Enormous 'void' under Arndale Centre is hidden clue to Manchester's abandoned Tube network

For years the idea of an underground Tube network for Manchester has risen time and again.

Back in the 1970s, Mancunians were unable to get from the north to the south of the city without changing trains. One idea that was explored before being abandoned a few years later aimed to get around this problem.

Forty years ago, Manchester came remarkably close to having its own underground rail network linking Victoria and Piccadilly stations for the first time. The Picc-Vic tunnel as it was known, like several transport ventures promised over the years, never materialised.

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However, the idea itself did leave the drawing board and initial plans for its construction began most notably below the Arndale Centre in the form of a 'void' that still exists to this day. In 2012, the empty space was uncovered by two lecturers which had been forgotten for decades and closed off from the public.

The huge hole 30ft beneath Topshop, since closed, were the beginnings of a station which would have been at the heart of the 2.3 mile-long Picc-Vic line. They had been built to link the shopping centre to the new station.

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The long-forgotten project would have had four major routes and two tunnels, each 18ft-wide. Trains would have run every two-and-a-half minutes at the centre of the network and every 10 minutes further out.

Moving underground walkways would have linked Piccadilly Gardens, St Peter's Square and Oxford Road station. Underground stops would have been built below Central Library, Whitworth Street, and the junction of Market Street and Cross Street.

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