Metrolink puts tram service on for football and music fans

More trams will run to the Eithad stadium to ferry Manchester City and music fans

A new tram service has been launched to help carry football and music fans to and from Manchester city centre.

Metrolink services will be extended to help ferry people from Manchester City's Etihad stadium and the new nearby Co-op Live music venue.

Trams which run from Altrincham to Piccadilly will now continue to the Etihad stop at night and weekends.

The new service will replace the MediaCityUK-Etihad trams which only ran at peak times.

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) said the trams would run after 20:00 GMT from Monday to Friday, and after 18:30 BST on Saturdays.

The service will run all day on Sundays.

TfGM said there would also be extra trams on the Altrincham and Bury lines due to more passengers using the service.

It said there had been "encouraging signs of passenger growth" with numbers across the network back at pre-pandemic levels in the run-up to Christmas.

Danny Vaughan, TfGM head of Metrolink, said the new timetable would "provide the frequency and capacity needed to meet, sustain and continue to grow patronage on these routes".

The Co-op Live concert venue is due to open in April.

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