Network Rail extends Piccadilly parking

NETWORK Rail is set to complete a £4.2m extension of the car parking facilities at Manchester Piccadilly station next month.

A 592-space car park was added to Piccadilly station ahead of the Commonwealth Games ten years ago, but the increase in demand for rail travel means that drivers are regularly turned away from the car park as it is full. Network Rail decided to extend the park, and appointed Aedas architects to carry out the design work and Reddish-based SCC as main contractor.

The extended car park has been built in pre-cast concrete and clad in structural steel that weathers to a natural brown coloir over time. It also doesn’t need to be re-clad or painted, and has already been used on other buildings at the station.

Liz Ratcliffe, Network Rail’s commercial manager (retail), said: “When the car park was built, there were plenty of spaces for everyone. What couldn’t have been predicted at the time was the phenomenal growth in demand for rail travel right across the country.

“That, plus the increase to three trains an hour to and from London from the end of 2008 means that on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays we frequently have to turn cars away.”