Zone 1 (Manchester Metrolink)
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Zone 1 of the
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 ...
light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...
network is the heart of the system where all of the other lines converge. Its boundaries approximately mirror the city's Inner Ring Road. Within Zone 1, first opened in 1992 as the City Zone,
tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...
s largely run along semi- pedestrianised streets rather than on their own separate alignment. The first City Zone route ran from Victoria station via Market Street to
G-Mex Manchester Central Convention Complex (commonly known as Manchester Central and formerly GMEX (Greater Manchester Exhibition Centre)) is an exhibition and conference centre converted from the former Manchester Central railway station in Manch ...
(now Deansgate-Castlefield), and a branch to Piccadilly station opened later and created a three-way ''delta'' junction near
Piccadilly Gardens Piccadilly Gardens is a green space in Manchester city centre, England, on the edge of the Northern Quarter. It takes its name from the adjacent street, Piccadilly, which runs across the city centre from Market Street to London Road. The ga ...
. A second route between the South-West and North-Eastern parts of the network was built to ease congestion on the original line. Opened in 2017, the Second City Crossing (2CC) added one additional stop to the network at Exchange Square.


Stations

There are currently (as of 2024) 10 stops in Zone 1. From north to south: *


Use in ticketing

Metrolink tickets allowing travel to a Zone 1 stop also allow for travel within Zone 1. Passengers who travel on rail services from the
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. ...
area into one of the four railway stations of the
Manchester station group The Manchester station group is a Station group (railway), station group (for fares purposes) of four railway stations in Manchester city centre, England; this consists of Manchester Piccadilly station, Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Oxford ...
(
Manchester Piccadilly Manchester Piccadilly is the main railway station of the city of Manchester, in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, England. Opened originally as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchest ...
,
Manchester Oxford Road Manchester Oxford Road is a railway station in Manchester, England, at the junction of Whitworth Street West and Oxford Street. It opened in 1849 and was rebuilt in 1960. It is the third busiest of the four stations in Manchester city centre. ...
,
Manchester Victoria Manchester Victoria station in Manchester, England, is a combined mainline railway station and Metrolink tram stop. Situated to the north of the city centre on Hunts Bank, close to Manchester Cathedral, it adjoins Manchester Arena which was c ...
, and
Deansgate Deansgate is a main road (part of the A56) through Manchester City Centre, England. It runs roughly north–south in a near straight route through the western part of the city centre and is the longest road in the city centre at over one mil ...
) will be issued with a ticket stating the destination as ''Manchester Ctlz'' as opposed to ''Manchester Stns''. This allows visitors to use Metrolink trams within Zone 1 for free on the presentation of a ''Manchester'' ''Ctlz'' rail ticket. The Freedom of the City scheme was introduced in 2005 by the
Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) was the Passenger transport executive, public body responsible for public transport in Greater Manchester between 1974 and 2011, when it became part of Transport for Greater Manchester. SE ...
and retained as part of the new zonal ticketing system introduced in January 2019. National visitors from outside Greater Manchester with ''Manchester Stns'' as the destination are not permitted free use of Metrolink, as it is a locally funded transport service by TfGM, and receives no national government subsidy.


History

Historically there were extensive tram lines in Manchester city centre as part of its first generation tram system; however, these were all abandoned by 1949. The
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 ...
began operation in 1992. The Metrolink was designed to link
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
and
Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...
stations, as well as connect the converted National Rail lines, the
Bury Line The Bury Line is a light rail/tram line on the Manchester Metrolink in Greater Manchester. It runs from Manchester Victoria station to Bury Interchange in the north. The entire line runs along a converted heavy rail line, and was reopened with th ...
and the MSJ&AR Line, into a single network.


First City Crossing (1CC)

The first city-centre route, consisted of a 1.9-mile (3.1 km) street-running route from Victoria, via Market Street to G-Mex (now known as ) where it joined the line 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 ...
. This is now known as the First City Crossing (1CC). Since 1992, a number of alterations to this route has taken place: *Before 1998, tram stop had one platform that handled northbound trams (towards Bury) only, while High Street stop just around the corner handled southbound trams (towards
Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...
or
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 ...
). Following the pedestrianisation of Market Street, High Street was closed, and Market Street was rebuilt as a bi-directional stop. *
Shudehill Interchange Shudehill Interchange is a transport hub between Manchester Victoria station and the Northern Quarter in Manchester city centre, England, which comprises a Metrolink stop and a bus station. History The tracks through the site were opened in 1 ...
was opened in 2003, between Market Street and Victoria. A bus interchange opened adjacent in 2006. * G-Mex was renamed in 2010, as the G-Mex Exhibition Centre, its namesake, was renamed Manchester Central. * stop was closed in 2013 to improve congestion and journey times and increase capacity.


Piccadilly Spur

Also a 0.4-mile (0.7 km) branch to Piccadilly station, which diverges at a three-way junction (known as the '
delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...
junction') near
Piccadilly Gardens Piccadilly Gardens is a green space in Manchester city centre, England, on the edge of the Northern Quarter. It takes its name from the adjacent street, Piccadilly, which runs across the city centre from Market Street to London Road. The ga ...
. In 2013, the Piccadilly spur was extended to
Droylsden Droylsden is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, east of Manchester and west of Ashton-under-Lyne, with a population at the 2011 Census of 22,689. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, in the mid-19th cen ...
and
Ashton-under-Lyne Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 48,604 at the 2021 census. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, Greater Manchester, ...
. The new line was called the
East Manchester Line The East Manchester Line (EML) is a tram line of the Manchester Metrolink in Greater Manchester, England, running from Manchester to Ashton-under-Lyne via Droylsden and Audenshaw. The line opened in 2013 as part of phase three of the system's exp ...
. The first stop after Piccadilly on this new route, , was not initially included in the "City Zone" when it opened, but the zone boundary was changed in 2014 to also include New Islington. When Metrolink fares changed from a point-to-point system to a zonal scheme in 2019, the "City Zone" was renamed as Zone 1.


Second City Crossing (2CC)

The Second City Crossing (also known as 2CC) is a second Metrolink route across Manchester city centre, first proposed in 2011 as a means to improve capacity, flexibility and reliability as the rest of the system expanded. Funded by the Greater Manchester Transport Fund, its route begins at a rebuilt
St Peter's Square tram stop St Peter's Square is a tram stop in St Peter's Square in Manchester city centre, England. It opened on 27 April 1992 and is in Zone 1 of Greater Manchester's Metrolink light rail system. The stop's platforms were extended in 2009, but later ...
, and runs along Princess Street, Cross Street and Corporation Street to rejoin the original Metrolink line by Victoria station. The line has one stop at Exchange Square. Following the submission of a planning document under the
Transport and Works Act 1992 The Transport and Works Act 1992 (c. 42) (TWA) was established by the Parliament of the United Kingdom to provide a system by which the construction of rail transport, tramway, inland waterway and harbour infrastructure could proceed in the UK ...
, and a public inquiry held throughout 2013, the Second City Crossing was granted approval on 8 October 2013 by the
Secretary of State for Transport The secretary of state for transport, also referred to as the transport secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the policies of the Departm ...
,
Patrick McLoughlin Patrick Allen McLoughlin, Baron McLoughlin, (born 30 November 1957) is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he first became the Member of Parliament (MP) for West Derbyshire following the 1986 by-election. The constit ...
, and signed off on 28 October 2013 by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. Construction started in early 2014 on the new
Exchange Square tram stop Exchange Square is a tram stop on the Manchester Metrolink's Second City Crossing line, and opened on 6 December 2015 as part of Phase 2CC of the network's expansion. It is located by the main entrance to the Manchester Arndale shopping centre, ...
, and the first tracks of the line were laid in late November 2014. The first part of the 2CC line opened on 6 December 2015, and only operated between
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
and Exchange Square. The first test tram to run the entire route ran on 1 December 2016 and the whole line opened for public service on 26 February 2017.


Maps


References


External links


Metrolink in the City Centre
– from the
Light Rail Transit Association The Light Rail Transit Association (LRTA), formerly the Light Railway Transport League (LRTL), is a non-profit organisation whose purpose is to advocate and encourage research into the retention and development of light rail and tramway/streetc ...
.
Metrolink : Routes : city centre routes
– from TheTrams (outdated) {{Manchester Metrolink tram stops Transport in Manchester