Restoration work begins on historic Liverpool Road station

The Science and Industry Museum’s grade one-listed 1830 Station in Manchester is the oldest surviving passenger railway station in the world.

Buttress Architects is hard at work repairing the structure, alongside contractors Heritage Conservation Restoration and 3D Scaffold.

The project is divided into two phases. The first phase has a £1.9m price tag and includes building a new roof, rainwater pipes and gutters. That phase is expected to finish in spring 2022. It is funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport.

The second phase will include internal repairs and creating new learning spaces at the building, including a “locomotive experience”.

Restoration work is necessary as the station has deteriorated due to water damage over the past few decades.

When the station first opened, it was the Manchester terminus for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The station was the world’s first steam-powered, inter-city railway for both freight and passenger transport. Today it is the home of the Science and Industry Museum.

“The museum takes its duty of care very seriously,” said museum director Sally MacDonald. “We are conserving our globally significant buildings so that we can continue to tell the incredible stories of this heritage site and ideas that change the world.”

The museum will remain open throughout the restoration project, which is part of a wider scheme to both preserve historic buildings and make the museum more sustainable.

Earlier this month, the museum exited its lease of Lower Campfield Market, which housed its Air and Space Hall. At the time, the museum said that ending its lease would allow it to better care for its other historic buildings.

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At last, the station buildings have been derelict for far too long. Delay in repairing always increases later restoration costs

By Simon Taylor

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