Mayfield could be used for Piccadilly expansion

MANCHESTER’S derelict Mayfield railway station could be used to accommodate extra tracks at Piccadilly as part of the £560m Northern Hub network expansion.

The site’s owner, a government agency called the British Railways Board (Residuary), has confirmed it is in talks with Network Rail about Mayfield being used to allow an extension to the tracks which run to Oxford Road.

The 6.5-acre site next to Piccadilly Station was earmarked for a 550,000 sq ft civil service campus in 2009, described as a “Whitehall of the North”.

But this plan was scrapped following the financial crisis when the coalition government revised spending plans.

Mayfield has been advertised on a new government website designed to speed up the disposal of public assets. But BRB (residuary) say agents have not been appointed and it is focusing on a deal with Network Rail.

BRB’s Philip O’Donnell said: “Network Rail is looking at options there and what land they might need to put more tracks in.”