Manchester Victoria named one of the best train stations in the UK

Manchester Victoria Station has been nominated for ‘Large Station of the Year’ 2023.

The train station could bag the prestigious award at the esteemed National rail Awards 2023 which will take place in London.

It welcomes more than 10 million passengers a year and is managed by Northern who will find out if they have won the title at the ceremony on September 14th.

As part of the process to determine which station will win the award judges have paid a visit to assess award-winning criteria including access, information provision, ticketing infrastructure, customer service, overall cleanliness, and presentation as well as ‘special features’ such as artwork, memorials and community gardens.

Manchester Victoria boats some beautiful Art Nouveau lettering and tiling as well as heritage features including the café with its glass dome and mosaic lettering (originally the first-class dining room), the adjacent bookstall, and the original 1909 wood-panelled ticket booking hall.

In February 2022, artwork by the Mancunian artist LoveArtPix was unveiled at the station and was so popular a second commission was unveiled seven months later.

New water dispensers and vending machines have been installed at the station and in December 2022 it was the setting for a trial of new ticket software to detect ‘chancers’ using the wrong ticket.

Commenting on the nomination, Craig Harrop, regional director for Northern in the North West, said: “This nomination is a credit to the team at Manchester Victoria who help tens of thousands of customers on their journeys each and every day.

“Manchester Victoria is a vital hub on the Northern network and to be recognised as the best in the country would be a real coup.”

Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with 2,500 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.