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Manchester Piccadilly (Manchester)
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.
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At a Glance
Services
Left Luggage
Travel Information Desk
First Class Lounge
Onward Travel
Metro
Car Hire
Taxi Rank
Accessibility
Step Free
Misc
Terminus Station
Helpful Links
Questions Answered about Manchester Piccadilly
ShowMeTheJourney has anticipated what questions are most often asked about taking trains to and from Manchester Piccadilly station and answered them below.
If you can't find the information you are seeking, you can ask a question and the AI enabled service will try to write an answer, telling you what you wish to know.
Is there step-free access to and from the platforms / tracks?
Yes - the part of Manchester Piccadilly which houses platforms 1 to 12 is a terminus station, so the access to and from the trains simply involves walking between the concourse and the platforms
Travellators escalators and elevators are all available to create a step-free route between the concourse and platforms 13 - 14.
How to travel between Manchester Piccadilly station and the city centre
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:
by free shuttle 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
by tram
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 ‘Altrincham, 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.
To Media City
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.
To Manchester City
For the Etihad Stadium follow the signs for the trams heading to Ashton-under-Lyne and take these trams to the Etihad Campus stop.
To Manchester United
For Old Trafford you can take a tram heading to Altrincham, Eccles or Media City and make a connection at Cornbrook, into a red route route tram which now stops at Wharfside, which is a 5 min walk from the football stadium.
How to pay for local public transport
Contactless payments are available for travel by the tram, simply tap a compatible card or device on the card reader a the tram stop.
Or you can buy tickets from the machines at the stop which accept cash and cards.
Are there cafes or restaurants available?
There is a range of food and drink outlets in the station including two with a full service as there are branches of Carluccio's and The Mill.
Are there left luggage facilities?
Yes, there is a facility managed by The Excess Baggage Company, which is located on the main concourse opposite the entrance to platforms 10 / 11.
Does the station have a First Class lounge?
There is a lounge which has elevator access from the main concourse, as it is at an upper level above the ticket office,
It can be used by holders of First Class tickets to travel by the Avanti West Coast trains.
An introduction
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.
Platforms (tracks) 1 to 12:
Platforms (tracks) 1-12 are beside the main concourse, so the access and exits from them is no different to using a typical 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:
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Train Operating Company |
Destinations |
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London via Milton Keynes |
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Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Coventry, Exeter, Oxford, Southampton and south-west England |
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(1) Newcastle via York |
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Stopping trains to Sheffield |
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Cardiff via Shrewsbury, Hereford and Newport |
Platforms (tracks) 13 and 14:
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 |
|
(1) Norwich via Sheffield, Nottingham, Peterborough and Ely |
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(1) Edinburgh or Glasgow via Preston, Oxenholme (Lake District), Penrith (North Lakes) and Carlisle |
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(1) Blackpool via Preston |
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Llandudno via Chester and Rhyl |
If you will be heading to Middlesbrough, Newcastle or York from the city centre And you can book online in advance –meaning that you’ll have reserved seats, ShowMeTheJourney recommends joining the trains which head to these destinations at Manchester Victoria station.
Your end-to-end journey will also be faster, because these trains make their final call in Manchester at Victoria station.
But if you can find a cheaper price, TransPennine Express trains has introduced trains which leave from the platforms 1-12, so have easy access from the main concourse at Piccadilly.
These newer services are hourly to Leeds and York and depart every other hour for Newcastle.
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).
Departing from Platform 13 and 14:
If you don’t want to rush, the key thing to be aware of if you know 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;
- purple = wait in the lounge,
- blue = 'prepare to go' because your train will be within the next 5-10mins (this tends to be used at only busy times)
- green = go to the platform now, because this train will be next to depart.
Platforms 13 and 14 have their own separate ‘traffic-light’ systems.
There are separate sets of stairs to the 'a' the 'b' end of the platforms, the trains from platform (track) 13 normally use the 'a' ends and the trains from platform 14 use the 'b' end, so the usual system is that travellers are directed to one staircase to access platform 13, while the other staircase (over to the right) is for platform 14.
However, 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 10 minutes between exiting the concourse and being on the platform.
To these platforms from the taxi drop off area:
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
Waiting on the platforms:
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 train, staff are also available.
The platforms are divided into 'a' and 'b' sections, though trains can't simultaneously use both sections of the the platform, so trains typically depart from platform 13a and 14b.
The idea is that by directing passengers to wait in these specific areas, the crowds of waiting passengers can be dispersed along the platform.
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 of the 'a' or 'b' sections, and then look for the coach number info on the outsides of the train.
The platforms aren't zoned, so there is nothing to indicate where you should wait for easy boarding.
Though the departure screens show the sequence of coaches on each train, so you'll know whether the coach in which your seat(s) will be located is in the front, middle or rear 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; the TPE trains to Cleethorpes via Sheffield now also depart from here.
Platform 14 is used by these train services:
|
Train Operating Company |
Destinations |
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Liverpool via Warrington |
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(1) Liverpool via Warrington |
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(1) Edinburgh or Glasgow via Preston, Oxenholme (Lake District), Penrith (North Lakes) and Carlisle |
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Llandudno via Chester and Rhyl |
Arriving by train at Manchester Piccadilly
When your train arrives at platforms (tracks) 1 - 12, 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 platforms 13 and 14
If your train arrives here you have to ascend up to a bridge to exit from this part of the station, it can be accessed by using the stairs at the 'b' ends of the platform, an escalator at the 'a' end and an elevator in the middle.
Though in order to spread the load, the trains arriving at platform 13 often use the 'a' ends, while those at platform 14 use the 'b' ends.
At the 'a' end of the platforms the exit up to the bridge is by escalator, so if your train arrives at platform 14b, you can walk along to the other end of the platform to use the escalator.
The exit at the 'b' ends of the platforms is a staircase.
There is also a lift (elevator) in the middle of the platform, which can be used when arriving at either platform 13 or 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 down to the main concourse and its exits, is by using the moving walkways.
These walkways can be accessed through the waiting room for the trains, you will see this room over to the left.
If you don’t want to use the walkways 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.
Changing trains:
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.
Book Accommodation
When planning a trip, finding convenient accommodation can be trickier than working out which train to take.
Hence ShowMeTheJourney has partnered with the innovative accommodation portal, Stay 22, to offer three options for discovering your optimum accommodation:
1: Use the map above to see which hotel rooms and Vrbo rentals, with easy access to Manchester Piccadilly station, are available.
2: Or click on these cherry-picked properties, offered by Stay 22 partner Booking.com, which are by Manchester Piccadilly station and have been selected on the basis of high guest ratings:
Motel One Manchester-Piccadilly
Staycity Aparthotels Manchester Piccadilly
Holiday Inn Manchester - City Centre
DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Piccadilly
3: Or see what's available with Stay 22's accommodation partners; which include, Expedia, Hotels.com and Trivago - by clicking the large button below.
Stay 22 will 'shuffle' the booking services so that you can be automatically directed to its partner that currently has the optimum availability at this location.
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:
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Train Operating Company: |
Destinations: |
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London* via Milton Keynes |
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Birmingham*, Bournemouth*, Bristol*, Coventry*, Exeter*, Oxford*, Southampton* and south-west England* |
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(1) Scarborough* via Leeds |
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(1) Stopping trains to Sheffield |
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(1) Cardiff* via Shrewsbury*, Hereford* and Newport* |
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1) Norwich via Sheffield, Nottingham, Peterborough and Ely |
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.
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Train Operating Company: |
Destinations: |
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(1) Edinburgh or Glasgow via Preston, Oxenholme (Lake District), Penrith (North Lakes) and Carlisle |
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(1) Liverpool |
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Llandudno via Chester and Rhyl |
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(1) Norwich via Sheffield, Nottingham, Peterborough and Ely |
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: |
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(1) Newcastle via Leeds and York and Durham |
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(1) Leeds via Hebden Bridge, Halifax and Bradford |
Still confused? Well here is an alternative guide:
|
Destination: |
Which station in Manchester: |
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Birmingham |
From Piccadilly by CrossCountry trains |
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Blackpool |
From Piccadilly and Oxford Road and Deansgate by Northern trains |
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Bournemouth |
From Piccadilly by CrossCountry trains |
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Bradford |
From Victoria by Northern trains |
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Bristol |
From Piccadilly by CrossCountry trains |
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Cardiff |
From Piccadilly by TFW Rail |
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Carlisle |
From Piccadilly and Oxford Road by Trans Pennine Express |
|
Chester |
1 x Northern train per hour from Piccadilly |
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Coventry |
From Piccadilly by CrossCountry trains |
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Durham |
1 x Trans Pennine Express train per hour from Victoria |
|
Edinburgh |
via Preston = From Piccadilly and Oxford Road by Trans Pennine Express |
|
Glasgow |
From Piccadilly and Oxford Road by Trans Pennine Express |
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Hull |
From Victoria by Trans Pennine Express |
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Lancaster |
From Piccadilly and Oxford Road by Trans Pennine Express and Northern Trains |
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Leeds |
3 x Trans Pennine Express trains per hour from Victoria |
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Liverpool |
2 x fast Trans Pennine Express trains per hour from Victoria |
|
Llandudno |
from Piccadilly and Oxford Road by TFW Rail |
|
London |
From Piccadilly by Avanti West Coast |
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Middlesbrough |
From Piccadilly and Oxford Road and Victoria by Trans Pennine Express |
|
Newcastle |
1 x Trans Pennine Express train 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 |
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Oxenholme (Lake District) |
From Piccadilly and Oxford Road by Trans Pennine Express and Northern Trains |
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Penrith (North Lakes) |
From Piccadilly and Oxford Road by Trans Pennine Express |
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Scarborough |
1 x Trans Pennine Express train every other hour from Piccadilly |
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Sheffield |
1 x East Midlands Train per hour from Oxford Road and Piccadilly |
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Southampton |
From Piccadilly by CrossCountry trains |
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Windermere |
From Piccadilly and Oxford Road by Northern Trains |
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York |
2 x Trans Pennine Express trains per hour from Victoria |
To and from Manchester Airport by train
Manchester Airport and the city centre are linked by up to 7 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 7 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 and don't head into the main part of the station, 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:
All 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 is now only one train per hour between the airport and Victoria station but targeting 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 Redcar or Saltburn.
Between Manchester Airport and other cities by direct trains:
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Destination: |
Train Operating Company: |
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Bolton (2 x trains per hour) |
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Blackpool (1 x train per hour) |
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Carlisle (1 x train per hour) |
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Chester (1 x train per hour) |
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Crewe (1 x train per hour) |
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Edinburgh (1 x train every other hour) |
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Glasgow (1 x train every other hour) |
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Huddersfield ( 1 x train per hour) |
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Leeds ( 1 x train per hour) |
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Liverpool ( 1 x train per hour) |
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Llandudno via Rhyl (1 x train per hour) |
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Middlesbrough (1 x train per hour) |
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Oxenholme Lake District (1 or 2 x trains per hour) |
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Penrith North Lakes (1 x train every other hour) |
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Preston ( 2 x trains per hour) |
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York ( 1 x train per hour) |
Day Trips By Train From Manchester
Manchester sits on spiders web of railway routes, so the city is a great base for taking easy day trips by train to other fabulous cities, stunning countryside, the coast and multiple steam railways.
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Journeys
# Jump to a directionJourneys from Manchester Piccadilly
Jump to directionsManchester to Birmingham by train
Manchester to Blackpool by train
Manchester to Bournemouth by train
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Manchester to Cardiff by train
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Manchester to Leeds by train
Manchester to Liverpool by train
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Manchester to Oxford by train
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Journeys to Manchester Piccadilly
Jump to directionsEdinburgh to Manchester by train
Glasgow to Manchester by train
London to Manchester by train
This second version of ShowMeTheJourney is exciting and new, so we are genuinely thrilled that you are here and reading this, but we also need your help.
We’re striving not to let anything get in the way of providing the most useful service possible, hence a facility has been set up with DonorBox which can be used to support the running costs and make improvements.
Instead of advertising or paywalls, your financial support will make a positive difference to delivering an enhanced service, as there’s a lot of ideas which we want to make happen.
So if you have found the info provided here to be useful, please consider saying thank you.
This is one of more than 100 train travel guides available on ShowMeTheJourney, which will make it easier to take the train journeys you want or need to make. As always, all images were captured on trips taken by ShowMeTheJourney.
