Has Ardwick ever been used as a temporary terminus?

[Gathursty]

When there is serious work needed at Manchester Piccadilly or something immediate and urgent has happened, has Ardwick ever been used as a terminus?

 

[dggar]

When there is serious work needed at Manchester Piccadilly or something immediate and urgent has happened, has Ardwick ever been used as a terminus?

For which direction of travel would Ardwick work as a terminus? given that it is on the old Great Central lines.

 

[Gathursty]

Services from Glossop/Hadfield, the Hope Valley Line, from Stalybridge and beyond.

 

[Altfish]

Have you seen Ardwick!

You are likely to get mugged if you get off there. It is not the best area of Manchester, there is a single island platform, 2/3rds of which is overgrown.

Not at all practical to use as an alternative to Piccadilly, it is also a fair distance out of town.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Have you seen Ardwick! You are likely to get mugged if you get off there. It is not the best area of Manchester, there is a single island platform, 2/3rds of which is overgrown.

Not at all practical to use as an alternative to Piccadilly, it is also a fair distance out of town.

Is it still the case that you should examine the wording of your personal insurance policy before attempting to use the footbridge there.....:roll:

 

[dggar]

When there is serious work needed at Manchester Piccadilly or something immediate and urgent has happened, has Ardwick ever been used as a terminus?

When Piccadilly was electrified as part of the modernisation plan a lot of Euston trains departed from Victoria, going via Ashton and South Reddish to Stockport. In those days Central to St Pancras was still a viable route.

 

[mwmbwls]

Is it still the case that you should examine the wording of your personal insurance policy before attempting to use the footbridge there.....:roll:

Bearing in kind that Norton Bridge went into suspended animation because of a dodgy bridge and is now going through a formal closure process - is Ardwick not now the "next suitable case for treatment" candidate. Close it now on a temporary basis. Sneak in closure as part of the works for HS2 - "Are we thinking what they might be thinking"?

 

[snowball]

Bearing in kind that Norton Bridge went into suspended animation because of a dodgy bridge and is now going through a formal closure process - is Ardwick not now the "next suitable case for treatment" candidate. Close it now on a temporary basis. Sneak in closure as part of the works for HS2 - "Are we thinking what they might be thinking"?

Except that works for HS2 phase 2b are about 8 years away, so other closures are likely to get in first, preventing Ardwick from being the next one.

 

[Gathursty]

I know the Oxford Road could be an alternative for trains from the west. I don't think the area around Ardwick is that bad. It's just quiet and a bit grotty. So the solution for trains that would pass through Ardwick would be to stuff them into Victoria. What about the Glossop trains?

 

[Ianno87]

I know the Oxford Road could be an alternative for trains from the west. I don't think the area around Ardwick is that bad. It's just quiet and a bit grotty. So the solution for trains that would pass through Ardwick would be to stuff them into Victoria. What about the Glossop trains?

There have beem times in the relatively recent past (Christmas 98/99) when Glossop trains have been DMU operated and diverted into Victoria.

If Ashburys-Philips Park ever sees wires, they could remain EMUs...

 

[Bungle965]

There have beem times in the relatively recent past (Christmas 98/99) when Glossop trains have been DMU operated and diverted into Victoria.

If Ashburys-Philips Park ever sees wires, they could remain EMUs...

There is a picture somewhere of a Voyager in Manchester Victoria which was diverted due to engineering works, this was near the start of the Cross Country franchise.
It must have been quite strange to see a voyager in Victoria back then. The station even retains the stop boards for them on certain platforms!
I do wonder when a Voyager will next be seen under the roof of Victoria.
Sam

 

[185]

Have you seen Ardwick!

You are likely to get mugged if you get off there. It is not the best area of Manchester, there is a single island platform, 2/3rds of which is overgrown.

Not at all practical to use as an alternative to Piccadilly, it is also a fair distance out of town.

Oi! That's technically my local station (*well, by being 35 metres closer than Picc)

The only people I mug are fare evaders....

Besides, Alty ain't the safest after 10 o'clock :P

 

[billh]

When Piccadilly was electrified as part of the modernisation plan a lot of Euston trains departed from Victoria, going via Ashton and South Reddish to Stockport. In those days Central to St Pancras was still a viable route.

No they didn't. at the time of London Road electrification , around 1960, the diversion was Reddish South, Denton, Droylsden to Victoria and vice-versa and didn't go into Ashton at any point on the route.
in more recent times after closure of Denton- Droylsden direct line there have been WCML engineering diverts that have gone Denton-Ashton Moss North. These were often class 50 hauled ,47s+ 87s and later Thunderbird 57s and pendolinos. In the last few years there have been no diversions over this route, replacement buses seem to be order of the day now.

 

[edwin_m]

From what I remember Ardwick is surrounded by a wasteland and accessible only by a minor road called Blind Lane. Unless the inner city mega-development created by HS2 comes this far, it really doesn't have a reason to exist. The rate of appearance of posts on this thread is probably greater than the rate of appearance of passengers at Ardwick!

 

[PrinceBishop]

The thing that strikes me as odd about Ardwick is that I can just about see how it survived the 1960s, despite many other stations around Manchester closing during that period, but I'm actually more surprised it survived the 1990s, when the remaining underused stations in parts of inner city Manchester were closed. Seems difficult to believe that whoever was responsible for closing Park, Miles Platting and Pendleton stations during this period didn't at least consider Ardwick a candidate for closure.

I think I once read that Manchester City Council wanted it kept in case future redevelopment of the area gave it a purpose to serve, but surely the same argument could have been made for other stations that were closed? Indeed, I believe Salford City Council were opposed to Pendleton closing but that wasn't enough to save it. Even if any tram-train/Metrolink line through this area becomes a reality, I would expect they would want to relocate a new Ardwick stop. Anybody know how it has survived this long?

 

[Rail Ranger]

Ardwick probably survived because of GUS (Great Universal Stores) which was just on the other side of the main line. The building is still there and is now in alternative use.

 

[185]

I can see a future for Ardwick as the city grows Eastwards. Lots of posh housing / apartments at Beswick recently built 400m to the north of the station site, so once HS2 is completed, I can see the housing extending right across the empty brownfield land which lies to the north of the station.

 

[Shrimper]

Under the current signalling system it isn't possible to turn back at Ardwick from the East; any trains would have to shunt into either the engine holding siding, Mayfield goods loop or into Piccadilly itself.

And as others have said, the location does not lend itself to large numbers of passengers embarking and disembarking.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I can see a future for Ardwick as the city grows Eastwards. Lots of posh housing / apartments at Beswick recently built 400m to the north of the station site, so once HS2 is completed, I can see the housing extending right across the empty brownfield land which lies to the north of the station.

What is the land usage classification at this moment in time for the "empty brownfield land" you refer to? Is there any change of land use currently proposed in the Manchester City Council strategic plan?

Is Beswick a now recognised part of "The Northern Quarter" and are there plans to have Ardwick also incorporated in that said entity?

 

[Siemens Staines]

Due to major engineering work in the Summer of 1988, a temporary platform was built opposite Longsight depot where some local trains from the Stockport direction would terminate because of the limited platform capacity at Piccadilly. From Longsight there was a bus connection to Piccadilly.

 

[Kite159]

Due to major engineering work in the Summer of 1988, a temporary platform was built opposite Longsight depot where some local trains from the Stockport direction would terminate because of the limited platform capacity at Piccadilly. From Longsight there was a bus connection to Piccadilly.

Isn't that temporary platform still in place opposite Longsight? (memory is a bit fuzzy but I seem to recall an overgrown platform in that area)

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Isn't that temporary platform still in place opposite Longsight? (memory is a bit fuzzy but I seem to recall an overgrown platform in that area)

The very long station with low platforms would appear to be the one built by the Manchester and Birmingham Railway at their Longsight station in 1843. That railway station closed to passengers on 15th September 1958.