Since services on Manchester Metrolink started to return to normality after the severe curtailment during the pandemic there has been one notable omission – the MediaCityUK service. But that is to change from Monday 25th September when it will return at peak times Monday to Saturday, running from MediaCityUK to Etihad Campus.
This isn’t quite the return to how things were before the pandemic as this intermediate service on the Eccles and Ashton-under-Lyne services did run all the way between MediaCityUK and Ashton-under-Lyne but it does mean that between Harbour City and Etihad Campus there will now be a doubling of frequency on the timetable at peak times. At the same time it means that the main Eccles to Ashton service will no longer have to travel via MediaCityUK.
Remember that whereas when you say peak time in most places you may think that this is the morning and evening rush hours, for Metrolink peak times are 0700-2000 Monday to Friday and 0900 to 1830 on Saturdays. The MediaCityUK-Etihad Campus service will run every 12 minutes in this period – combined with the Eccles-Ashton service this equals a tram every 6 minutes between Harbour City and Etihad Campus.
Danny Vaughan, Head of Metrolink at Transport for Greater Manchester, said: “We have seen a return in demand focused between Etihad Campus, Manchester city centre and MediaCityUK. This peak service will be a real benefit to our customers, with more frequent trams meaning less time waiting and more pleasant journeys on trams that aren’t too crowded.
“The Salford Quays area is one of the best served parts of our network and passengers changing at Deansgate also have the option of a Trafford Centre service, which stops at the Imperial War Museum, right across from Media City.”
At the same time as the reintroduction of this service, Metrolink will also be partially reinstating later trams on Friday and Saturday nights. From 29th September trams will now run every 20 minutes between 0000 and 0100.