PLANS TO BUILD NEW PICCADILLY STATION
CITY CENTRE DISTRICT WOULD BE CREATED IN REVAMP
A ‘ONCE-IN-A-CENTURY’ vision to transform Piccadilly Station and the surrounding area has been unveiled.
Manchester council says the plan would see the station entirely rebuilt – including a new HS2 terminus on top of a new Metrolink stop – with a tree-lined boulevard stretching out east towards Travis Street.
Northern Powerhouse Rail, the planned upgrade of east-to-west rail links across the north, would also be incorporated into the new station, along with new taxi ranks and a bus terminus. A brand new city centre district named ‘Piccadilly Central’ by the town hall – a largely industrial area around Store Street, immediately adjacent to the station – would see 5,000 new homes, 250 hotel rooms and hundreds of new shops and offices.
The latest masterplan updates an earlier version published in 2014 and aims to reflect changes to the plans for HS2 and the emergence of Northern Powerhouse Rail as an idea.
Council bosses want the new Piccadilly Station to work as a catalyst for regeneration, in the same way the upgraded King’s Cross station sparked a wave of new development in London. The new masterplan describes a station that incorporates all major elements of public transport under one roof, with the HS2 stop sitting alongside mainline rail.
The existing tram stop would be moved underneath the HS2 platforms. Piccadilly’s new tree-lined boulevard would run along the station’s northern edge, described in the document as an ‘umbilical’ route and ‘major thoroughfare’ that would connect east to west while providing a ‘major new commercial address.’
Its new entrance plaza would face into the city centre, in roughly the same place as present, anchored by a new commercial skyscraper.
A related report to the council’s executive committee reveals a business case for the station is due to be complete by the end of the year – and stresses all the investments needed to bring the new hub together must therefore be coordinated to ensure construction could be carried out as quickly as possible.
Manchester council’s preferred option is for Northern Powerhouse Rail – which would upgrade links between Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and other northern cities – to be situated underground, in order to leave as much land as possible for redevelopment.
No exact timescales have been outlined, but HS2 is earmarked to arrive by 2032 and the council and Transport for the North, the body of northern councils that is drawing up upgrade rail and road links, is pushing for the new gateway station to be brought forward as soon as possible.
“This is a once-in-a-century opportunity for Greater Manchester and the north,” it says regarding the station revamp.
“Manchester Piccadilly represents one of the biggest development opportunities in the UK.”