More than £20m will be invested to improve the Metrolink network over the next 12 months, to ensure services remain safe and reliable for years to come. 

The UK’s largest light rail network has 99 stops across 64 miles of track – more than 700 million journeys have been made on the trams since opening in 1992. 

The £21.4m funding – from the government’s City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) – will ensure the network keeps on delivering safe, reliable and accessible services for millions more people into the future. 

Approved by the Bee Network committee on Thursday, the work is part of a planned £147m package to maintain, upgrade and improve the network up to 2027. 

Immediate priorities for this summer include track replacement in several parts of the city centre, including Piccadilly Gardens and London Road, and on parts of the Altrincham and Bury Lines. This will mean quicker, smoother and more reliable journeys for passengers. 

Plans also include a programme of modifications to the trams themselves, installing state-of-the art systems to keep passengers safe. These include sensors in the middle of double trams and speed warning devices. 

New electrical substations are being added along parts of the Bury Line, providing additional power so that more doubles trams run in future.  

Metrolink is also replacing much of the communications network critical to the operation of its signalling and control systems. 

TfGM is also looking into the replacement of overhead lines on some of the older parts of the network such as the Bury Line, which caused several prolonged disruptions in 2023.  

Long-term benefits to passengers include better reliability and an improved  experience for customers. 

The work will mean some short-term disruption, which will be planned to minimise inconvenience to passengers. Information about service changes and replacement bus services will be available well in advance of the work. 

Metrolink passenger numbers are back to pre-pandemic levels during the weekday peak times and even busier on weekends. With 130,000 journeys on an average weekday, work on the network is planned carefully to keep disruption to a minimum. 

 Danny Vaughan, TfGM’s Head of Metrolink, said: “Metrolink is an integral part of the Bee Network, and it’s really important that we invest in it so that we can continue to provide a safe, reliable and positive experience for the thousands of people who travel with us every day.  

“This is a coordinated package of planned works to maintain, renew and improve the network and help to keep Greater Manchester moving, and while we understand any disruption can be frustrating, we’ll be doing everything we can to keep it to a minimum. 

“We will make sure passengers know what’s happening well in advance and I’d ask people to please bear with us while the works are carried out, as the benefits will be there to be enjoyed for years to come.”

Upcoming works include: 

• The closure of the Ashton line between Ashton and Piccadilly on Saturday and Sunday (March 9 and 10) for rail repair work at Clayton Hall and Audenshaw and essential maintenance at Alan Turing Way. There will be a replacement bus between Ashton and Piccadilly, while the Eccles line operates to Cornbrook. 

• The Rochdale and Oldham line will also partially close – between Rochdale and Freehold – on Sunday, April 21.  This is due to rail repairs taking place at Westwood, Union Street and King Street.  A bus replacement will run between Rochdale town centre and Freehold. 

Further works are planned to take place throughout this – and subsequent – years.   For full details of tram improvement works planned for this year, visit tfgm.com/tram-improvement-works

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