Salford Crescent railway station

Salford Crescent railway station is a railway station in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, opened by British Rail in 1987.

The station is 1 mi west of Salford Central, 1.75 mi west of Manchester Victoria and 2.25 mi west of Manchester Piccadilly. It consists of a single island platform with a ticket office and waiting room.

The station is near the University of Salford, between the Peel Park and Frederick Road Campus.

Salford Crescent is the point of a split in the Manchester–Preston line, with local services running on to Manchester Victoria and long-distance services going to Manchester Piccadilly (via the 1988 Windsor Link to Ordsall Lane Junction), and is also part of the line between Manchester and Southport, frequently being used as an interchange between the two lines. Manchester North signalling centre was formerly located at the station, prior to its closure in April 2015. Ticket gates have been in operation at the station since 2016.

Services
All services are operated by Northern Trains. As of December 2022, the typical weekday off-peak service is:

Northbound Southbound
 * 2tph to Blackpool North
 * 2tph to Southport
 * 2tph to Blackburn via Bolton, with 1tph continuing to Clitheroe
 * 1tph to Headbolt Lane
 * 1tph to Wigan Wallgate
 * 2tph to Manchester Airport
 * 1tph to Manchester Oxford Road
 * 1tph to Stalybridge
 * 2tph to Rochdale
 * 1tph to Leeds
 * 1tph to Blackburn via Manchester Victoria and Rochdale

Services are significantly reduced on Sundays, with 1 train per hour to each of Blackpool North, Southport, Clitheroe, Wigan North Western, Stalybridge, Blackburn via Manchester Victoria and Manchester Airport.

Engineering work on the heavily delayed Manchester–Preston line electrification project saw all weekend services here suspended (and replaced by buses) for much of 2017-18 (through trains being diverted via Eccles and the West Coast Main Line) - these blockades continued until November 2018. Electric services commenced on Monday 11 February 2019 utilising electric multiple units.

Connecting bus routes
Salford Crescent is served by Stagecoach Manchester's service 50, a cross-city bus service between East Didsbury and MediaCityUK. Services 8, 31, 36, 37, 67 and 100 also stop outside the station and run to Manchester, terminating at either Piccadilly Gardens or Shudehill Interchange. Services also head towards Bolton, Eccles, Swinton, Pendlebury, Trafford Centre, Warrington and Farnworth.

Improvements
In 2007, Network Rail recognised that Salford Crescent could not cope with existing passenger levels, leading to platform overcrowding. It suggested expansion of the station with extra platforms, greater use of it as an interchange and use as a terminus for services from east of Manchester. It also raised the possibility of moving the station.

In 2012, improvement work started at the station, including platform extensions, a new rain canopy and the relocation of the ticket office to street level. The works were completed in October 2013 and officially opened by Mayor of Salford, Ian Stewart.

On 25 May 2023, it was announced that a third platform would be added.

Electrification


Although it does not include the line via Atherton to Wigan, the main line connecting Manchester stations to Preston and Blackpool passing through Salford Crescent has been electrified. The physical-civil engineering work was hit by a number of delays which delayed its completion by two years. The first electric test trains ran on the night of 13 December 2018, and the first electric passenger services commenced in early February 2019, utilising Class 319 electric multiple units.

Facilities
The station's ticket office is staffed throughout the week (06:30 to 21:45 weekdays and Saturdays, 09:10 to 16:00 on Sundays) and there is a self-service ticket machine in the booking hall. A waiting room, digital information screens and automated announcements are provided at platform level. Step-free access is via a lift from the road bridge and ticket hall (there is also a staircase to the platform).