Since the start of the revival in light rail and tram networks in cities throughout the UK in the 1990s, there have been serious considerations and proposals for an underground transport network similar in concept, albeit not in scale, to the famous London Underground.

In recent months, the biggest calls for an underground public transport system have been made by Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, as the Manchester Evening News reports that Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is looking at plans for three tunnels underneath the city.

Whilst developing a tunnel network requires time, coordination and specialised equipment from drilling machines to conveyor belts, Mayor Burnham has argued that the city needs larger-scale transportation infrastructure to continue growing, developing and thriving.

What is interesting is that neither Mr Burnham’s argument nor his proposal is entirely new, and much of it echoes a proposed underground tunnel that could have formed the heart of this underground Bee Network.

The Lost Picc-Vic Tunnel

Manchester is a particularly unique city in a lot of ways, but from a transportation perspective, by far its most unique characteristic is that it does not have a central transportation hub.

Whilst London has many railway stations, Euston lies at its centre. Whilst Birmingham has several major transport links, New Street is its central terminal. Glasgow’s city centre terminus is even called Glasgow Central.

Manchester, by contrast, has two major railway stations around the city centre that are some distance apart, which meant that people changing at either Victoria or Piccadilly for a connecting train at the other station would need to walk or get a bus through the city centre.

As Manchester started to further thrive as a major commercial and cultural centre in the north west of England in the 1960s and early 1970s, TfGM, then known as the South-East Lancashire and North-East Cheshire Passenger Transport Executive (SELNEC PTE), proposed a connecting tunnel.

The idea would be to connect Piccadilly in the south-east part of the city centre with Victoria in the north, drastically improving rail connections in the same way the London Underground did between the capital’s many major railway termini.

It would be an intracity rapid transit system as well as a way to connect the rail networks, and the initial Picc-Vic proposals would involve the construction of three additional stations and two extraordinarily long travellators to link Piccadilly Station to Piccadilly Gardens as well as Oxford Road to the proposed Central station near St Peter’s Square.

Why Was It Not Built?

The proposals were fairly popular, but just a couple of years after the initial proposal, a major recession hit the United Kingdom, brought about by the global oil crisis of 1973, drastically scaling back infrastructure construction.

It was delayed until 1975 amidst political turmoil in the country and cancelled entirely in 1977, due to a reluctance to fund major infrastructure projects outside of London.

Parts of the scheme were ultimately built, with remodelling and improvements to some stations, and a void area was found underneath the Arndale Centre, which was intended to house what would have been the Royal Exchange station.

Legacy And New Tunnels

However, whilst the Picc-Vic tunnel itself was not built directly, much of the spirit and functionality of its original proposals were replicated by the Metrolink and Ordsall Chord.

The Metrolink, first opened in 1992, has a very similar connection between Piccadilly and Victoria, even incorporating the three additional stations as Market Street, St Peter’s Square and Exchange Square respectively.

The Metrolink has since expanded to become the UK’s largest light rail network and the biggest metro network in the UK other than the London Underground.

Meanwhile, the Ordsall Chord is an overland replacement for the underground Picc-Vic route, connecting Piccadilly to Victoria via Oxford Road, Deansgate and Salford Central, the other three main railway stations in central Manchester.

Despite these considerable improvements, there is still scope to improve the transport network around Manchester, and Mr Burnham has expressed interest in some kind of underground light rail or tram network either as part of the Metrolink itself or a separate part of the central Bee Network.

Considering the major tunnel projects that form part of HS2, the existence of Metrolink to connect the various parts of Manchester and a general interest in improving public transport infrastructure to reduce reliance on cars, there is a far greater chance of a Manchester Underground now than there was in the 1990s.

Given that the Picc-Vic line itself was vindicated by Metrolink following a very similar albeit much-expanded route, it seems more likely than not that the future of Manchester transport will go underground.