Manchester has a reputation for being a 24-hour party city, with a nightlife scene that’s globally renowned.
Since Covid shuttered the world, our city has bounced back in a big way, from gigs, to clubbing juggernauts like the Warehouse Project, to festivals, to club nights.
But while our after-dark socialising is back with a vengeance, there’s a crucial piece of the jigsaw that’s still missing – our public transport.
If you cast your mind back to the autumn of 2019, you might remember Metrolink trams running all the way through to almost 2am.
There are calls for Manchester’s late-night tram network to return / Credit: Unsplash
It was part of a ‘festive enhancement’ championed by both Mayor Andy Burnham and night time economy adviser Sacha Lord, and benefitted not only members of the public but also an estimated 414,000 night-time workers across the city centre.
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Everyone loved it, but then Covid hit and any mention of a late-night public transport offering seemed to disappear again.
According to TfGM, the return of the late-night trams is ‘not being considered’, despite increasing calls for it.
A petition to bring them back has been launched by the Salford Lib Dems, who say: “If you are out working or enjoying yourself late at night, Greater Manchester Councils are giving us a curfew, expensive taxis or a risky walk home in the dark.
“Even at current, the trams are under capacity and do not fit the current population. The local population is set to double in the next 3 years. We want to change this declining service.”
Similarly, local brewery Beer Nouveau said: “We’re supposed to be a party city, but our public transport turns off the music and turns on the lights, closing the parties early.”
Someone else wrote on Twitter: “24 hour or at least late night Metrolink is the missing piece of the jigsaw. Would open everything right up.”
One person said that the idea of Manchester being an international city is ‘b*llocks’ without public transport that runs past midnight.
Manchester – an international city?
Bollocks !
International cities don't have public transport that shuts down before midnight.@AndyBurnhamGM talks about the great future but he can't even get @MCRMetrolink to run a service that supports our night time economy.
At the time of the festive enhancement, Andy Burnham said: “I am committed to improving Greater Manchester’s transport system and one of the things I want to see is later running public transport.
“I’ve been working closely with TfGM and night time advisor Sacha Lord to look at how we can improve night-time transport and help people get home quickly and safely after work or after a night out.
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“So, I’m really pleased we can introduce these enhancements, which will be a welcome boost for the many people that will be working, shopping or socialising over the Christmas period.
Andy Burnham (left) and Sacha Lord (right) / Credit: GMCA
“We will be closely monitoring the uptake to help inform our long-term plans, and ensure we have a transport system that works for everyone.”
Meanwhile Sacha Lord said back in 2019: “Accessible and safe public transport is vital to a thriving night-time economy, for people going out and for the hundreds of thousands of people in Greater Manchester who work at night.”
A spokesperson for TfGM said this week that returning to later-running trams would be looked into if there was the right demand.
Danny Vaughan, TfGM’s Head of Metrolink, said: “The return of late-night trams is not currently being considered, though we would like to explore this in the long-term if there is demand for it.”
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The Manc has approached Andy Burnham and Greater Manchester Combined Authority for comment.
Featured Image – Unsplash
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Every Greater Manchester borough to get 24-7 night bus services as part of Bee Network improvements
Emily Sergeant
Every borough of Greater Manchester is set to get a night bus service in what is hoped to be a ‘boost’ to the night-time economy.
Widespread improvements are coming to bus services across the whole region are coming later this year, as Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has today (Thursday 18 March) announced 36 service changes in total – many of which are said to be the ‘most significant’ and ‘wide-ranging’ upgrades the Bee Network has seen since bus franchising was completed early last year.
The announcement comes after the Mayor gave a major update yesterday on plans to deliver a ‘decade of good growth’ in Greater Manchester, backed by at least £500 million of investment from the National Wealth Fund, taking the GM Good Growth Fund to almost £2 billion.
The Bee Network insists this raft of new changes have ‘only been made possible’ by bringing buses back under local control.
As mentioned, the most major improvement is set to be the introduction 24-hour night buses throughout Greater Manchester – with five new night buses launched to bring a 24-hour service to parts of the region that haven’t previously had them, like Oldham, Stockport, Tameside, and Trafford.
Every Greater Manchester borough is set to get 24-7 night bus services / Credit: TfGM
It’s hoped around 625,400 people in jobs that operate late into the night, as well as those enjoying everything the region’s nightlife has to offer, can get home safely.
Some of the other changes announced include a selection of brand-new bus services, more frequent buses during the day and at the weekends, and overall better connections to key employment and leisure destinations like Manchester Airport, Trafford Centre, MediaCity, Middlebrook Retail Park, Kingsway Business Park, and Logistics North.
“These changes will benefit people right across Greater Manchester,” commented Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham.
“They have come about as a direct result of your feedback and support for the Bee Network and have been made possible by the decision we took to bring our buses back under local control.
“By expanding Bee Network night buses to every borough, and providing more frequent services to key employment locations, we are creating more ways for people to access jobs and opportunities across the region.
“This is just the start. As we continue to lead the way on economic growth, so will we continue to lead the way on transforming the Bee Network, setting us up for another decade of good growth so that everyone in Greater Manchester can live a good life.”
Featured Image – TfGM
News
‘Deeply worrying’ figures reveal one in seven NHS staff were physically attacked last year
Emily Sergeant
The NHS is ‘deeply worried’ after figures revealed one in seven staff were attacked by a patient or member of the public last year.
According to the latest NHS staff survey, 14.47% – which works out to almost one in seven staff members – were physically attacked by a patient or the public in the last year, which sadly works out to be the highest rate for three years.
On top of this, the shocking statistics also saw a record percentage of staff say they were subjected to ‘unwanted’ sexual behaviour, rising steeply to almost one in three ambulance staff (31%).
It also found that nearly one in 10 staff (9.26%) said they were subjected to discrimination from patients and the public, which is the highest on record.
The 2025 NHS Staff Survey results are now published.
Thank you to all NHS staff who took the time to share their experiences.
The survey helps us understand what’s working well and where improvements can be made.
Presumably because of figures like this, the survey revealed that the number of staff who would recommend their workplace to others fell slightly to 58.05% in 2025, which is down from 60.79% last year in 2024.
“These figures paint a deeply worrying picture of the abuse our hardworking NHS staff face,” commented Danny Mortimer, who is the Director General (People) for NHS England.
“Staff safety and wellbeing is paramount, and we want everyone experiencing any kind of unwanted incident to feel confident enough to report it. But while that behaviour is completely unacceptable, we must look at what more we can do to support the people who keep our services running.
‘Deeply worrying’ figures reveal that one in seven NHS staff were physically attacked last year / Credit: rawpixel
“We know about the everyday pressures staff face and we haven’t moved fast enough to fix them.
“Staff have worked so hard to improve NHS performance and deliver care over winter as shown in the latest performance figures. These survey results show it is now for the NHS to deliver improvements for staff because there is so much more to do to make the NHS a better place to work.”
However, despite all of this, an overwhelming 87.78% of respondents did say they felt their job ‘made a difference’ to patients.
As mentioned, all of these statistics have been revealed as part of the latest NHS staff survey, where more than 766,000 workers in England responded – providing what is said to be ‘vital data’ for employers and stakeholders about the staff experience.
Daisy Jackson -
22nd July 2022 
