Northern fears for south Manchester services in December timetable

Northern Rail, together with GMPTE, are reported in the railway press as being so concerned about the impact of Virgin’s December timetable changes as to have written to the Office of Rail Regulation.

From December Virgin will be running 3 trains per hour to London instead of the current 2 which means they will take up more platform spaces at Piccadilly and - crucially - make the Stockport to Piccadilly section even busier.

Northern Rail’s mid-Cheshire services are among the victims of the changes - some services which run from Cheshire through to Piccadilly or Blackpool will terminate at Stockport with travellers having to change there to complete their journey into Manchester.

There are also though to be knock-on effects for services all over Manchester. Walkden trains will be slightly re-timed, but other routes will suffer loss of some cross-city services and, because fewer Northern trains will be able to cross the city, the timetable will require Northern to use more trains and crews.

Walkden celebrates 120 years

Wednesday July 2nd marks the 120th Anniversary of the first passenger service from Walkden, and FOWS will be celebrating the historic occasion from 7.30am to 9am in the station booking hall:

• grab one of 120 goody bags that FOWS will be giving out to celebrate the day
• enter our raffle and for just 50p you could win a return ticket for 2 adults and 2 children on any Northern service
• join the Birthday Cake cutting ceremony at 9am
• take the chance to talk to members of FOWS and representatives from Northern Rail and British Transport Police.

Join us to celebrate this long-serving, long-neglected amenity that’s finally experiencing a renaissance in appearance and passenger numbers !

Please check out our website for more information about the history of the station.

Customer Information Point at Victoria

Northern Rail have started to convert the old Northern Belle office next to Victoria station’s platform 3 into a Customer Information Point to provide help with journey planning and passenger advice.

FOWS welcome this useful new facility for passengers, especially new or infrequent train users. It’s also a welcome improvement to the appearance and facilities of the grand old station which for years has suffered from under-investment in comparison with Piccadilly across the city centre.

Walkden to get a makeover

You may have noticed the smart repainting currently underway at Swinton. Happily the decorators are making their way along the line and Walkden will soon benefit from a repainted canopy and pillars. The pillars – which are hollow and supposed to serve as gutter downpipes – will also be cleaned out so the water can flow through them again.

Network Rail are also going to replace the leaking roof of the booking office and entrance hall, which should also help improve the appearance of the station.

Northern Rail Gardening Grant

FOWS were delighted to receive a £50 grant from Northern Rail this week towards further gardening improvements on the station. We plan to put the money toward finishing the far end of the border on the Manchester platform (left).