Manchester Victoria to close ALL Easter weekend

[Adlington]

From the Manchester Evening News:

Victoria will close at the end of the day on Thursday, March 29 before reopening on Tuesday, April 3.

Northern is yet to finalise timetables showing exactly what the changes will be, but all services that would normally call at the station will be affected.

The works are part of the ‘Great North Rail Project’ to electrify routes. Engineers will be around platforms five and six to lower and realign tracks under Cheetham Hill road bridge.That will mean trains will be unable to access - or leave - the station.

The Metrolink will continue as normal.

Chaos will ensue; let's hope the works finish as planned.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

From the Manchester Evening News:Chaos will ensue; let's hope the works finish as planned.

I don't agree. It is Easter - should be OK. There has been plenty of planning and notice for this. The Kirkham - Blackpool North blockade should be over by then too- so no real worries as far as I am concerned.

 

[Ianno87]

I don't agree. It is Easter - should be OK. There has been plenty of planning and notice for this. The Kirkham - Blackpool North blockade should be over by then too- so no real worries as far as I am concerned.

Victoria has had previous long weekend closures and there really, really hasn't been chaos...

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Victoria has had previous long weekend closures and there really, really hasn't been chaos...

Exactly

 

[Andyh82]

Chaos ensues? Capitalisation of the word “ALL”?

I thought I’d walked into the forum of a tabloid newspaper for a moment.

 

[Chrisyd]

Will they use this time to resignal Salford central as P1 & 2 still have the old signals, not the shiny new LEDs, which have appeared in most other places between Bolton and Victoria.

 

[Bevan Price]

I don't agree. It is Easter - should be OK. There has been plenty of planning and notice for this. The Kirkham - Blackpool North blockade should be over by then too- so no real worries as far as I am concerned.

True - nobody ever wants to go for a day at the seaside on Bank Holidays, do they????

 

[Ianno87]

True - nobody ever wants to go for a day at the seaside on Bank Holidays, do they????

??? The Blackpool blockade will be done and dusted, so they can indeed go to the seaside.

 

[AndrewE]

...but not from Manchester Vic.

 

[IainG81]

Yes i think its a good time to do it a 4 day weekend some works take longer than just a Sunday and it's an obvious time to do it that will cause least disruption. I always think of the crews who work over holidays when a lot of other people are not working.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

True - nobody ever wants to go for a day at the seaside on Bank Holidays, do they????

...but not from Manchester Vic.

Day trippers by rail from Manchester to Blackpool are small in number these days. Numbers only start to pick up from Bolton westwards. I don't know why this should be (Mancunians must surely been drawn to the seaside as much as anyone else) but it has certainly been my experience when working trains between the two places. Likewise from Liverpool, numbers only build from St Helens northwards.

 

[Adlington]

I always think of the crews who work over holidays

For double pay....

 

[The Planner]

True - nobody ever wants to go for a day at the seaside on Bank Holidays, do they????

Interested to know when we should do this sort of work then, especially when the TOCs ask us to do it at Bank Holidays.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Whilst Salford Central is reasonably near to Victoria, with plenty of normal service bus routes, it is the other side of Manchester where there are no nearby railway stations, as both Moston and Ashton-under-Lyne are quite some distance away from Victoria for rail services coming over the Pennines.

How much spare capacity is there at Piccadilly in the terminal platforms there?

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Closure of Victoria is actually less disruptive than closing Ordsall Lane Jn, which clobbers all 4 routes.
As long as Salford Crescent and the South Junction line are working the impact is fairly limited.

 

[Bovverboy]

Closing Ordsall Lane Junction 'clobbers' Chat Moss - Vic, Chat Moss - Picc, and Salford Crescent - Picc. What's the fourth affected route?

 

[Darandio]

For double pay....

And more than worth it as well. Genuine question as you started the thread, when would you expect this type of work to be done?

 

[lejog]

Whilst Salford Central is reasonably near to Victoria, with plenty of normal service bus routes, it is the other side of Manchester where there are no nearby railway stations, as both Moston and Ashton-under-Lyne are quite some distance away from Victoria for rail services coming over the Pennines.

How much spare capacity is there at Piccadilly in the terminal platforms there?

Indeed, especially since Northern offer replacement buses for the Calder Valley line from Rochdale. They did offer a choice of Moston or Rochdale once a few years ago, but that experiment has not been repeated. It may not be chaos but its a complete PITA.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Closing Ordsall Lane Junction 'clobbers' Chat Moss - Vic, Chat Moss - Picc, and Salford Crescent - Picc. What's the fourth affected route?

Well Crescent-Picc is actually 2 routes seen from Ordsall Lane.
There are 4 routes from the junction.

 

[gordonthemoron]

Surely there won't be much open in Blackpool (or Southport) at the end of March/start of April?

 

[Bovverboy]

Well Crescent-Picc is actually 2 routes seen from Ordsall Lane.
There are 4 routes from the junction.

I see what you mean.

Does anyone know, if there has been some sort of blockage through Salford Central, whether trains have ever operated Victoria - Ordsall Lane Junction - Salford Crescent?

 

[Sheepy1209]

Surely there won't be much open in Blackpool (or Southport) at the end of March/start of April?

That's Easter weekend you're talking about - unless the weather's a complete washout it's when the season kicks off again. (There'll likely be a lull before May, but nevertheless Blackpool opens up from Easter - and to be honest it's not completely shut in the winter these days).

 

[gordonthemoron]

That's Easter weekend you're talking about - unless the weather's a complete washout it's when the season kicks off again. (There'll likely be a lull before May, but nevertheless Blackpool opens up from Easter - and to be honest it's not completely shut in the winter these days).

I've been to Blackpool at Easter (granted in 1976) and it was shut

 

[DarloRich]

From the Manchester Evening News:Chaos will ensue; let's hope the works finish as planned.

utter wibble.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

I see what you mean.
Does anyone know, if there has been some sort of blockage through Salford Central, whether trains have ever operated Victoria - Ordsall Lane Junction - Salford Crescent?

Yes - I nearly added that in my last post.
During the wiring into Victoria, there were occasions when trains went Crescent-Ordsall Lane-Victoria.
It will probably happen again when they are wiring the route via Central.

 

[Darren R]

Does anyone know, if there has been some sort of blockage through Salford Central, whether trains have ever operated Victoria - Ordsall Lane Junction - Salford Crescent?

For several years the first train from Manchester Victoria to Clitheroe was scheduled to run that way (not calling at Salford Central, obviously!) There may have been others.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

I see what you mean.

Does anyone know, if there has been some sort of blockage through Salford Central, whether trains have ever operated Victoria - Ordsall Lane Junction - Salford Crescent?

For several years the first train from Manchester Victoria to Clitheroe was scheduled to run that way (not calling at Salford Central, obviously!) There may have been others.

Back when Salford Central used to close mid-evening many late evening services were routed via Ordsall Lane Jn even though the route through Salford Central was perfectly usable. In theory this helped maintain route knowledge of the diversionary route but there can't have been many traincrew that actually needed that route refresh.

 

[Chrisyd]

Back when Salford Central used to close mid-evening many late evening services were routed via Ordsall Lane Jn even though the route through Salford Central was perfectly usable. In theory this helped maintain route knowledge of the diversionary route but there can't have been many traincrew that actually needed that route refresh.

When I first started working in Manchester, I was quite alarmed the first time I went for a few beers and jumped on a train at the last minute to find it going round the back of Salford Central I was convinced I was on the wrong line!

 

[Bevan Price]

Day trippers by rail from Manchester to Blackpool are small in number these days. Numbers only start to pick up from Bolton westwards. I don't know why this should be (Mancunians must surely been drawn to the seaside as much as anyone else) but it has certainly been my experience when working trains between the two places. Likewise from Liverpool, numbers only build from St Helens northwards.

Maybe they are fed up with overcrowded trains, fares too high to take the family, and/or presence of engineering work.? A big difference from the 1970s when they would turn out a few 3x3car Class 104s, even on some Sundays....

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Chaos ensues? Capitalisation of the word “ALL”?

I thought I’d walked into the forum of a tabloid newspaper for a moment.

Quite. I would expect such complaints about engineering closures elsewhere, but surely most contributors here understand that the railway isn't maintained and improved by magic faeries impervious to being hit by trains. We all know what has to be done if you want an omelette!