Article updated 13/6/23
It was one of busiest weekends of the year in Manchester and with the planned strikes suspended at late notice Metrolink should have been ideally placed to move the crowds around the city. Unfortunately, severe overhead line damage occurred at Victoria leading to major service disruption which continued into Monday 12th and Tuesday 13th June.
The damage happened after a storm hit Greater Manchester on Sunday afternoon and meant that no trams could travel via Victoria. Although services could run on all lines there were changes to the service pattern with the following services in operation from Monday morning:
- Bury to Abraham Moss
- Rochdale to Monsall
- East Didsbury to Deansgate-Castlefield
- The Trafford Centre to Cornbrook
- Manchester Airport to Firswood
- Ashton to Eccles (no change)
- Altrincham to Piccadilly (no change)
Ticket acceptance was instigated on local bus services in the Bury and Rochdale areas to allow people to complete their journeys.
On the afternoon on Sunday 11th June, contingency plans were introduced to transport people back from Parklife at Heaton Park. This included additional shuttle buses and extra staff on hand across the network.
The overhead issue was first reported around 1500 on the Sunday afternoon and came shortly after two trees had fallen onto the tracks at Racliffe (Bury line) and Newton Heath and Moston (Rochdale line). The actual overhead damage was at Irk Valley, the junction between the Bury and Rochdale lines. A large amount of overhead wire came down with around 100 metres needing to be replaced. Repairs did start late on Sunday 11th but continued into the following two days due to the scale of the problem.
It was an evolving pattern of the timetabled service as the situation unfolded with at time the Ashton line being suspended and other lines running part route only.
As of Thursday morning 15th June the system is back fully open.