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What Victoria's done for us

IF there were to be a consolation prize for a "Cinderella" of the railway station world, then Manchester's Victoria Station would probably be a strong contender.

Considerable sums of money have been spent on its environs in the recent past - the new cathedral gardens and Urbis building opposite have enhanced the area.

Yet this remains a seriously unlovely place to wait for a train.

The multi-million Commonwealth Games refurbishment of its sister station, Piccadilly, a mile or so down the Metrolink line, may be a wonderful addition to the city's infrastructure. But it really emphasises Victoria's "poor relation" status.

Things used to be very different. This was once the bustling place where you went to get the big trains to Scotland and the north of England. For generations of north west holidaymakers, it was the gateway to the sun, sea, and sand of favourite resorts such as Blackpool, Southport and Scarborough.

However, about 20 years ago, the decision was taken to downgrade Victoria to a commuter station, and it has suffered ever since. The only time inter-city services pass through now is when there are engineering works elsewhere. There are, admittedly, also sightings of the Orient Express, which brightens up an otherwise gloomy ambience.

Originally a small, single-storey, single-platform building (which still stands, to the side of Platform 3B), the station was built in 1844, on Hunts Bank, to serve the Manchester and Leeds trans-Pennine railway, which was one of the first in the country. It was on this line, routed through Rochdale and Hebden Bridge, that the Brontës travelled to take their father to hospital in Manchester.

The line originally opened in 1841, from a terminal station in Oldham Road, half a mile from Piccadilly, which became a goods station after Victoria opened. Later on, it closed completely and was demolished years ago. By the 1880s, Victoria Station had come to dominate the Long Millgate area and was one of the biggest passenger stations in Britain.

The original 700-ft iron and glass train sheds still survive intact, thanks to sturdy design and construction by George Stephenson. The present Edwardian building façade - for which Victoria merits its listed building status - was built on in 1902, designed by architect William Dawes.

Fascinating

There is still the iron and glass canopy, bearing the names of the original destinations which it served. Inside there is a ceramic wall map of the whole Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, and if your train is late or cancelled this makes fascinating reading, as many of the stations cited have long disappeared.

The Edwardian tea-room, and what was a very lavish bookstand, also retain their gold and blue splendour - though a proper restoration is long overdue.

Victoria station survived severe wartime bombing, and then more havoc in June, 1996, when some of the façade was damaged by the IRA bomb which exploded nearby. Fortunately, the glasswork has now been fully restored to its former glory. The stonework was also cleaned up - in Manchester's grimiest days, the station exterior was jet black.

As older readers will recall, the now-demolished Exchange Station used to be Victoria's immediate neighbour, which meant Victoria and Exchange between them boasted the longest passenger platform in the world. British Rail "rationalisation" - i.e. cuts to stations and trains - meant that it was closed in 1969, and the only remnant of Exchange Station is now the car park opposite the cathedral, which was its station approach.

Even in what is now, in hindsight, hailed as the "golden age" of the steam train, there was tragedy and disaster on our railways. In August, 1953, 10 people were killed, and 34 more injured, when two trains collided a mile from Victoria Station. The accident happened on the viaduct over the River Irk. One of the carriages, full of holidaymakers and workers, plunged 90ft into the water. It was the worst disaster in the station's history.

Since then, the interior of the station is much changed. An underground tunnel used to link one side to the other, but this was filled in in the early 1990s, when major redevelopment took place in line with Manchester's bid to host the 2000 Olympics in the city. Over £35m of grant funding went to upgrade the station and link it to the newly constructed M.E.N. Arena (then the Nynex). The Olympic bid may have failed, but the refurbishment remained and was a very welcome development. Much more, however, needs to be done.

Last year, part of the station roof collapsed, and the consensus is that it is in dire need of funding to bring it up to scratch with modern expectations of what a railway station should be.

Nowadays, Victoria largely serves local destinations north and east of Manchester, and is a main terminus for the Metrolink. Plans to extend the Metrolink to Rochdale (on the Oldham "loop" line) are bound to increase the number of commuters in this already crowded station. Let's hope that more cash is forthcoming to restore the fortunes of this former showpiece.

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