'Critically important’ city centre Metrolink work to close one of tram’s two routes across Manchester
Tram passengers are set to face weeks of disruption as ‘critically important’ maintenance gets underway in Manchester city centre soon.
Metrolink tracks will be replaced near York Street, close to Piccadilly Gardens. Work means trams cannot run from the St Peter’s Square station to Market Street or Piccadilly Gardens stops.
Engineers will start the project on Saturday (March 1), and are expected to close the lines until Sunday, March 16. That means one of the network’s two routes across the city will be shut off, leading to changes to services.
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) bosses say they will ‘do everything we can to keep impacts of those works to a minimum’.
“We are trying to avoid key events where possible and we will [consider] putting alternative provision in place,” said Chris Barnes, TfGM’s network director for infrastructure, on Thursday (February 27).
Ashton-under-Lyne services will operate to Victoria, calling at Piccadilly, Piccadilly Gardens, Market Street and Shudehill en-route and other cross-city services will divert via Exchange Square. Free buses will leave from the Deansgate-Castlefield tram stop, and a signed walking route will be in place.
However, March’s closure is the first in a series of planned track renewals in the coming months as part of a £147m upgrade. Further track works are planned for various city centre locations later this year including at High Street, Church Street, Portland Street, Aytoun Street and Piccadilly Gardens.
Ian Davies, TfGM’s interim director for Metrolink, added: “Metrolink is the biggest light rail system in the country, so it’s critically important that we keep investing in the network and making sure it remains a safe, reliable and accessible way to get around Greater Manchester well into the future.”