How to use Manchester Piccadilly train station

About the station

This guide to taking trains from and to Manchester Piccadilly station focuses on the less obvious aspects of arriving and departing from this station by train.

Piccadilly is the main station in Manchester, and it is located towards the south eastern corner of the city centre.

The key thing worth knowing Manchester Piccadilly is that the trains use two distinct, but connected, parts of the station.

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Platforms (tracks) 1-12 are beside the main concourse, so the access and exits from them is no different to using a terminus station – you remain on the one level.

Therefore using this part of the station is pretty much as simple as using a large station can be.

If your train is departing from this part of the station, it will be steps away from the ticket office and the main departure screens.

The LONG-DISTANCE train services which uses these platforms (tracks) 1-12 are:

Train Operating Company	Destinations
Avanti West Coast	London via Milton Keynes
CrossCountry	Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Coventry, Exeter, Oxford, Southampton and south-west England
Trans Pennine Express	(1) Hull via Leeds (2) Cleethorpes via Sheffield
Northern	Stopping trains to Sheffield
Transport For Wales	Cardiff via Shrewsbury, Hereford and Newport

In contrast, platforms (tracks) 13 and 14 are located in a separate part of station, which is some distance from the main concourse, so accessing the trains that use these platforms (tracks) is comparatively awkward.

The trains to Manchester Airport depart from this part of the station, along with these Long-Distance train services:

Train Operating Company	Destinations
East Midland Trains	(1) Norwich via Sheffield, Nottingham, Peterborough and Ely (2) Liverpool
Trans Pennine Express	(1) Edinburgh or Glasgow via Preston, Oxenholme (Lake District), Penrith (North Lakes) and Carlisle (2) Newcastle via Leeds and York and Durham (3) Middlesbrough via Leeds and York
Northern	(1) Blackpool via Preston (2) Windermere via Preston, Oxenholme and Kendal (3) Barrow-in-Furness via Preston and Grange-over-sands (4) Liverpool
Transport For Wales	Llandudno via Chester and Rhyl

Services

Availability

1st Class Lounge

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Information Desk

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Step Free

Taxi Rank

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TouristInfo

Useful links

Location

Station Website

Station Plan/Map

Live Departures

Changes to Train Schedules

Onward Journey Planner

Free City Centre Bus

Metrolink (Trams)

Tram Route Map

Tourist Information

Avanti West Coast

CrossCountry Trains

EMR

Northern Trains

Trans Pennine Express

TFW Rail

Manchester area tram and rail map

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Departing by Train from Platform 13 and 14

If you don’t want to rush, the first thing to know if your train will be departing from this part of Manchester Piccadilly station, is that you need to allow a minimum of 3 – 5 minutes between exiting the main concourse and boarding your train.

A series of moving walkways on platforms (tracks) 10 and 11 link the concourse to a bridge at the opposite end of the station which spans the railway lines – there is also a less obvious lift (elevator) at the mid-point of platform 10, which leads up to this bridge.

This bridge across the station is the location of the ‘Platform 13 and 14 Lounge’, which houses a coffee/snack bar and toilets – seats are also available.

The idea is that you wait in this lounge for your train instead of waiting on the platform/track.

A traffic light system is used on the main departure board housed within this lounge – blue means wait in the lounge, orange = make your way to the platform (track) and green = this train will be next to depart.

Platforms 13 and 14 have their own separate ‘traffic-light’ systems.

Only one lift/elevator leads down to the platform (track) –13 is one side and 14 is on the other – therefore queues can build up for this elevator, so if you want to use it, ignore the ‘traffic-light’ system and be waiting by the elevator around 10 mins before your train is due to leave.

So making the transfer between the main concourse and these distant platforms (tracks) can be step-free, but if you want to use the lifts (elevators), you should allow a minimum of 15 minutes between exiting the concourse and being on the platform.

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Though if you take a taxi to Piccadilly and if you know your train will be departing from platforms (tracks) 13 or 14, you can take a short-cut.
On the right hand side of the taxi drop off area, as you face the station, there is a lift (elevator) up to this part of the station – it’s at the opposite end of the taxi area to the main access points from there into the station

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These platforms 13 and 14 resemble a busy metro station, multiple trains per hour leave from each of them, so you need to pay close attention to the departure screens and the destinations which will be shown on the fronts and sides of most of the trains – staff are also available

If you have a reserved seat, it will be in a specific coach on the train, but few of the trains that use this part of the station are more than 4 cars long, so the best option can be to wait in the middle, and then look for the coach number info on the outsides of the train.

Platform 13 is where the trains to Manchester Airport and the East Midlands trains to Norwich via Sheffield*, Nottingham and Ely depart from.
*If you’re heading to Sheffield SMTJ recommends taking the TPE services instead – if the prices and departure times suit – as they depart from the main part of Piccadilly station

Platform 14 is used by these train services:

Train Operating Company	Destinations
East Midland Trains	Liverpool via Warrington
Northern	(1) Liverpool via Warrington (2) Blackpool via Preston (3) Windermere via Preston, Oxenholme and Kendal (4) Barrow-in-Furness via Preston and Grange-over-Sands
Trans Pennine Express	(1) Edinburgh or Glasgow via Preston, Oxenholme (Lake District), Penrith (North Lakes) and Carlisle (2) Newcastle via Leeds and York and Durham (3) Middlesbrough via Leeds and York
Transport For Wales	Llandudno via Chester and Rhyl

Though if you will be heading to Middlesbrough, Newcastle or York from Manchester city centre AND you can book online in advance –meaning that you’ll have reserved seats, ShowMeTheJourney recommends joining these trains at Manchester Victoria station.
The access to these trains is less convoluted at Victoria and your end-to-end journey will also be faster, because these trains make their final call in Manchester at Victoria station.

Though if you will be booking tickets last minute station, so you won’t have assigned seats, you’ll have more chance of claiming a spare seats(s) if you join these trains at Piccadilly.

Also try to avoid these trains that depart from this part of Piccadilly station if you will be travelling to Leeds.
The hourly Trans Pennine Express trains, which call at Leeds on route to Hull, depart from the part of Piccadilly station, which is right by the main concourse.
Or if the starting point of your journey to Leeds is in Manchester city centre, head to Victoria station, as it has 5 x trains per hour to Leeds.

If you will be heading to Liverpool from Manchester city centre, ShowMeTheJourney’s suggestion is to take the alternative Trans Pennine Express trains from Victoria station.
They’re slightly faster and just as frequent, but Victoria is a simpler train station to use - and if you book the journey online you’ll have an assigned seat(s).

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Arriving by train at Manchester Piccadilly

At platforms (tracks) 1-12:

When your train arrives at these platforms (tracks), you simply walk ahead towards the front of the train and on to the main concourse.

From the main concourse you can access the city centre exits from the station, the tram/metrolink station, the taxi rank and step-free access to platforms (tracks) 13 – 14.

The tram stops and taxi ranks are at a lower level to the main concourse, there are escalators and lifts (elevators) on the left hand side of the concourse - under the yellow cube Metrolink sign that is suspended from the roof.

The trains operated by Avanti West Coast and Cross Country always arrive at platforms (tracks) 3-10 in this part of the station.

At platform (track) 13:

If your train arrives here you have to ascend up to a bridge to exit from this part of the station – the first access point up to the bridge that you will see is an escalator, beside some stairs.
Further along, towards the middle of the platform, an elevator is also available

At platform (track) 14:

You will need to ascend up to a bridge to exit from this part of the station – the first access point up to the bridge that you will see is a staircase, but a step-free exit is also available.
Further along, towards the middle of the platform, you will find an elevator, but at the far end an escalator is also available

Exiting from platforms (tracks) 13 and 14.

Once you are on the bridge there is an elevator which provides a short-cut to the taxi rank, but the main exit route is by using the moving walkways.
These walkways can be accessed through the waiting room for the trains, which you will see over to the left.

These walkways lead down towards the main concourse from where the main exits can be accessed – but if you don’t want to use these, a lift (elevator) is also available, which will take you down on to platform (track) 10, which is on the same level as the main concourse.

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Changing trains at Piccadilly:

A bridge spans the station which can be accessed from every platform (track), so you can use it to change trains, no matter which part of the station your onward train will be leaving from.
If your train has arrived at platforms (tracks) 1 – 9, the steps* leading up to this bridge will by the rear of the train
It can be a particularly useful shortcut if your onward train will be departing from platform (tracks) 13 and 14.

*Some of the platforms (tracks) in the main part of the station have escalator access to this bridge, but most don’t.

If you want or need step-free route when changing trains, you can use the main concourse to access all of the other platforms in the station.

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To the City Centre (and Manchester Victoria)

Most of the key destinations in Manchester city centre are around a 15 min walk from Piccadilly station, but there are two great alternatives to heading off on foot - or by taxi:

1: Taking a free bus:

There are two free bus services which depart every 10-12mins during the day and every 15 mins after 18:30 from a stop on the station forecourt.

Route 1 makes stops at multiple locations including Chinatown and at Albert Square for the Central Library, the Opera House, the Albert Hall.

Route 2 makes stops at the Palace Theatre, Deansgate station, The Beekham Tower and by St Anne’s Square

2: Taking a tram:

Take the Metrolink trams – the tram stop at Piccadilly station is at lower level, under the part of the station which the trains use, but it can be accessed by escalators and elevators (lifts).

If you’re heading to the city centre follow the signs saying ‘Altringham, Bury, Eccles and Media City’ – these are destinations of the trams which head in this direction.

Yellow route trams heading to Bury call at Market Street and Victoria station – this tram link is the easiest means of making the transfer between Piccadilly and Victoria stations.

The blue, orange and purple routes – trams to Altringham, Eccles and Media City call at St Peter’s Square and Deansgate-Castlefield.

Buy tickets before boarding – a zone 1 journey costs £1.40.

The Media City UK stop, which is served by the Orange route at Monday-Saturday daytimes and by the Blue Route trams heading to Eccles at other times, provides easy access to The Lowry Museum/Theatre, The Imperial War Museum, Manchester and The Granada Studio Tours.

For the Etihad Stadium follow the signs for the trams heading to Ashton-under-Lyne and take these trams to the Etihad Campus stop.

For Old Trafford you can take a tram heading to Altringhan, Eccles or Media and make a connection at Cornbrook, into a red route route tran which now stops at Wharfside, which is a 5 min walk from the football stadium.

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Which station in Manchester?

Piccadilly is the main station in Manchester, but Oxford Road and Victoria are also city centre stations that are used by some long distance trains to and from the city.

Some train services only depart from and arrive at one of these stations– but others use multiple stations in the city AND different services from each station can be heading to and from the same destinations.

So there’s no hiding the fact that this can be confusing and somewhat bizarre – but don’t let that stop you travelling to and from this fantastic city by train, three stations usually means more choice of travel options, which is never a bad thing.

Hence the summary below of which station is used by each of the main long distance train services to and from Manchester:

Destinations and routes from Manchester Piccadilly:

Train Operating Company:	Destinations: Those marked with an * are only served by trains from Piccadilly station
Avanti West Coast	London* via Milton Keynes
CrossCountry	Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Coventry, Exeter, Oxford, Southampton* and south-west England
Trans Pennine Express	(1) Hull* via Leeds (2) Cleethorpes* via Sheffield (3) Edinburgh or Glasgow via Preston, Oxenholme (Lake District), Penrith (North Lakes) and Carlisle (4) Newcastle via Leeds and York and Durham (5) Middlesbrough via Leeds and York
Northern	(1) Stopping trains to Sheffield (2) Liverpool (3) Blackpool via Preston (4) Windermere via Preston, Oxenholme and Kendal (5) Barrow-in-Furness via Preston and Grange-over-Sands (6) Chester
TFW	(1) Cardiff* via Shrewsbury, Hereford and Newport* (2) Llandudno via Chester and Rhyl
East Midland Trains	1) Norwich via Sheffield, Nottingham, Peterborough and Ely (2) Liverpool

Destinations and routes from Manchester Oxford Road:

These train services depart from and arrive at Oxford Road – though ALL of these train services also call at Piccadilly station and those marked with* also call at Victoria station.

Train Operating Company:	Destinations:
Trans Pennine Express	(1) Edinburgh or Glasgow via Preston, Oxenholme (Lake District), Penrith (North Lakes) and Carlisle (2) Newcastle* via Leeds and York and Durham (3) Middlesbrough* via Leeds and York
Northern	(1) Liverpool (2) Blackpool via Preston (3) Windermere via Preston, Oxenholme and Kendal (4) Barrow-in-Furness via Preston and Grange-over-Sands
TFW	Llandudno via Chester and Rhyl
East Midland Trains	(1) Norwich via Sheffield, Nottingham, Peterborough and Ely (2) Liverpool

Those East Midlands Trains to Norwich via Sheffield call at Oxford Road before they call at Piccadilly, but all of these other services first call at Piccadilly.

Destinations and routes from Manchester Victoria:

These train services marked with* also call at Oxford Road and Piccadilly stations:

Train Operating Company:	Destinations:
Trans Pennine Express	(1) Scarborough via Leeds and York (2) Newcastle via Leeds and York and Durham and Newcastle (2 x trains per hour with 1 x train per hour having its journey extended to Edinburgh via Berwick) (3) Middlesbrough via Leeds and York (4) Liverpool
Northern	(1) Leeds via Hebden Bridge, Halifax and Bradford (2) Clitheroe via Blackburn (3) Chester

Still confused? Well here’s an alternative guide:

Destination:	Which station in Manchester:
Birmingham	From Piccadilly by CrossCountry trains
Blackpool	From Piccadilly and Oxford Road and Deansgate by Northern trains
Bournemouth	From Piccadilly by CrossCountry trains
Bradford	From Victoria by Northern trains
Bristol	From Piccadilly by CrossCountry trains
Cardiff	From Piccadilly by TFW Rail
Carlisle	From Piccadilly and Oxford Road by Trans Pennine Express
Chester	1 x Northern train per hour from Piccadilly 1 x slower Northern train per hour from Victoria 1 x TFW Rail train per hour from Piccadilly and Oxford Road
Coventry	From Piccadilly by CrossCountry trains
Durham	1 x Trans Pennine Express train per hour from Piccadilly and Oxford Road 2 x Trans Pennine Express trains per hour from Victoria
Edinburgh	via Preston = From Piccadilly and Oxford Road by Trans Pennine Express via Newcastle (a longer route) = From Victoria by Trans Pennine Express
Glasgow	From Piccadilly and Oxford Road by Trans Pennine Express
Hull	From Piccadilly by Trans Pennine Express
Lancaster	From Piccadilly and Oxford Road by Trans Pennine Express and Northern Trains
Leeds	4 x Trans Pennine Express trains per hour from Victoria 1 x Northern train per hour from Victoria 3 x Trans Pennine Express trains per hour from Piccadilly 2 x Trans Pennine Express trains per hour from Oxford Road
Liverpool	2 x fast Trans Pennine Express trains per hour from Victoria 1 x semi-fast East Midland Train per hour from Piccadilly and Oxford Road 1 x semi-fast Northern train per hour from Piccadilly and Oxford Road
Llandudno	from Piccadilly and Oxford Road by TFW Rail
London	From Piccadilly by Avanti West Coast
Middlesbrough	From Piccadilly and Oxford Road and Victoria by Trans Pennine Express
Newcastle	1 x Trans Pennine Express train per hour from Piccadilly and Oxford Road 2 x Trans Pennine Express trains per hour from Victoria
Nottingham	From Oxford Road and Piccadilly by East Midlands Trains
Norwich	From Oxford Road and Piccadilly by East Midlands Trains
Oxford	From Piccadilly by CrossCountry trains
Oxenholme (Lake District)	From Piccadilly and Oxford Road by Trans Pennine Express and Northern Trains
Penrith (North Lakes)	From Piccadilly and Oxford Road by Trans Pennine Express
Sheffield	1 x East Midlands Train per hour from Oxford Road and Piccadilly 1 x Trans Pennine Express train per hour from Piccadilly 1 x slower Northern train per hour from Piccadilly
Southampton	From Piccadilly by CrossCountry trains
Windermere	From Piccadilly and Oxford Road by Northern Trains
York	4 x Trans Pennine Express trains per hour from Victoria 2 x Trans Pennine Express trains per hour from Piccadilly and Oxford Road

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To and from Manchester Airport by train

Manchester Airport and the city centre are linked by up to 8 x trains per hour and the journey time is only 14 minutes.
Though there is no specific Airport train service, all of these trains travel via central Manchester while on route to and from other cities and towns.

From/to Piccadilly station:

All of these 8 x trains per hour connect Piccadilly station to Manchester Airport.

However, at Piccadilly all but one of these hourly trains to/from the airport use the part of the station, platform (track 13), which is some distance from the main concourse and therefore has comparatively awkward access.

If you have luggage etc and require step-free access to the trains, you should allow 8 minutes to make the transfer from the main concourse to platform 13.

Though if you take a taxi to Piccadilly, ask the driver to take you to the taxi drop-off point on Fairfield Street - don't head into the main part of the station and instead use the elevator on the right hand side of the taxi rank, which leads up to the part of the station that the trains to the airport depart from.

When heading FROM the airport by train, check the location of your final destination in the city centre, as Piccadilly may not be the most convenient station - don't assume that leaving a train here will be the best option.

From/to Oxford Road station:

Seven of those hourly trains to/from the airport also call at Oxford Road station and the transfer between the trains and the entrance/exit is much simpler at this station.

So it can be worth checking if Oxford Road station has easy access to your starting point or final destination in the city centre.
Though Oxford Road station has no tram stop or taxi rank, the nearest taxi stand is down on the main road by the Sainsburys supermarket.

From/to Deansgate station:

There are usually 2 x trains per hour between the airport and Deansgate station and at Deansgate you can transfer to trams heading for Media City UK and to trams which call at Exchange Square – this city centre stop isn’t served by trams to/from Piccadilly.

When heading to Deansgate from the airport you need to take the trains operated by Northern which will be heading to Blackpool or Liverpool.

From/to Victoria station:

There are now also 2 x trains per hour between the airport and Victoria station and taking these trains can be a good option if the start or end point of your journey is on the northern edge of the city centre.

When heading to Victoria from the airport you need to take the trains operated by Trans Pennine Express which will be heading to Middlesbrough or Newcastle.

Between Manchester Airport and other cities by direct train:

Destination:	Train Operating Company:
Bolton (2 x trains per hour)	Northern
Blackpool (1 x train per hour)	Northern
Carlisle (1 x train per hour)	Trans Pennine Express
Chester (1 x train per hour)	TFW
Cleethorpes via Grimsby and Doncaster (1 x train per hour)	Trans Pennine Express
Crewe (1 x train per hour)	Northern
Durham (1 x train per hour)	Trans Pennine Express
Edinburgh (1 x train every other hour)	Trans Pennine Express
Glasgow (1 x train every other hour)	Trans Pennine Express
Huddersfield ( 2 x trains per hour)	Trans Pennine Express
Leeds ( 2 x trains per hour)	Trans Pennine Express
Liverpool ( 2 x trains per hour)	Northern
Llandudno via Rhyl (1 x train per hour)	TFW
Middlesbrough (1 x train per hour)	Trans Pennine Express
Newcastle (1 x train per hour)	Trans Pennine Express
Oxenholme Lake District (1 or 2 x trains per hour)	Trans Pennine Express and Northern
Penrith North Lakes (1 x train every other hour)	Trans Pennine Express
Preston ( 3 x trains per hour)	Trans Pennine Express and Northern
Sheffield (1 x train per hour)	Trans Pennine Express
York ( 2 x trains per hour)	Trans Pennine Express

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Manchester Piccadilly

Manchester, (United Kingdom)

Journeys from Manchester

About the station

Useful links

Departing by Train from Platform 13 and 14

Arriving by train at Manchester Piccadilly

To the City Centre (and Manchester Victoria)

Which station in Manchester?

To and from Manchester Airport by train

Manchester Piccadilly

Manchester, (United Kingdom)

Journeys from Manchester

About the station

Useful links

Departing by Train from Platform 13 and 14

Arriving by train at Manchester Piccadilly

To the City Centre (and Manchester Victoria)

Which station in Manchester?

To and from Manchester Airport by train

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