A major upgrade for Salford Crescent station

We’ve started work on a £12m project to ease congestion at one of the busiest small stations in Greater Manchester.

Salford Crescent station has only a small island platform but is used by nearly 1.5m passengers every year and is a key interchange point for several rail routes converging on Manchester. It is also used by students from the nearby University of Salford.

The ticket office is immediately at the bottom of a passenger ramp leading to the platforms which creates a pinch point between passengers buying tickets and those trying to leave the station.

Our route managing director for London North Western, Jo Kaye explained: “In the peak periods the station becomes very congested, with large numbers of passengers waiting for trains mixing with those changing trains or leaving the station.

“This work will effectively de-clutter the station by relocating the ticket office and extending the platforms to give passengers more room to move around.”

The improvements

We are:

• Building a new ticket office at road level on University Road West, freeing up a large amount of space on the platforms
• Linking the ticket office with the platforms with a new footbridge
• Installing a new lift and new steps from the footbridge, making the station much more accessible to passengers
• Removing the existing waiting room to give even more space
• Building a new platform canopy and seating
• Renewing the passenger information screens and station announcements system
• Lengthening the platforms in both directions to give a staggered effect to encourage passengers to occupy their full length rather than congregate in the middle

The improved Salford Crescent station will complement the recent highway and public realm work to Chapel Street and the Crescent carried out by Salford City Council and will contribute to the regeneration of the Chapel Street area. It will also benefit the University of Salford’s aspirations to enhance the main Peel Park campus and accessibility to the new MediaCityUK campus.

The station will remain open throughout

We had originally intended to close the station for three months to complete the work. However so not to inconvenience passengers, the station will remain open and we hope to finish by early 2014.