Give us control of Manchester Piccadilly, TfGM tells ministers

RAIL

Piccadilly: rents could fund improvements to smaller stations

Piccadilly: rents could fund improvements to smaller stations

Transport for Greater Manchester wants to take over the management of all the conurbation’s rail stations – including the ‘crown jewel’ of Manchester Piccadilly that is managed by Network Rail.

Find out more at Rail Stations and Property, Feb 26, London

Network Rail owns all 97 stations of Greater Manchester’s stations but, with the exception of Manchester Piccadilly, they are managed by the train operating companies on leases matched to their franchise length. The vast majority are managed by Northern, though Virgin manages Stockport and Wigan North Western. 

Many of the smaller stations are in poor condition and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) says taking them over on long-term leases will allow it to draw up long-term investment plans for their improvement.

 Andrew Fender, TfGM committee chair, said: “Given the short-term nature of rail industry funding and the lack of incentives on offer for delivering station improvements, we have seen decades of under-investment resulting in cold, dreary and uncomfortable stations with few – if any – amenities.

“We can focus on making stations destinations in their own right, marrying up with the regeneration and investment opportunities,” said Fender.

He said 52 stations were classified as “inaccessible” for the mobility impaired, with no step-free access. 

The transfer of Manchester Piccadilly into TfGM’s control is key to the plans working. 

“We’re absolutely clear there’s no new money in this,” Jon Lamonte, chief executive of TfGM, told LTT this week. He said that, instead, income from things such as retail rentals at bigger stations would be used to fund improvement works at the smaller stations. “We want to put it [rental income] back into our station infrastructure.” 

Piccadilly was extensively rebuilt in 2002 and the station now offers a range of retailing and restaurant facilities. 

Lamonte praised what Network Rail had achieved at Piccadilly and said there were opportunities for more retailing at Manchester Victoria too.

Asked whether Network Rail would welcome the proposals, Lamonte said: “There’s a discussion to be had about how that’s done.”

NR manages 18 of Britain’s biggest rail stations, which house over 510,000 square feet of retail space, and contribute to the £1.4bn of NR’s income generated from commercial activities in the five years to the end of 2013/14. 

A Network Rail spokesman said the organisation could not comment on the Piccadilly case because it was a franchising matter and the responsibility of the DfT. 

The DfT did not respond to LTT’s enquiry.

Lamonte said TfGM would be able to undertake station maintenance for lower cost and deliver accessibility improvements more quickly. He pointed out that the 92 stations on the Metrolink network are all accessible. 

TfGM would also be keen to involve local communities in the upkeep of more stations, he said, pointing to the existing good work at places such as Rose Hill, Marple and Heaton Chapel. 

TfGM hopes the DfT will leave the option of station devolution open in the forthcoming invitation to tender for the Northern Rail and TransPennine Express franchises. Lamonte said the commencement of the new franchises in February 2016 was an obvious date for a handover of responsibilities. “We’re absolutely up for talking about phasing,” he added. 

Whilst emphasising that there was a need to “temper expectations” about just how quickly TfGM could transform the stations, he pointed to the improvements that Transport for London has made to stations on the London Overground network at relatively low cost. “Passengers love it.” 

Proposals for station improvements are likely to feature in the invitation to tender for the new Northern franchise.

Writing in the Association of Community Rail Partnerships’ newsletter, Richard Watts, Lancashire County Council’s rail development team manager, says the tender is likely to propose a station improvement fund, and, possibly, some type of customer and communities improvement fund, which could turn stations into community hubs.

The franchise is also “likely to specify a significant increase in the funding from the TOC to community rail partnerships”.