As Manchester’s light rail network reaches a quarter-century of operation, TONY MILES charts its expansion and looks ahead to what the future may hold
On 6 April 1992, the first Metrolink trams began carrying passengers between Manchester’s Victoria station and Bury. A couple of weeks later, on 27 April, trams returned to Manchester’s streets as services were extended to G-Mex (subsequently renamed Deansgate- Castlefield), with through running to Altrincham from 15 June. Finally, the short branch to Piccadilly station opened on 20 July, connecting the City’s two main stations by rail slightly over 150 years after the need for a railway link was first proposed.
The light rail solution, delivered by the conversion of the two heavy rail lines to Bury and Altrincham, had first been identified in the early 1980s as the best way to improve Greater Manchester’s public transport network. The routes were chosen because both were worked by life-expired rolling stock, with a further complication on the Bury line being its unique 1,200V DC side contact third rail electrification. Conversion of the lines to light rail operation was endorsed by British Rail, anxious to be relieved of the problem of upgrading the r…
