Piccadilly corridor renewal

Manchester Piccadilly station engineering works

Saturday 14 to Sunday 22 February 2026

From Saturday 14 to Sunday 22 February 2026, major engineering improvement works will be taking place on the southern approach to Manchester Piccadilly station. This essential work, led by Network Rail, will upgrade tracks, points, and signalling systems dating back to the 1980s, with nearly eight million pounds being invested to modernise this key part of the railway.

Platforms 1–12 at Manchester Piccadilly will be closed, and there will only be limited westbound services from Platforms 13 and 14. This means many services will terminate at alternative stations.

Some routes will be diverted, timetables will be amended, and rail replacement buses will operate on certain routes. We recommend checking your journey before you travel, as your usual service may be affected.

The main work takes place over nine days during February half term. During this period:

• No trains will run from the south and east of the city into Manchester.

• TPE will not operate any services through Manchester Piccadilly, with services terminating at Manchester Oxford Road, Stockport, Preston, and Manchester Victoria.

During this time, improvement work as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade between Leeds and Selby/York means some trains will take a different route via Castleford.

TransPennine Express will operate as follows:

Saturdays 14 & 21 February and Sundays 15 & 22 February

• Liverpool Lime Street <> Newcastle (Diverted between Leeds and York via Castleford)
• Liverpool Lime Street <> Manchester Victoria
• Manchester Victoria <> Scarborough (Diverted between Leeds and York via Castleford)
• Leeds <> Hull (Diverted between Leeds and York via Castleford)
• York <> Redcar Central
• Manchester Victoria <> York
• Stockport <> Cleethorpes
• Liverpool Lime Street <> Manchester Oxford Road
• Preston <> Glasgow Central/Edinburgh
  
  

Monday 16 to Friday 20 February

• Manchester Victoria <> Redcar Central
• Manchester Victoria <> York
• Manchester Victoria <> Leeds (additional peak time services)
• Preston <> Glasgow Central/Edinburgh
• Liverpool Lime Street <> Manchester Oxford Road
• Stockport <> Cleethorpes

All other services will run as normal, with some slight timing changes on some services.

Rail replacement buses -

Manchester Airport <> Huddersfield via Stockport (hourly)

Manchester Airport <> Preston (hourly)

Manchester Airport <> Manchester Piccadilly (every 30 mins)

Manchester Airport <> Warrington Bank Quay via Warrington Central (stops to drop customers off only) (hourly)

Ticket acceptance

Customers can use TransPennine Express tickets on the following services: 

• 43/103 bus - Manchester Airport <> Manchester

• Metrolink - Manchester Airport <> city centre

• Metrolink - all cross-city journeys

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Any valid TransPennine Express ticket may be used on rail replacement bus services, including those operated by other train operating companies.

Bee Network Ticket Acceptance

Tickets for impacted customers will be accepted on the following Bee Network bus and tram services during this engineering works:

Bus services:

• 43/103 Piccadilly Gardens to Manchester Airport

• 50/51 St Peter’s Square to East Didsbury

• 142 Piccadilly Gardens to East Didsbury

• 192 to/from Heaton Chapel and Levenshulme

• 219/220/221 Piccadilly Gardens, Ardwick, Ashburys, Gorton, Fairfield and Guide Bridge

• 201/202/203/205 Piccadilly Gardens, Belle Vue and Reddish

• 370/371 Stockport to Altrincham

• There is also the Manchester City Centre Free Bus services.

Tram (Metrolink) services:

• Between Manchester city centre stops linking stations (PIC‑VIC‑DCF)

• Manchester city centre stops to Altrincham / East Didsbury / Manchester Airport

• Manchester city centre stops to Ashton Moss