Trafford Bar is a

Manchester Metrolink Manchester Metrolink is a tram/light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. The network has List of Manchester Metrolink tram stops, 99 stops along of standard-gauge route, making it the Transport in the United Kingdom#Trams and light ra ...

tram stop A tram stop, tram station, streetcar stop, or light rail station is a place designated for a tram, streetcar, or light rail vehicle to stop so passengers can board or alight it. Generally, tram stops share most characteristics of bus stops, bu ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, at the road junction of Talbot Road and Seymour Grove. It is on the Altrincham Line and in fare Zone 2. This stop is near to White City Retail Park, and

Old Trafford Cricket Ground Old Trafford is a cricket ground in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. It opened in 1857 as the home of Manchester Cricket Club and has been the home of Lancashire County Cricket Club since 1864. From 2013 onwards it has been known ...

(although

is the nearest tram stop). This station was opened to Metrolink on 15 June 1992, after previously being a railway station.

History

Old Trafford station from the road - geograph

The original mainline station was opened as Old Trafford on 20 July 1849 by the

Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway The Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway (MSJ&AR) was a suburban railway which operated an route between Altrincham in Cheshire and Manchester London Road railway station (now Manchester Piccadilly station, Piccadilly) in Manches ...

(MSJ&AR). For conversion to Metrolink, the station and the line through to

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

closed after the last trains on 24 December 1991. To avoid confusion for passengers travelling to Old Trafford Football Ground and

, for the Metrolink, Warwick Road station (which was closer to the two grounds) was renamed "Old Trafford", and Old Trafford station was renamed to "Trafford Bar". They both reopened as Metrolink tram stops on 15 June 1992. Though Trafford Bar is not the closest tram stop to the two grounds, it is frequently used during events or match-days by fans, as this station is connected to more line and is easier to reach than

and Wharfside, the nearest stops. Since the opening of the lines to East Didsbury and Manchester Airport, Trafford Bar has been used more at times like these.

Layout

Trafford Bar tram stop today has steps and step-free access ramps down to both platforms. This station also provides interchange with the

and South Manchester lines, however, there is no track level crossing at the stop, meaning switching platforms requires passengers to exit the station and walk around, so it is recommended by the Metrolink to use Cornbrook instead. Two dot matrix passenger information displays stand serving one platform each, and show estimated arrival times for trams in minutes up to 30 minutes prior (up to three at a time) and number of carriages.

Services

Every route across the Manchester Metrolink network operates to a 12-minute

headway Headway is the distance or duration between vehicles in a transit system. The ''minimum headway'' is the shortest such distance or time achievable by a system without a reduction in the speed of vehicles. The precise definition varies depending on ...

(5 ) Monday–Saturday, and to a 15-minute headway (4 ) on Sundays and bank holidays. Sections served by a second "peak only" route will have a combined headway of 6 minutes during peak times, though headways don't combine for separate routes. Trafford Bar is located in Zone 2, and the stop itself has two platforms which aren't named. Services that depart from the inbound platform (northernmost) are shown under "Following station" in the table below. Outbound platform (southernmost) departures are under "Preceding station".

Connecting bus routes

It is served nearby by Go North West service 53 to Pendleton via

Salford Quays Salford Quays is an area of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, near the end of the Manchester Ship Canal. Previously the site of Manchester Docks, it faces Trafford across the canal. History Built by the Manchester Ship Canal Company, Sal ...

and to Cheetham Hill via the universities,

Rusholme Rusholme () is an area of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England, two miles south of the Manchester city centre, city centre. The population of the ward at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 13,643. Rusholme is bounded by Chorl ...

Gorton Gorton is an area of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. It is to the southeast of Manchester city centre. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 36,055. Neighbouring areas include Levenshulme and Openshaw. A ...

and

Harpurhey Harpurhey ( ) is an inner-city suburb of Manchester, England, 2.3 miles northeast of the Manchester city centre, city centre. Historically in Lancashire, the population at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census was 17,652. Areas of Harpurh ...

. Stagecoach service 250 to

Trafford Centre The Trafford Centre is a large indoor shopping centre and entertainment complex in Trafford Park, Greater Manchester, England. It opened in 1998 and is third largest in the United Kingdom by retail space. Originally developed by the Peel Grou ...

, Stagecoach service 255 to Partington via

Stretford Stretford is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, sited on flat ground between the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal; the Bridgewater Canal bisects the town. The town is located south of Manchester, south of Salfo ...

and Urmston, Stagecoach service 256 to Flixton via Stretford, Arriva service 263 to

Altrincham Interchange Altrincham Interchange is a transport hub in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England, owned and managed by the Bee Network. It consists of a bus station on Stamford New Road, a Northern Trains-operated heavy rail station on the Mid-Cheshire Line ...

via Stretford and Sale. All these services run to Piccadilly Gardens.

References

External links