MANCHESTER CENTRAL

There have been all too many examples of superb railway architecture being swept away after closure in the name of redevelopment - Nottingham Victoria and Birmingham Snow Hill to name but two. On a happier note, there have been some exceptions. Some have been sensitively restored, such as Lincoln St. Marks, incorporated into a shopping complex. Another is the subject of this article, the former Manchester Central station, which is now the Greater Manchester Exhibition Centre. The railway had already reached Manchester some fifty years before the Central terminus opened, as is illustrated in the table below:

Three railway companies, who previously had no facilities in central Manchester, joined forces to form The Cheshire Lines Committee, namely the Great Northern Railway, Midland Railway and the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway. An Act of 1872 granted the CLC powers to extend their lines into Manchester. The site chosen for the new terminus was originally occupied by Alport Park although at the time of the station's construction was a densely populated area with back-to-back housing, warehouses and mills.

Central Station was designed by Lewis Henry Moorsom, the CLC engineer, and work on the building commenced in 1875, commencing with the structure up to platform level, this work being undertaken by Robert Neill & Sons at a cost of £124,778. Without doubt, the most impressive part of the building is the magnificent single span roof, constructed by Andrew Handyside & Co., a Derby-based firm who were also involved in the construction of Glasgow St. Enoch, Liverpool Central, Bradford Adolphus Street and Middlesborough. The method of construction, using mobile timber staging on rails, was the same as deployed at St. Pancras and Birmingham New Street The dimensions of the arch in this instance were 210 feet wide, 550 feet long and 90 feet high (at the highest point). The frame itself weighed 2,400 tons and was covered using a combination of slate and glass, the roof spanning six platforms and nine tracks. At the Windmill Street end, with the main entrance, were wooden buildings including the booking office. These were meant to be a temporary measure as the Midland Hotel was to be constructed on the front however, this was built across the road and the wooden buildings remained in place over a century, up to Central's conversion into an exhibition centre !

Whilst the main station was under construction, a temporary facility (Manchester Free Trade Hall) was opened on September 9th, 1877. This consisted of two wooden p latforms and four rails and was closed when Central opened on July 1st, 1880.

In terms of the track layout, Central consisted of seven platforms. No.1 was on the far right of the building, next to which were island platforms 2 & 3 and 4 & 5 and on the left side of the building, No.6. There were actually three sets of tracks between each of the group of platforms, the middle one being a locomotive release road. There was also platform 7, shorter than all the others, located at the far end of the building and to the left of platform 6 and, unlike the others, was not under the arched roof. In 1906, two additional platforms were added (8 & 9) which ran along the Lower Mosley Street side of the building and again were not under the arched roof. Electric lighting replaced gas as early as 1898. Just beyond platform 9 was located the turntable. Four signalboxes controlled the network of lines: "A", "B", "Great Northern Junction" and "Viaduct". In 1935 these were replaced by a single structure located beyond No. 7 platform beneath which were the rails leading to platforms 6 and 7. There were also sidings near Watson Street. Interestingly, from studying a track diagram, there was rail access to the lower level of the building. Presumably this was to gain access to the Manchester & Salford Junction Canal which was breached when Central Station was constructed. This canal still provided a useful link with the Manchester Ship Canal up to 1922, eventually closing in 1936, and goods could be conveniently transferred between canal and rail at this point.

The Midland Hotel was constructed near to the station. Designed by the Midland Railway's architect Charles Trubshaw, the land was purchased at a cost of £365,000 and construction of the building itself, which cost £1.25 million, taking four years to complete. It was opened on September 5th, 1903. As one of the most luxurious hotels in Manchester, it boasted most rooms being en-suite and all were provided with a telephone. There were four restaurants and a marble court with a domed roof. Other facilities included a Turkish Baths, a Post Office, Shops and a Paris milliners. The hotel still survives although it has long since passed from railway ownership.

In 1918 the Cheshire Lines Committee network consisted of a total track mileage of 421¾. The names of the companies concerned were proudly displayed on the front of the building. After the grouping these were changed to display the LNER and LMS.

The advent of Central resulted in an alternative route to London, provided by the Midland Railway, terminating at St. Pancras. The Great Northern also provided another service via Sheffield and Retford to King's Cross and the Great Central via Sheffield and Nottingham Victoria to Marylebone. In the era of the LMS the hourly service to St. Pancras became known as "the 25" as they departed 25 minutes past the hour. Named expresses were introduced in 1938 including The Palatine and The Peaks Express.

The busy nature of the station is illustrated when, during the post-war period there were some 400 arrivals and departures per day. In the British Rail era, the prestigious Midland Pullman service was introduced on July 4th, 1960. This turned out to be short-lived as the Manchester Pullman was transferred to the Euston - Piccadilly route following its electrification in 1966. London Expresses continued to operate between Central and St. Pancras until January 1st, 1968. Just over a year later, the last trains to use Central Station departed on May 3rd, 1966.

Thankfully, the building was granted Grade II listed status in 1963 which prevented its demolition after closure and, for many years, it served as a car park as part of the NCP group after its sale by British Rail on October 31st, 1972. Fortunately, the 26 acre site was acquired by the Greater Manchester Council in 1978. A new use was found for the station as an Exhibition Centre. A £22m conversion then took place, the main contractor being Sir Alfred McAlpine & Son Ltd. The Greater Manchester Exhibition Centre first opened its doors on March 7th, 1986, was officially opened by Her Majesty The Queen on March 21st of the same year. The first exhibition was attended by 200,000 people from all over the World and it was fully booked for the first two years, and continues to this day to be popular with both exhibitors and visitors. It is pleasing to see this fine building seeing a new lease of life and long may it so continue. Also of interest is the survival of the nearby viaduct over Deansgate which is now used by trams !

A recent view of GMEX