Ahead of the highly-anticipated opening of the Manchester Christmas Markets, Northern Rail has issued a plea to all those planning to travel on its trains during the festive season.
In case you’d forgotten, the Manchester Christmas Markets officially open today (12 November) and will be spreading festive cheer across the city centre right through until Wednesday 22 December – but as the iconic markets are known to attract millions of visitors each year, rail provider Northern is warning customers choosing to travel by train that stations and services may be much busier than usual due as a result.
The company has therefore released a statement ahead of the markets opening.
“The Christmas Markets are fantastic for Manchester and there is a genuine buzz around the city, as it’s transformed into a winter wonderland,” explained Chris Jackson, Director at Northern.
“Many visitors choose to the leave their cars at home and travel by train to enjoy all the markets have to offer [and] it’s a great way to travel to and from the city, but the additional customers mean our trains and stations are likely to be busier than normal – particularly in the evenings and at weekends.
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“And sadly, with alcohol often playing a large part in people’s enjoyment of the markets – coupled with the start of the Christmas party season – the festivities can be spoiled by anti-social behaviour which impacts on other customers and rail staff.”
The company has also issued some updates regarding scheduled maintenance works that passengers should be aware of over the next couple of weeks.
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As part of the work by Northern to “keep rail customers safe this Christmas”, on Saturdays, the 21:43 train from Manchester Piccadilly to Stoke-on-Trent will operate as a ‘dry-train’ until 18 December (including on 18 December), and this means that the consumption of alcohol is not permitted on the service.
“We want to make sure all our customers have a great festive season, so I’m asking everyone to act with patience and respect,” Chris added.
“Our trains will be busy, but we’ll have extra staff on duty and all at Northern will be working round-the-clock to help people get where they need to be.”
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Northern customers should also be aware that Deansgate station closes at 6pm on Fridays and Saturdays during the Christmas Markets, so during this time, customers will need to use Manchester Victoria, Oxford Road, or Piccadilly stations – which are just a few minutes’ walk away.
2024 Manchester Marathon raises £29 million for local economy and over £3.7m for charity
Danny Jones
Just under a fortnight on from the 2024 Manchester Marathon and the numbers are finally, with the annual race generating nearly £30 million for the local economy and raising over £3.7m for charity.
This year’s Adidas Manchester Marathon saw record numbers of runners and spectators as over 30,000 took part in the popular race, up by roughly 6,000 from 2023, and more than 125k turned up to line the streets of Greater Manchester.
As a result, these huge crowds spent upwards of £29.2 million at business around the city centre and around the 10 boroughs last weekend, serving as one of the most significant contributions to the local economy on the annual calendar.
Not only was this an approximately £8m increase on last year’s tally but, most importantly, a sizeable chunk of that went straight into both regional and national charities.
Beyond the boost to local vendors, the hospitality sector and retail businesses, over £3.7 million were allocated to charities such as Alzheimer’s Charity, Cancer Research UK, British Heart Foundation and The Christie.
Over £32,000 was also raised for the Trafford Active Fund, with £1 from every paid entry to the Adidas Manchester Marathon and Manchester Half donated directly to the initiative that benefits local sports clubs and organisations through Trafford Council.
Better still, with City of Trees selected as the chosen ‘Green Runner’ charity, the eco-friendly drive saw roughly 7% of participants opt out of receiving either a finisher t-shirt, medal or both.
The money saved in production goes towards maintaining woodlands and wildlife across Greater Manchester.
This year’s Manchester Marathon also helped produce some of the highest number of passengers on public transport in the city’s history, with a over 175,000 journeys made on Metrolink alone – the highest number of journeys ever recorded on a single day.
This was a 20% increaseon 2023’s race day (145k), spotlighting how the event continues to be more environmentally conscious as years go by.
With the 2025 adidas Manchester Marathon confirmed to be taking place on Sunday, 27 April next year – and over 12,000 places already sold – the city can already look forward to reaping the economic and social benefits of hosting one of Europe’s largest, flattest, friendliest and most-loved marathons.
Featured Images — Adidas Manchester Marathon/The Manc Group
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Manchester firefighter surprises partner with proposal during new recruits parade
Danny Jones
We’re a sucker for a wholesome little video as we know you are, which is exactly why we thought of you lot when we came across this video of a newly graduated Manchester firefighter surprising his partner with a heartwarming proposal.
Just the kind of heartwarming that usually sets us off after a long week at work.
The clip shared by Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) on Thursday, 25 April, shows Manc fireman James popping the question to his girlfriend sat unassumingly in the audience at a recent passing out ceremony.
Pass out ceremonies are when trainees go from recruits to fully qualified firefighters after completing their intensive operational training. It’s a long-standing tradition in the emergency services where friends and family gather to celebrate their achievements – it’s almost like it’s the perfect opportunity…
As you can see, since the graduates are usually the centre of attention, James couldn’t help but size his moment and instead of walking and lining up normally like everyone else, he decided to head straight over to his wife-to-be and get down on one knee.
You already know the rest.
Welling up immediately and barely able to remove her hands from her face, Melissa nods and says yes as the crowd cheers and the pair share a smooch.
Writing on social media, the GMFRS said: “We managed to capture a VERY special moment at our new recruits pass out parade today… Congratulations to James and Melissa!”, adding, “Certainly one way to start your new career”.
If we don’t see all the groomsmen dressed as firefighters on a random viral video sometime soon we’re going to be gutted.
All the best to the happy couple and if you’ve got any more lovely clips like this to send in so we can make ourselves cry (in a good way), you know what to do.