Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) will undertake a significant programme of work this year to build the capacity and resilience of its tracks, trams, and workforce.
It’s part of a £150 million programme of work to maintain, upgrade, and improve tram infrastructure to make sure the Bee Network continues to deliver safe, reliable, and accessible services for millions more people into the future.
While this is delivered, there will be some temporary periods of disruption for passengers.
Work will take place from spring at a number of locations – including near Trafford Bar, Deansgate-Castlefield, Monsall, Newton Heath & Moston, Eccles, Derker, and Piccadilly Gardens – meaning trams will have to stop on some lines while the work is done.
This year’s programme will continue until autumn, and there will be plenty of notice of each closure to help people plan their journey.
The first major works will take place during the Easter Weekend at Trafford Bar and Deansgate-Castlefield. These are preparatory works ahead of full track replacement later in the year and will be carried out over four days from 3 to 6 April. During this closure, rail replacement work will also take place on the Altrincham line.
There will be no trams on the Altrincham, Eccles and Trafford Park lines all weekend. The East Didsbury and Airport lines will run to Firswood only.
From Monday 30 March until autumn a revised timetable will be introduced across the tram network. There will still be reliable and frequent tram services running every 15 minutes, supported by a peak service running every 7.5 minutes at the busiest times on the most popular lines.
This is being done while a significant recruitment drive gets under way to take on and train up new tram drivers, building extra capacity and resilience in the workforce.
During this temporary change, more double trams will run on the network to increase capacity in the busiest areas where it is most needed.
As work is carried out throughout the year, TfGM, and Metrolink operator KAM will use this opportunity to deep clean, maintain and make improvements to trams which are not being deployed on the network. This should improve the reliability of our trams, as well as improve the overall passenger experience.
Up-to-date travel information will be shared on Bee Network channels throughout the work to keep everyone moving.
Ian Davies, network director for Metrolink at TfGM, said: “Keeping our network safe, reliable and ready for the future is our absolute priority. This year’s programme is one of the most significant we’ve ever undertaken and will strengthen the whole network—our track, our trams and our workforce.
“Whilst we complete this work, we will introduce a temporary timetable change that will run between spring and autumn.
“We know that some of this work will mean temporary disruption, and I want to thank passengers for their patience while we get it done. By investing now, we can reduce faults, improve day to day reliability and make sure Metrolink can keep pace with the growing number of people who depend on it every day now and for the future.”
Image credit: Transport for Greater Manchester
