Major UK train station set to close for two years ahead of huge renovation

ONE of Manchester's main train stations could be forced to close for as long as two years.

The city's Oxford Road Station is due to undergo a major renovation project to increase capacity.

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The project would include longer platforms as well as a new footbridge and lift.

This would result in an extra 120 passengers per train, with each one having two additional cars.

And new track signalling improvements would allow two extra trains an hour to call at the station.

Network Rail has since put forward the proposal to close the station while these works are in place.

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While they said this was "subject to change," it would mean other stations would be much busier and congested.

The website says: "Currently we estimate construction will close the station for just over two years, although this is subject to change.

"This will not prevent trains running through the station, so impacts on the wider rail network will be limited.

"While the station is closed, neighbouring stations will be busier than usual."

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Councillor Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council said: “We have said for a long time that Oxford Road Station is in need of a range of improvements from easing the congestion, increasing capacity, improving reliability and ensuring that the station is accessible for all commuters.

“Any future development will be a long-term project but infrastructure upgrades like these are essential if we are to continue growing Manchester as the leading city of the North.”

An official start date to the closure has yet to be confirmed.

The station first opened in 1849 although was rebuilt in 1960.

Curren trains run to destinations such as Blackpool, Liverpool and Norwich, as well as Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Anyone travelling to and from London needs to head to the city's Manchester Piccadilly Station.

Initial plans hoped to add two new platforms to Manchester Picaddily Station.

Since first being announced in 2015, have cost around £23million although were scrapped in 2023.

It's also not the only huge train station upgrades in the UK.

The new Curzon Street Station is set to open in the UK in Birmingham as part of the HS2 line.

It will be the first new station built in the UK since London Marylebone, which opened in 1899.

Works are already underway at the seven-platform train station and hopes to open by the 2030s.

Another new train station in the UK is the £2billion Old Oak Common.

Also part of the HS2 line, it hopes to open by 2029 as the most "connected station in the UK'.

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