A look at Manchester's Airport Trams and the Metrolink System!

congratulations hello and a very good morning from Manchester where I've just arrived at Victoria Station on an absolutely rammed Northern Service got something a little different for you today I now need to get to Manchester Airport to catch my flight this afternoon however engineering Works mean that the trains to the airport unfortunately aren't running today not much fancying trying my luck with the rail replacement buses I thought this was finally a good excuse to see what it's like to take one of Manchester's Metrolink trams to the airport now tram systems aren't anywhere near as common here in the UK as they are in a lot of other European countries however this wasn't always the case indeed the world's first tram system opened in Swansea in Wales in 1807 over the coming Century many more tramways would open in towns and cities all across the UK with most Vehicles initially being drawn by horses before more Modern Electric drams were introduced however by the 1950s the UK's tram network was dwindling with trams being seen as old-fashioned and outdated compared to buses and the private automobile by the early 1960s the only Tramway that was still operational Bar for a few short Heritage and seasonal systems was the Blackpool Tramway which is still operational to this day this was the case until 1992 when a line from Berry to Altrincham opened here in Manchester ushering in a new era of tram services in the city since then many cities in the UK have also reintroduced tram services with most of these being located in the Midlands and the north with more networks also set to open over the coming decade or so since opening in 1992 the Manchester Metrolink network has been expanded on several times with 64 miles of track and 99 stops it is the most extensive network of trams in the UK the line we're taking out to the airport the Navy line is one of the newest lines on the network having opened in 2014 Trump Services out to the airport originate and terminate here from within Victoria Station allowing for practically seamless connections to Mainline rail Services as well as interchange access to the green yellow beige and pink lines services to the airport run roughly every 12 minutes with operating times being roughly 5 45 AM to 11 P.M Monday to Saturday and 7 A.M to 11 p.m on Sundays Manchester's tram network is served exclusively by a fleet of 147 Bombardier m5000 units each unit consists of two carriages although it's not uncommon to see multiple units coupled together to bolster capacity at peak times the m5000s have a top operating speed of 50 miles an hour with the trams operating on standard gauge tracks before we board we of course need to pay for our ticket well sort of anyway while I could go and buy a paper ticket from one of the ticket machines that's located here on the platform it's much more convenient just to tap in on one of these touch pads using either a bank card or the likes of Google and Apple pay I was pleased to see that these trams features step 3 access and that wheelchair spaces and priority seats are located in close proximity to the doors both carriages in each unit feature pretty much the exact same layout with most seats being arranged in a two plus two configuration and there's also plenty of space for standing passengers on busier services foreign as you'd expect legroom is pretty tight I mean this is a mass transit system after all however even for a mass transit system these seats are not all that comfortable they're practically rock hard but that's all there is to it as you'd expect and even some of you may be pleased to hear there are no toilets to show today and we pull out of a Victoria Station tram stop ahead of our roughly nine mile Journey to the airport as we leave let's just take a look at exactly where we'll be heading today 's journey we'll see is heading south first crossing the city center and then passing through the likes of Old Trafford jolten come Hardy Bagley and wythensure before finally arriving into Manchester Airport today's journey is scheduled to take just under an hour thank you as I said a moment ago the first portion of our trip Caesar's Crossing Manchester City Center briefly traveling along and stopping on Market Street which is a major shopping for Affair and skirting the edge of Piccadilly Gardens [Music] we then go on to call it Dean's gate castlefield I love the architecture of the nearby Bridge which carries the mainline trains into and out of nearby deansgate station shortly after leaving Trafford bar we pass over a junction separating away from the green and purple lines also if you're wondering thankfully Old Trafford stadium was on the other side of what is now a very busy tram so I wasn't able to show you this the stadium is of course home of a team I won't be mentioning who are known for wearing red [Music] [Music] one way that the Metrolink Network differs from other dram networks that I've been on at least is that the overwhelming majority of our journey is spent traveling on dedicated track over to the side of the road or completely separate altogether this is because a lot of the tram network is made up of disused railway lines whether that be through repurposing already existing lines or laying tram tracks where railway lines once laid this is also why the stops have raised platforms which is somewhat unusual for a tram or light rail system but some of the stops are simply repurposed Railway stations about halfway into the journey we crossed the M60 which is Manchester's outer Ring Road and as I'm sure anyone who's had the misfortune of driving on it will tell you is a massive headache for motorists with heavy congestion being commonplace from my own personal experiences I'd even go as far as saying it's worse than the M25 which is the London orbital Motorway although I do tend to avoid both of them if at all possible anyway digression aside after crossing the M60 we pass through the northern Moor and Bagley Estates both of which form part of the Fairly large District of wythensure all right finally we arrive at Shadow Moss which is our last stop before Manchester Airport personally I probably wouldn't take the tram to the airport again unless I was to once again encounter engineering works on the railways for most people you're either going to have a connecting train ticket from one of the towns or cities which surround Manchester in which case there's no point in paying extra for a tram or you're either going to be making your way to or through the city center in which case head to either Manchester Piccadilly or Oxford Road to catch a train they're usually cheaper run more frequently and are significantly quicker taking just 15 to 20 minutes to travel between the city center and the airport as for the cost of today's trip I paid four pounds 60 for my one-way trip from Victoria to Manchester Airport this fair is available both by tapping in and out or by buying a paper ticket concessionary child and family fares are also available at discounted rates although these do need to be purchased at ticket machines four pound 60 by the way is the same price as an off-peak single on the train although it's very common to be able to pick up train tickets for as little as three pounds 20. if you book it even just half an hour in advance so an interesting Journey but one I think I needn't do again but I am curious to hear what you thought of this trip as well as your experiences using the Metrolink Network in the comments below and at last we pull into Manchester Airport's dram stop which is located next to an unusually desolate Mainline station with that I'm off to go and catch my flight to Vienna however in the meantime I do hope you enjoyed the video if you did be sure to give it a like comment and subscribe to the channel as all of these help me out immensely also be sure to let me know if you'd like to see more trams covered on the channel in the future special thanks as always goes to my fantastic patrons and channel members if you want to join them in supporting the channel from just one dollar per month then you'll find the relevant links in the description below with that all that's left for me to say is thanks a lot for watching and I'll see you all next Friday

Channel: Dylan's Travel Reports

Views: 53,139

Keywords: manchester, manchester trams, metrolink, metrolink trams, manchester metrolink, manchester tram ride, manchester tram how to pay, manchester tram contactless, manchester airport, manchester airport tram, manchester airport train, victoria to manchester airport, how to get from manchester city centre to the airport, how to get from manchester airport to the city centre, navy line, metrolink tram, how to use manchester's trams, manchester tram trip, manchester airport trams

Id: WCnL_eNtE44

Length: 11min 59sec (719 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 24 2023