Picc-Vic tunnel

Picc-Vic Tunnel
An artist's impression of the Picc-Vic line (1971)[1]
Overview
Type	Commuter rail
System	Greater Manchester Transport/British Rail
Status	Abandoned proposal
Locale	Manchester, England
Termini	Manchester Victoria Manchester Piccadilly
Stations	5
Services	1
Operation
Opened	1977 (planned)
Technical
Line length	2.75 mi (4.43 km)
Track length	2.75 mi (4.43 km)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Highest elevation	Underground

Picc-Vic was a proposed, and later cancelled, underground railway designed in the early 1970s with the purpose of connecting two major mainline railway termini in Manchester city centre, England. The name Picc-Vic was a contraction of the two station names, Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Victoria. The proposal envisaged the construction of an underground tunnel across Manchester city centre. The scheme was abandoned in 1977 during its proposal stages due to excessive costs.

In 1992, the Metrolink system opened and linked both stations via tram, negating the requirement for a direct rail connection to an extent. In 2011, the Ordsall Chord was announced; it is an overground railway scheme designed to directly link Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Victoria in a comparable fashion to Picc-Vic.^[2]

History

Background

A 1910 map of Manchester's railways

The railway network built in the 19th and 20th centuries by numerous railway companies resulted in various unconnected railway termini around the periphery of Manchester city centre. Unlike central London, which had linked its stations with the London Underground, Manchester had a large area of its central business district which was not served by rail transport.

Proposal

Map of the Picc-Vic route under Manchester^[1]

The South-East Lancashire and North-East Cheshire Public Transport Executive (SELNEC PTE) - the local transport authority which became the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) in 1974 (now Transport for Greater Manchester - TfGM) - made a proposal in 1971 to connect the unjoined railways running through Manchester city centre under the Picc-Vic scheme. The Picc-Vic proposal envisaged joining the two halves of the rail network by constructing new tunnels under the city centre, connecting Manchester's two main railway stations, Piccadilly and Victoria. This new underground railway would be served by three new underground stations, joining together the regional, national and local rail networks with an underground rapid transit system for Manchester.^[1]

The objectives of the Picc-Vic tunnel were threefold:

1. To improve the distribution arrangements from the existing railway stations which are on the periphery of the central core
2. To link the separated northern and southern railway systems
3. To improve passenger movement within the central area.

It formed part of a four-phase, Long Term Strategy for GMPTE over 25 years, which included bus priority and an East-West railway network, as well as a light rapid transport system.

Cancellation

The Picc-Vic scheme was abandoned in 1977 owing to excessive cost. An underground excavation and construction project required a large initial outlay of public funds, and when the Greater Manchester County Council took on the project, it was unable to secure the necessary funding from central government.^[3]

Specification

Route

Picc-Vicc tunnel, Manchester (abandoned proposal)
Legend to Bolton to Bury Victoria Low Level  Market Street  Travelator to Albert Sq./St. Peter's Sq  Oxford Road Princess Street  Travelator to Piccadilly Low Level  Piccadilly Gardens to Macclesfield to Hazel Grove & Alderley Edge

A prototype SELNEC interactive display board, now on display at the Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester

The proposed new link would have been 2.75 miles (4.43 km) long, and run from Ardwick Junction, a mile south of Piccadilly Station, to Queens Road Junction on the Bury line, about three-quarters of a mile north of Victoria. Just over 2 miles (3.2 km) of the new line would have been in tunnel, most of which would be 60–70 feet beneath the centre of Manchester. The southern approach ramp would have been built on the surface and in a shallow tunnel.

There would be two separate tracks, each electrified on the 25 kV AC system. In the deep tunnel section there would be separate bores for each track. The track would consist of continuous welded rails on concrete foundations - 'slab track'. The tunnel would be controlled by BR's standard three-aspect colourlight system together with their automatic warning system (AWS). This would permit train frequencies of 90 seconds, although initial proposals envisaged a 2.5 minute headway.

Stations

Five new central area stations were planned on the Picc-Vic line, including two low-level platforms at Piccadilly and Victoria stations.^[1] Each would have been built on a straight section of track and would have taken trains of up to 8-cars. There would have been escalators to the surface level, and lifts for disabled people. CIS and PA systems would be installed, along with CCTV to make high staffing levels unnecessary.

Piccadilly Low Level would be a side-platform station, built in a 'cut-and-cover' section, with a mezzanine level concourse. Escalators would take passengers to both the Picc-Vic and East-West platforms, along with a subway-escalator link to the mainline station concourse, and a direct link to a new 12-stand bus station, next to the new station. Victory House, a planned development by UMIST (now the University of Manchester), would also be served by the station.

Princess Street (or Whitworth) would have been built on the site of the present Whitworth House, with a direct link to the proposed major development north and east of the station, as well as serving the Manchester College site (formerly City College Manchester), UMIST, as well as other developments.

Albert Square/St. Peter's Square (or Central), serving the administrative and entertainment parts of the city, would have six entrances in St Peter's Square, together with a bus lay-by, part of a re-designed square. Albert Square would also be redesigned, with a concourse beneath the square, along with a direct link into the Heron House development and a travelator link to Oxford Road railway station.

Market Street (or Royal Exchange) would have lain beneath the junction of Corporation Street, Cross Street, and Market Street, directly linking into the Royal Exchange, Marks & Spencer, as well as the Arndale Centre.

Victoria Low Level would have a concourse below Long Millgate, serving the Co-Operative HQ and the Corn Exchange. Development of the Picc-Vic would also allow the main line station to be rationalised and redeveloped, along with a proposed new bus station.

A schematic map of proposed passenger rail services across Manchester via the Picc-Vic line^[1]

Rolling stock

New trains were planned for the services, which would have been derived from the "PEP" prototypes on the Southern Region and formed part of the same family of EMUs as Class 313, 314, 315, 507 and 508.

Legacy

Projects at Bury Interchange, Altrincham Interchange, and Hazel Grove Branch electrification/improvement were completed, despite the overall scheme being abandoned. Metrolink, a light-rail system in Greater Manchester, was proposed in 1982 as a means to connect Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Victoria; it opened in 1992. In 2008, over 30 years after the project was cancelled, prospects of an underground rail link under Manchester were revived by Transport Secretary and MP for Bolton West, Ruth Kelly, who announced a Department for Transport study of rail provision.^[4] In the 2011 United Kingdom budget, it was announced that the Ordsall Chord would instead be constructed as an overground railway scheme designed to link Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Victoria in a comparable fashion to Picc-Vic.^[2][5]

Further reading

• Picc-Vic Project, G.M.C., 1975, OCLC 644295614

References

External links

• Overview, including map