First track on Trafford Park line

THE FIRST track on Metrolink’s new £350 million Trafford Park line in Manchester was installed on 1 February at Parkway Circle.

The 3.4-mile extension will leave the Eccles branch at Pomona and will serve six new stops at Wharfside (near to Old Trafford football stadium), Imperial War Museum, Village, Parkway, Eventcity and Trafford Centre. Construction work began in late 2016 and the new line is due to open in 2020, when services will run from Trafford Centre through Manchester city centre to an improved stop at Crumpsall. Construction is being carried out by the MPact-Thales (MPT) consortium, comprising VolkerRail, Laing O’Rourke and Thales.

Extension on track: (from left) Cllr Andrew Fender, chair of the Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) Committee, Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, Cllr Sean Anstee, Leader of Trafford Council and Bob Morris, TfGM Chief Operating Officer, mark the laying of the first track on the Trafford Park line. Courtesy TfGM