No trams to run on THREE major Greater Manchester lines for two weeks this month

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Widespread disruption is expected, as no trams will be running on three major Greater Manchester lines for two full weeks.

As the next phase of the ongoing £150m investment into Greater Manchester’s tram network gets under way later this month, it has been announced that essential improvement work is set to be be carried out on three major Metrolink lines across the region in a bid to make the network ‘safer’ and ‘more resilient and reliable’ for years to come.

From Monday 19 October to Sunday 1 November, tram improvement works will take place at Deansgate-Castlefield, and Trafford Bar.

Additional works will also take place in the city centre during this time, allowing Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) to keep closures of the tram network to a minimum.

During the dates above, no trams will run on the Altrincham, Trafford Centre, and Eccles lines.

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No trams will be running on three major Greater Manchester line for two weeks this month / Credit: TfGM

A number of shuttle bus services will the running over the course of the two-week closure – with services arriving every 10 or 15 minutes, depending which line it’s on, and you can find a full list of these here.

Services operating on the East Didsbury and Manchester Airport lines will terminate at Firswood, and from Firswood, passengers will then need to board a replacement bus service to continue their journey into the city centre.

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Services operating on the Rochdale line will terminate at Exchange Square, it has also been announced.

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Services will resume on these lines from start of service on Monday 2 November.

However there will be some minor route changes through the city centre in place from Monday 2 to Wednesday 4 November, so it’s important to check your journey before you travel.

Featured Image – TfGM


Hans Zimmer at Co-op Live, Manchester – movie magic brought to life

Lonnie Bowes Lonnie Bowes World of Hans Zimmer — A New Dimension

What do Batman, Kung Fu Panda, and Captain Jack Sparrow all have in common? Music by Hans Zimmer, of course.

I must admit it’s an odd sight seeing 20,000 people seated in the Co-op Live. Manchester is no stranger to a big night out, but this is a different beast entirely. No mosh pits, no flying pints, no one on anyone’s shoulders. Just a full orchestra, a choir, and a wall of screens.

At the centre of it all is conductor Matt Dunkley, steering the Odessa Orchestra & Friends through some of the most recognisable music ever put to film. Zimmer appears on the big screens between pieces to introduce the music and the stories behind it. I was disappointed that Hans didn’t make an appearance but let me tell you this performance was no less impressive.

And in no time at all the gloves came off. Batman is, quite simply, incredible. All menace and muscle, strings sawing away like something is about to go very wrong, brass and percussion hitting so hard you feel it in your ribcage before you hear it.

Gladiator pulls things the other way. Where Batman pins you to your seat, this one lifts you out of it in a big way. Lets face it, if you are some what of a self respecting movie head, you’ll have seen Gladiator and know first hand how ‘Now we are free’ can command your mood. Well imagine that in person.

If the orchestra is the engine, the Nairobi Chamber Chorus is the heart. When their voices rise for The Lion King, it stops being a concert and becomes something closer to gospel.

Hans Zimmer at Co-op Live
Hans Zimmer at Co-op Live
Hans Zimmer at Co-op Live. Credit: The Manc Group

Because beneath the scale and the spectacle, there’s something more intentional at play. These pieces of music are part of people’s lives. We are talking first trips to the cinema, films watched with parents, soundtracks that got someone through a rough year.

And then there’s Interstellar. ‘No Time for Caution’ creates it own suspense. The organ churns, the tempo tightens like a ticking clock, you genuinely find yourself gripping the armrest as if you’re the one trying to dock a spinning spacecraft.

Time, from Inception, is the other side of that coin when it comes to what it emotes during the performance. It’s slow, it’s patient and it’s moving. It builds from almost nothing, layer on layer.

After all that, there’s only one way to send people home. Pirates of the Caribbean closes the night at full tilt. You think everything is drawing to end, Matt Dunkley has already guided you to the apex of nights performance, but no. Hans Zimmer flashes on to the screen one more time and alluded that’s we aren’t at the finish line just yet. Strings galloping, the whole orchestra going hell for leather. Heads nodding, feet stamping, grins everywhere.

Epic, emotional and beautifully played. This wasn’t just a concert it was a reminder: that a piece of music can take you somewhere else entirely, and that you don’t need a single lyric to make thousands of strangers feel the exact same thing at the exact same time.

Hats off to every musician on that stage. You absolutely smashed it.

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Featured image: The Manc Group

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