Mention internal glass partitions to most people and they will usually think of a modern building with large glass windows, lots of open-plan areas and loads of natural light pouring in during the daytime. 

Across Manchester, there have been lots of new constructions with plenty of glass inside and out, where the huge boom in skyscrapers and other large buildings that shows no sign of let-up has turned the city into a playground for architects, builders and, of course, glaziers.

Indeed, while new skyscrapers rise up across the city and plans have been submitted for Salford to have one tower even taller than anything planned across the Irwell, one might be forgiven for never imagining that glass balustrades might appear not where the natural light fills a building, but where daylight is never seen at all.

However, that might be the case if another proposed construction development in Manchester comes to pass.

The story of the Underground that never was has been woven into Mancunian history, with several proposals down the years. The closest any came to fruition was the 1970s Picc-vic line, which was abandoned after government funding was axed. Some may have imagined that was that, with the Metrolink providing a surface-based alternative.

However, following soundings in recent years that new Metrolink routes in the city centre might need to go underground, metro mayor Andy Burnham has now called for a full Tube system to be added.

It remains to be seen what a 21st-century underground for Manchester would look like, but glass partitions are a common sight at stations on the London Underground and even more so in Glasgow, especially at busier city centre stations like St Enoch and Buchanan Street. This being the case, there is no reason they won’t similarly be used in Manchester.

With the new government signalling new high-speed rail developments across the north that could include a new underground mainline terminus at Piccadilly (something the city’s politicians have been advocating for years), there may be many places for glass partitions far away from the sunshine.