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Built in 1844, Manchester Victoria is a transport interchange station for train, tram and bus welcoming over six million passengers annually; various parts of the Victoria building are Grade II listed. In 2009, Victoria had the unfortunate distinction of being labelled “Britain’s worst station” (DfTs “Better Stations” report). Coupled with that, the station roof, which was a muddle of a design, was in very poor condition, a situation exacerbated by the IRA bomb in 1996 that caused significant damage in the centre of the city. The facilities met neither basic passenger expectations nor did they project the welcoming modern image expected by the many visitors arriving into Manchester in the twenty-first century.

Work to refurbish the station finally began in 2013. The refurbishment, which is scheduled to take until 2015, involves:

• Improvements to the footbridge spanning platforms 3-6 allowing for future growth in passenger numbers

• The old leaky roof replaced with a stunning new roof structure made from ETFE, the same material used at the Eden Project and the roof at Manchester Piccadilly station

• Sympathetic refurbishment to Grade II listed parts of the Victoria Buildings, (including the war memorial, glass dome, Soldiers Gate and the wall map) restoring them to their former glory

• Refurbishment of the external glass canopy, new lighting and glazed entrances to revitalise the Victoria Buildings

• Revamp of existing retail spaces and provision of new retail facilities for a better shopping experience

• Improvements to the ticket hall and external improvements to the paving on station approach

• The Metrolink facilities in Victoria are being upgraded to provide additional capacity as the network expands, this work is being incorporated into the re-roofing works

• Electrified rail lines to the station
(Link Network Rail)

The Co-operative Society, which owns much of the land in the area, intends to build a new 14-storey hotel alongside the station.

Update: The station was officially reopened (although it was never actually closed) by Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin on 6 October 2015 (Link Manchester Evening News).

Created: Fri, 23 Aug 2013, Updated: Tue, 13 Oct 2015