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Manchester Central railway station is a disused railway station in central Manchester, United Kingdom. One of the city's main railway terminals between 1880 and 1969 it now houses an an exhibition and conference centre.

History

The station was built between 1875–80 by the Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC), being officially opened on 1st July 1880. The engineers were Richard Johnson, Andrew Johnston and Charles Sacré for the three companies which formed the CLC.

Whilst the main station was being built, a temporary facility (called Manchester Free Trade Hall station, after a landmark building nearby) was opened on September 9th, 1877. This consisted of two wooden platforms serving four tracks. When Central opened, the temporary station was converted to become Manchester Central Goods.

Construction details

The train shed is covered by a huge wrought-iron single-span arched roof, spanning 210 feet (64 m), 550 feet (168 m) long and 90 feet (27 m) high at the highest point, constructed by Handysides of Derby. The substructure and masonry partition was provided by Robert Neill and Sons of Manchester. The roof was originally covered in a mixture of slate and glass. Underneath the train shed there is a large brick undercroft with intersecting tunnel vaults. This was used for storage and was connected to the adjacent goods sidings by a carriage lift.

Railway usage

The Midland Railway, one of the CLC's partners, at last had a secure Manchester terminus for its services, including its expresses to London St. Pancras. Beginning in 1938, it ran two prestige expresses, The Palatine and the Peaks, the former stopping at Chinley, Millers Dale, Matlock, Derby and Leicester.

Between 1960 and 15 April 1966, during the electrification of the West Coast Main Line, Central station was the terminus for the The Midland Pullman, a streamlined blue six-coach diesel multiple unit. This stopped only at Cheadle Heath (now closed), before running fast to St Pancras.

Services through Millers Dale finished in 1968 when the line was closed. The station continued to provide local services for a while, but finally closed to passengers on 5th May 1969, when remaining services were switched to Manchester's Piccadilly station.

Post-railway era

In In 1982 work commenced on converting the abandoned building into an exhibition centre, which opened in 1986. The undercroft was converted into a car park, serving also Bridgewater Hall nearby.

References

http://www.mace.manchester.ac.uk/undergraduate/whymace/civil/trail/xml/Features/g-mex.html http://www.leytransport.i12.com/mcent.htm