Manchester’s Unconventional Tram System

Hey! I can see my house from the big map😂😂

Yeah they've cancelled the HS2 from Birmingham to Manchester. The only part being finished is in London.

Loved the video, and good work on the place names. All of them were spot on

The problem with the trams is that if you want to go anywhere in the suburbs, you have to go through the centre. This wouldn’t be a problem if the tram wasn’t soooo ridiculously slow. They also only put on single trams in the morning rush hour, which fill up quickly. These also frequently only come once every 12 minutes which is insane. Obviously I understand why but it just seems so underperforming for such a massive growing city. We had tunnels, why didn’t we use them?

doot

I really wish there was a tram that went directly south. The buses to both universities are extremely overcrowded and it’s a common sign to see 4 busses in a row that say ‘Sorry, bus full’ and this is with a ban on cars on the university portion of Oxford road and dedicated cycle lanes! To get from East didsbury to the centre with the tram takes about 3x longer so there should really be a tram serving the south and southeast in my opinion

Lived in Manchester for 4 years almost and love the metrolink it's cheaper than the bus as well which makes it convenient however almost all trams pass through cornbrook stop and and when there's an issue there with points or power the entire network doesn't work.

I am more addicted to my travel pass than my smartphone as it can be used anywhere on the Met.

Very very well researched, I was born and still live in South Manchester and I can’t fault a single thing you said. The Altrincham to Bury line was the first Metrolink route to open and I grew up about a 3 minute walk from a stop so I’ve been using the system since I was a small child. I’m hoping the Bee Network really improves public transport around Manchester and reduces some of the dreaded morning traffic on our arterial roads.

you said altrincham right, pleasantly surprised

Metrolink just needs more vehicles and better service frequency on the very popular Altrincham line, plus lower fares.

Very good survey. Just two points: Bombardier as such may not exist, but its factories still do, under the Alstom banner; Manchester may have very good short-range transit, but the two-track Castlefield section imposes severe restrictions on long-distance through trains. With a government (in 2023) trying to relive the post-war dream of replacing environmentally-friendly trains by gas-guzzling cars so as to put money in its friends' pockets, nothing required for future improvement will happen yet. Britain as a whole at the moment looks like a lorry-dependent country in decline whose roads are choked by traffic and whose inhabitants are choked by fumes.

respect for knowing we call it the Met haha u got a new sub :p

As a resident of greater Manchester there was talk over expanding the metrolink to Bolton and a couple other places in light of the hs2 project being scrapped coming to Manchester

Absolutely not. 0:55 is Salford not Manchester. And that area is absolutely little compared to what Manchester is. A minute in and the video is false.

00:14 🚋 Manchester is home to the underappreciated Metrolink system, known as "The Met," with 99 stops and over 100 km of track.
01:13 🏟 Manchester boasts major sporting landmarks, including Old Trafford and Etihad Stadium, along with significant developments like Media City UK.
02:52 🚊 Metrolink uses bendy, high-floor tram cars with 750V DC overhead wire power, originating from the 1990s and expanding rapidly in the 2000s and 2010s.
04:02 🛤 The Metrolink network is surface-based, with distinctive corridors, smart planning decisions, and conversions of rail lines contributing to its extensive growth.
06:38 🚉 Metrolink has five lines fanning out from St Peter Square, covering diverse areas like Manchester Ship Canal, docks, and the Trafford Center.
08:28 🕰 Services on Metrolink operate at a basic frequency of one train every 12 minutes, with some lines terminating at specific stops, and plans for future expansions are in progress.
09:38 🚄 Future plans for Metrolink include extensions to Stockport and Port Salford, a tram train providing east-west service, and the transformative B Network improving overall public transport integration in Manchester.
10:50 🅱 The B Network in Manchester, akin to London's TFL, aims to enhance public transport with unified services, integrated fares, and local government control over buses and, eventually, trains.
11:30 🌐 The expansion of the Metrolink into an actual Metro and other suggestions for its growth can be explored in a dedicated video on Nebula, the streaming platform created by the video's creator and friends.

Thanks for the great video! It’s a great network but it’s desperate for some circular lines, even just linking the existing endpoints. Ashton and Oldham are not that far from each other as the crow flies, but to go from Ashton to Oldham on the tram, you have to come all the way into the city and go back out. The Eccles line could link up with the end of the new Trafford Park line to improve getting across the Irwell from Manchester to Salford. Express trams on the Media City line would also be great for commuters; miss out the MC spur and reduce the amount of stops it makes going through Salford Quays (a lot very close together) after picking up a lot of passengers from Eccles to Langworthy who are going to the city.