Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 2, Issue 11 (March 1, 1928)

[section]

The grouping of the Home railways has been very much more than a mere paper move. To the visitor from overseas making the tour of Britain to-day, the railway system of the land presents a vastly different picture from that of pre-war times. Stations have been remodelled to meet the changed situation, locomotives and rolling-stock of all types have been standardised, time-tables have been subjected to considerable revision, staff uniforms have been altered, and the whole face of the Home railway world has assumed a different aspect.

In the remodelling of important passenger and freight termini much has been accomplished tending towards more efficient and economical operation. Probably the most striking instance of station remodelling arising out of grouping is the fusion of the Exchange and Victoria depots of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway at Manchester. The Exchange station was the property of the former London and North Western line, and the Victoria depot housed the trains of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. Both these systems are embraced in the London, Midland and Scottish group, and the two stations in question are now being combined to form one vast terminal.

The linking-up of the Exchange and Victoria stations at Manchester involves the construction of what will rank as the longest platform in Britain, and probably in the whole world. The new platform will be 2,199 feet in length, and will compare with the 1,692ft. platform at York, and the 1,680ft. platform at Waverley station, Edinburgh. It will accommodate three trains simultaneously, and the whole area will be under cover. Passenger traffic in the Manchester area is exceedingly dense, and in the remodelling which is now proceeding arrangements are being made to convert the Exchange section of the new depot into a closed station, with barriers to every platform. The Victoria section has for several years been of the closed type. All over Britain the closed type of passenger depot is gaining favour, and the necessity for collecting tickets at outside points is thus being done away with.