PICCADILLY

In this post we'll look at Piccadilly Gardens (the main bus interchange in the city) and Manchester Piccadilly railway station. However, first we'll visit the Grey Horse, Portland Street, a Hyde's pub handy for Piccadilly Gardens. 

Even in tramway days, Piccadilly Gardens was a transport hub.

SELNEC/Greater Manchester Transport was the main bus operator in the 1970s.

Into the short-lived GM Buses era.

Firstbus was to become the dominant operator in Piccadilly Gardens.

Other companies have served Piccadilly over recent years.

Then came the Metrolink tramway. Here is a view of construction in 1990.

The first generation of Metrolink cars has now gone, to be replaced by the newer type.

The Piccadilly pub used to serve cask ales, but no longer.

It's a short walk to Piccadilly station and, before we ascend the slope to reach the trains, there's time to have a pint in the Waldorf.

At one time we could have also called into the historic Coach & Horses, now demolished (Geograph.org.uk - Creative Commons License).

Here's the station approach to what was then Manchester London Road station.

Shuttle buses providing a service around the city centre start on the station approach.

Also on the slope is the Piccadilly Tap, with some pretty good beers.

London Road station was served by the LNWR and the GCR, with the North Staffordshire paying an occasional visit.

By the late 1960s, London Road station had become Manchester Piccadilly. Here, a DC EMU arrives from Glossop in 1967.

Woodhead line trains ceased in 1970, but there was the occasional excursion, such as this one with 76027 & 76023 in 1979.

On the other side of the station, a couple of shots from around 1971.

Now it's 1995 and some of the former Clacton units had been transferred to the Manchester area.

Class 323 units took over local electrified services.

Intercity services were operated by Virgin Trains.

2002 saw the famous DMU Daisy still operating.

Back in 1982, services to Sheffield were operated by class 123 DMUs.

Today, class 185 units are used on these services.

That's it for this post. Next time, we'll leave central Manchester behind.