Is this dirty and smelly terminus ‘progress’?
I WRITE this letter in response to Mrs D E Merry’s letter about the out of order lifts at Manchester Victoria.
The lifts are not the only thing that is wrong with this station. It must be one of the most depressing destinations on the whole of the North West railway network.
Coming in from Bolton, and disembarking onto platform 6 one is immediately met with a putrid smell of urine, (there are no toilets on this platform), only to be faced by a mountain of filthy steps to climb before getting to the exit barriers. Not a pleasant experience for a 77-year-old with arthritis and the lifts out of order.
Crossing the bridge, we are forced to breathe in the diesel fumes from stationary trains left with their engines running. There is no exit on the north side, which means that a detour has to be made in this direction, adding another 10 minutes’ walking time to get to Cheetham Hill Road. The toilets on the main concourse are an absolute disgrace and the large clock above the ticket hall has not been working for at least two years.
I am old enough to remember how Manchester Victoria used to look in the age of steam. There were, I think, at least 13 platforms most of them open to the elements. A slope down from the platforms used to lead to an underpass which was brilliant for passengers with luggage or wheelchairs. And now what do we have? A dirty, smelly, dingy enclosed tunnel, and they call it progress? Peter Lewis Fairchild, Bolton