London Midland Region
Manchester Piccadilly combines a little bit of everything- all turned up to 11! The station itself is extremely busy, with 12 bay platforms, and a busy two-track through line thrown in for good measure. Keeping traffic moving on this section of line through the junctions at Deansgate, Ordsall Lane and Salford Crescent is as challenging as the main station throat. In addition, the 'box controls several busy secondary and commuter routes to the north west of the city, including a couple of single track sections on the Blackburn line. If that weren't enough, there's a busy depot complex at Longsight, a transition from 'pair by direction' to 'pair by speed' at Slade Lane, and the terminus at Manchester Airport!
Regulation and 'creative' routing is essential to keeping everything moving. Express traffic to London, Cross-Country and TransPennine run alongside frequent local services through the Manchester suburbs. In particular, many TransPennine services start at the Airport, reversing at Piccadilly before taking the line East through Ashburys, and vice-versa. Although not a hive of freight activity, there are regular container trains from the terminal at Trafford Park (and they're long enough to stretch from Oxford Road to Piccadilly), and services to the sidings at Brindle Heath.
ARS is available to aid the solo player
Manchester Piccadilly is a payware simulation- to play beyond a short demo period requires the purchase of a license from the Products area .
Manchester Piccadilly user manual
Chains to Hunts Cross , Manchester East , Manchester North , Manchester South , Stockport and Warrington .
Last edited by Steamer on 03/01/2021 at 13:22