New lift at Manchester Piccadilly Station will benefit Southport passengers

Work to upgrade the lift giving passengers access to platforms 13 and 14 at Manchester Piccadilly station is complete.

The new lift will make step-free access to Piccadilly’s busiest platforms more reliable for years to come.

Scott Green, station manager at Manchester Piccadilly, said: “I’d like to thank all our passengers for their patience while the important lift renewal work took place. I understand it has been challenging, particularly for people who need step-free access to platforms 13 and 14.“This investment into the lift at Manchester Piccadilly station will greatly improve reliability for passengers.”

Stephen Brookes MBE, rail policy adviser for Disability Rights UK, said: “Station lift replacement or engineering work is one of the most disruptive barriers facing disabled people, particularly those with mobility restrictions. However, because our pan disability group were included in the project planning and were able to give advice on mitigation requirements and publicity, the work has been completed with an absolute minimum of inconvenience.“We thank Network Rail and the Piccadilly team and look forward to a wider roll out of such successful cooperative relationships across Network Rail.”

This video shows the brand new lift in action.

Major train operators whose services use platforms 13 and 14 welcomed the lift renewal project, which began in early 2022.

Chris Jackson, regional director for Northern, said: “Our customers are at the heart of everything we do. These improvements to access for Platforms 13 and 14 at Manchester Piccadilly will make a real difference to the passenger experience and are very much welcomed.”

Natasha Marsay, accessibility and integration manager for TransPennine Express, said: "It's great to see this investment into improving the quality and reliability of the lifts for platforms 13 and 14 at Manchester Piccadilly. We want to thank our customers for their patience while the improvement work took place. During the work, we have worked closely alongside Network Rail to keep disruption for customers to a minimum."

Neil Grabham, customer services director for East Midlands Railway, said: “We’re delighted that the lift renewal project is now complete.“We worked with Network Rail to keep disruption to a minimum and would like to thank our passengers for their patience whilst this work took place.“Our passengers that require step-free access can now benefit from the new, and more reliable lifts at Manchester Piccadilly railway station.”

Platforms 13 and 14 allow up to 14 trains per hour to briefly stop and then run straight through to Manchester Airport, Liverpool, North Wales, Wigan, Southport, Bolton, Blackpool, the Lakes, the North East and Scotland.

This video explains how Network Rail carries out lift renewals and why the work is done in the way that it is.

Work is soon to begin on Network Rail’s new Assisted Travel Lounge at Manchester Piccadilly, which will be opening in Autumn 2022.