of regular use of the station to get my technique down), to the dark, dinghy platform ambiance the whole place needs a reworking to make it a more pleasant experience for passengers and staff.

Those ticket readers are useless, I'm surprised they are still there.
I had a right to-do when trying to scan a ticket the first time, couldn't find it initially, the gate line staff had to give me tips on how to hold the ticket and how far away whilst bending down. I don't think they were even marked with 'scan here'.
------------
Anyway, decided to look on National Rail to see where the toilets are now and waiting room are now but national rail station layout diagrams are useless.

Due to refurbishment works, the toilets are out of order until Thursday 30th April at Manchester Victoria station.
Temporary Toilets are available outside the main station entrance, towards the ramp for the AO Arena.

Pubs will be busy.

There are no designated waiting rooms, but the station concourse and platforms are fully canopied

So we freeze then in winter?

 

[Meole]

Surely this is a station where people turn up just in time, so unless there is a delay no one is waiting more than a couple of minutes.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

Surely this is a station where people turn up just in time, so unless there is a delay no one is waiting more than a couple of minutes.

Or you've got a connection, or there's a delay/cancellation, or just want to be there with some time to spare.

 

[sh24]

Surely this is a station where people turn up just in time, so unless there is a delay no one is waiting more than a couple of minutes.

It doesn't have the importance of Piccadilly - no London trains, no cross country from the South, no Scottish services - but it's still an key node for TransPennine which aren't just turn up and go trains.

 

[Bishops]

There's staff and security there all night one way or the other anyway. Motorway services seem to manage okay!

To be fair most motorway services are not in close proximity to heavily populated places and generally wont have revellers passing through

Platform 3 -6 have shelters with gaps and no heating, They could of easily been heated and with doors.

What about drunks and Vandals?

Often this is a deliberate decision.

Well i can see why - island platforms, people drunk needing to urinate are probably more likely to do so with a door closed so no one sees it running out than one where they can be seen

 

[xotGD]

Those ticket readers are useless, I'm surprised they are still there.
I had a right to-do when trying to scan a ticket the first time, couldn't find it initially, the gate line staff had to give me tips on how to hold the ticket and how far away whilst bending down. I don't think they were even marked with 'scan here'.

I've never had a problem with my old-school paper tickets.