Following the discovery of a damaged section of track at Deansgate-Castlefield, Manchester Metrolink services were subject to disruption on Tuesday 8th April to allow repairs to take place. This saw limited services running throughout the evening with both The Trafford Park and Ashton-under-Lyne lines being suspended.
The damaged rail was found on the outbound line at Deansgate-Castlefield and repairs were started from 1800 leading to a change to the published service (which was already altered owing to the trackworks on 1CC between Piccadilly Gardens and Victoria).
Due to those trackworks and also the need to get trams back to the depots after the end of service the decision was made to suspend the service on The Trafford Centre and Ashston-under-Lyne lines in their entirety.
The revised 12 minute service which did operate was:
- Bury to Victoria
- Rochdale Town Centre to Exchange Square
- Altrincham to Deansgate-Castlefield
- East Didbsury to Deansgate-Castlefield
- Eccles to Cornbrook
- Manchester Airport to Firswood
Ian Davies, TfGM Metrolink Network Director, said: “I am very sorry for the disruption this will cause, but the safety of our passengers and staff is our number one priority. That’s why we’ve moved quickly to put plans in place to repair the damaged rail as soon as possible. Our teams will work throughout the night with the aim of having services running again as normal tomorrow morning.
“In the meantime, there will be temporary service changes from this evening until the start of service tomorrow morning. I would urge anyone planning to travel on Metrolink during this time to plan ahead, check our social media channels and website for the latest information and advice.”
There was ticket acceptance on Bee Network bus services to Ashton and The Trafford Centre as well as on cross-city rail services to and from Deansgate(-Castlefield) and from the city centre to Ashton, Altrincham, Eccles, Manchester Airport and Rochdale.
The repairs were completed overnight although there were expected to be slight delays to the first services between 0600 and 0700.