27.02.17
Second City Crossing opens as Metrolink complete ‘big bang’ expansion
The new Second City Crossing tram line through Manchester city centre was opened yesterday, marking the completion of Metrolink’s “big bang” expansion.
The line now links together 93 stops over 60 miles with the addition of the 1.3km stretch directly through Manchester’s city centre, making the light rail network the largest in the country.
The new service runs from the transformed Deansgate-Castlefield stop to a new stop outside St Peter’s Square, along Cross Street and then onto the Exchange Square and Victoria stops.
Work has been ongoing on the £1.5bn expansion since 2009 when construction started on a tram route to East Didsbury. Now that the project is finished, it has seen Manchester’s light rail network grown to three times its original size.
The chair of the Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) Committee, Cllr Andrew Fender, said: “Having chaired a strategy group from 1982 – which developed the Metrolink concept – I am extremely proud, 35 years later, to see the completion of the Second City Crossing, and with it our phenomenal and multi-award winning ‘Phase 3’ expansion programme.
“It’s been a remarkable journey, one I’m privileged to have seen first-hand, and my thanks goes to all those who’ve worked so hard to turn those early dreams and ambitions into a reality and who have, ultimately, delivered a world-class transport system to the people of Greater Manchester.”
TfGM’s Metrolink director Peter Cushing, who recently wrote about the project for RTM’s printed edition, also expressed his excitement: “I’m immensely proud of what we’ve achieved with our partners over the last eight years as we’ve expanded the Metrolink network to become the largest light rail system in the UK.
“The Second City Crossing opening is the culmination of years of hard work to complete the Phase 3 big bang expansion, and it would not have been possible without the hard work of my team, contractors MPT and operator RATP Dev, helping to make this a reality.
“I’d like to thank everyone involved and I look forward to seeing our customers right across the tram network experiencing the benefits.”
TfGM said the new line will allow more services that currently terminate at Deansgate-Castlefield and Exchange Square to continue on to Shaw and Crompton and East Didsbury.
The Second City Crossing is part of the infrastructure investment-focused ‘Grow project’, which has also included bus priority measures and six new cycle routes into the city centre, as well as improvements to major rail routes.
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