Network Rail has completed a £44 million upgrade to Manchester Victoria station.
As well as refurbishing the existing station building, the project has included the addition of a new ETFE roof.
In 2009, a Department for Transport report named Manchester Victoria as the worst station in Britain.
Mark Carne, chief executive of Network Rail, said: “Six years ago it was dubbed Britain’s worst station – today it must surely be among the country’s best.
“For far too long people travelling in and out of Manchester Victoria had to make do with a tired and dark station. The contrast today is remarkable.
“Manchester Victoria station is modern, clean and flooded with natural light; a station this great city so badly needs. It is a key part of our £1 billion programme to modernise the railway for the whole of the north of England.”
Now it’s just the the Northern Powerhouse electrification that needs to be done as the lines that goes from Manchester Victoria to be electrified to Manchester Piccadilly & Oxford Rd and Manchester Airport and from Manchester Victoria to Leeds, Huddersfield, Hull, Wigan, Warrington, Bolton, Blackburn, Burnley, Bradford Interchange and Merseyside.
Indeed a much improved station, much better lighting and ambience. But as an occasional user, I noted that signage to the Metrolink platforms is insufficient, unless you are right in front of the entrance to the trams. Walking in from the south, or from the north I suspect, it is not clear how to access the Metrolink platforms, even though the platforms are visible from anywhere in the station. Similarly, the train platform signage is poor – once inside the train gateline, the platforms under the MEN Arena are still very dark, the platform numbers are not clear from a distance, and destination indicator screens are hidden down the platform. Pity the total station revamp didn’t consider better signage. Hopefully it is still to come as part of the station completion works.