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Tram system in Greater Manchester, UK / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Manchester Metrolink (branded locally simply as Metrolink)[note 1] is a tram/light rail system in Greater Manchester, England.[9] The network has 99 stops along 103 kilometres (64 mi) of standard-gauge route,[1][10] making it the most extensive light rail system in the United Kingdom.[11] Metrolink is owned by the public body Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and operated and maintained under contract by a Keolis/Amey consortium.[12][13] In 2019/20, 44.3 million passenger journeys were made on the system.[14]
The network consists of eight lines which radiate from Manchester city centre to termini at Altrincham, Ashton-under-Lyne, Bury, East Didsbury, Eccles, Manchester Airport, Rochdale and Trafford Centre. It runs on a mixture of on-street track shared with other traffic; reserved track sections segregated from other traffic, and converted former railway lines.[15] Metrolink is operated by a fleet of high-floor Bombardier M5000 light rail vehicles.[16] Each service runs to a 12-minute frequency; stops with more than one service experience combined frequencies of 6 minutes or less.[17] At the busiest times some services operate as 'doubles', with two vehicles coupled together.[16]
Metrolink uses a zonal fare structure. Physical tickets and travelcards are available from ticket machines located on the platform. Passengers can also pay via contactless pay-as-you-go by tapping in and out on smart readers with contactless bank cards or devices, with daily and weekly price capping.[18][19] Smart cards with prepaid tickets and travelcards such as my get me there can also be used. In typical operation the system receives no subsidy from central government, with operating costs paid for by fare revenue.
A light rail system for Greater Manchester emerged from the failure of the 1970s Picc-Vic tunnel scheme to obtain central government funding. A light-rail scheme was proposed in 1982 as the least expensive rail-based transport solution for Manchester city centre and the surrounding Greater Manchester metropolitan area. Government approval was granted in 1988, and the network began operating services between Bury Interchange and Victoria on 6 April 1992. Metrolink became the United Kingdom's first modern street-running rail system; the 1885-built Blackpool tramway being the only first-generation tram system in the UK that had survived up to Metrolink's creation.[20]
The system has been credited with increasing patronage on converted heavy rail lines, spurring regeneration such as Salford Quays, and reducing car use. Expansion of Metrolink has been a critical strategy of transport planners in Greater Manchester, who have overseen its development in successive projects, known as Phases 1, 2, 3a, 3b, 2CC and Trafford Park.[21][22] The latest extension, the Trafford Park Line from Pomona to the Trafford Centre, opened in March 2020.[23][24] The Greater Manchester Combined Authority have proposed further large expansions of the network, including the addition of tram-train technology to extend Metrolink services onto the local heavy-rail network.[25]