History of Manchester Metrolink
After World War II, electric trolleybuses and motor buses began to be favoured by local authorities as a cheaper transport alternative, and by 1949 the last Manchester tram line was closed.
[6] As early as 1839, in anticipation of the opening of Victoria and London Road stations, there was a proposal to construct a connecting underground railway tunnel, but this was abandoned on economic grounds.
The £21m plan involved the construction of a 16-mile (26 km) line from Ringway Airport, running north through Wythenshawe, Didsbury and Moss side to Central Station, crossing the city centre via a tunnel from Ancoats to Victoria, and then onwards through Collyhurst and Alkrington to Middleton.
[14] Proponents of the scheme envisaged constructing a 2.75-mile (4.43 km) tunnel under the city centre, linking Piccadilly and Victoria mainline stations.
The underground line would have enabled local trains from Alderley Edge and Hazel Grove to cross the city and run on to terminate at Bury or Bolton.
Following local government reorganisation, the subterranean railway project came under the aegis of the newly formed Greater Manchester County Council.
Despite investigatory tunnelling under the Manchester Arndale shopping centre,[14] when the GMC presented the project to the British Government in 1974,[15] it was unable to secure the necessary funding.
[17] In 1982, the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE; the successor to SELNEC PTE) concluded that an overground metropolitan light rail system to replace or complement the region's under-used heavy railways was the most economical solution to improving Greater Manchester's public transport network, which suffered from poor integration and outdated infrastructure;[4] a Rail Study Group, composed of officials from British Rail, Greater Manchester County Council and GMPTE formally endorsed the scheme in 1984.
The Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority did, however, commission in 2004 a feasibility study into converting the Marple line for tram-train operation;[citation needed] and in this revised form it remains on the "reserve list" of proposals for future Metrolink expansion, and was proposed to the Department for Transport in 2008 as a candidate for the national tram-train pilot.
Manchester was selected as the preferred venue for the demonstration as the city had the most developed light rail proposals, but negotiations to loan the vehicle fell through and the event was postponed until spring 1987.
Visitors were given a short ride on the DLR vehicle along a 1.6-kilometre (0.99 mi) stretch of track, from just north of the Hyde Road junction to just south of the closed Reddish depot.
The DLR train was specially fitted with a pantograph and powered by overhead line, and was driven manually rather than in automatic mode, which was to be normal practice when in operation on the Docklands system.
New 750 v DC overhead line equipment was also erected, using masts designed by Balfour Beatty for the Tuen Mun Light Rail in Hong Kong.
[31][32][33][34][30] On 27 September 1989, following a two-stage tender exercise, the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority awarded a contract to the GMA Group (a consortium composed of Amec, GM Buses, John Mowlem & Company and a General Electric Company subsidiary)[35] who formed Greater Manchester Metro Limited to design, build, operate and maintain Phase 1 of Metrolink.
[41] It comprised a 1.9-mile (3.1 km) street-running route from Victoria, via Market Street to G-Mex (now known as Deansgate-Castlefield) where it joins the line to Altrincham: This is now known as the first city crossing (1CC).
[42] Initially projected to open in September 1991, then promised for 21 February 1992,[43] Metrolink began operation on 6 April 1992 with a service between Victoria and Bury.
[38][28] The line navigated the Quays on a slow and meandering route, and in competition with comparatively quicker and cheaper buses, failed to reach its initial passenger targets.
[61] GMPTE and the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) lobbied central government to provide partial funding to upgrade the current network with a new depot, passenger information displays, and construct four new lines in a single Phase 3 contract (dubbed the "Big Bang") worth £489 million (£1,039,600,000 as of 2025).
[66][64] The MPact-Thales consortium, composed of Laing O'Rourke, VolkerRail and the Thales Group, was appointed to design, build and maintain the 20 miles (32 km) of new line plus a new depot at Old Trafford.
[77] On its inauguration, TMS experienced several faults on the expanded Eccles Line, causing "chaos" at MediaCityUK, and 24 service delays on the network between September 2010 and February 2011.
[115][116] The Second City Crossing was first proposed in 2011 as a means to improve capacity, flexibility and reliability as the rest of the system expanded due to phases 3a and 3b.
[114][119][120] As part of the project, St Peter's Square, Manchester was re-ordered and the Cenotaph was re-sited to accommodate the expanded tram interchange.
To protect the remaining underground burial vaults of the church, concrete slabs were put in place below street level before the tram tracks were laid.
Artists' impressions of the proposed LRT vehicles depicted them in orange and white livery, bearing the Greater Manchester Transport "M" logo, sharing the same branding as GMT buses of the period.
Most submissions were inspired by textile manufacturing, Greater Manchester's historic staple industry, using names such as "The Thread" and "The Shuttle", but the winning entry was "The Met".
[135] When the system opened in 1992, an aquamarine and grey colour scheme was used for vehicle livery, signage and publicity, and a new Metrolink logo was introduced which was composed of a stylised "M" monogram placed at an angle within a circle.
Vehicles were originally painted white with a dark grey skirt and a turquoise stripe at base of body; around the opening of Metrolink's Phase 2 the livery was adapted to include aquamarine doors.
[138] The design features a pale yellow and grey colour scheme, a logotype in the specially-commissioned Pantograph sans regular typeface by the Dalton Maag type foundry,[139] and the "M" symbol has been replaced by a diamond motif formed from a pattern of repeating circles.
The designs have been applied to signage and publicity, and tram livery features yellow at the vehicle ends with grey sides and black doors.
[148][149] In October 2015, TfGM announced RATP Group, Keolis/Amey, National Express and Transdev had been shortlisted to bid for the next contract starting in July 2017.
