Boroughs

Coronation Street-themed tram travelling around Greater Manchester officially hits the tracks

It's the "most Manc tram ever", apparently.

Emily Sergeant - 19th June 2024

A special themed tram celebrating the greatest TV soap of all time has officially hit the Metrolink tracks today.

And it’s “the most Manc tram ever” too, apparently.

It’s pretty well-known at this point that Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) constantly gets contacted by Coronation Street fans asking where the TV show’s dedicated tram stop is – which doesn’t actually exist, by the way – and is not helped by the fact there’s a CGI tram in the programme’s titles and a ‘tram stop’ on the soap’s set too.

In fact, after the infamous tram crash in 2010’s 50th Anniversary episode, TfGM had almost 300 queries asking if the trams were still running in Manchester… genuinely.

Over here in the ‘real world’, fans looking to head to the Coronation Street Experience for a special visit of the show’s set will need to hop off at the nearest stop, which is the IWM North, just a short wander away – but as of today (19 June), all that has now changed.

A special Coronation Street-themed tram has officially hit the Metrolink tracks / Credit: ITV Studios

That’s because, in true Corrie style, ITV Studios has proudly revealed what it’s calling “the most Manc transport ever” with the launch of the first-ever ‘Coronation Street Experience’ tram.

The unique homage to the show will meander across the Metrolink network for the next 12 months.

Created using special visuals from Manchester-based agency, Meanwhile, the so-called ‘Insta-trammable’ tram can be seen all dressed-up with gorgeous illustrations from the cobbles to give passengers the change to head to Rochdale through the legendary ‘Rovers doors’, arrive at Kingsway through the Kabin, make their way to the Velopark via Vera and Jack’s infamously-clad ‘No. 9 door’, or rock up at Radcliffe through the entrance to Roys Rolls.

As summer settles on our city, the ITV and TfGM teams also briefly snuck into the ‘real world’ earlier on today to turn the IWM Metrolink stop into ‘Weatherfield North’, especially for the themed tram’s official launch.

It’ll be travelling across Greater Manchester from today for the next 12 months / Credit: TfGM

“We’ve got our very own Weatherfield tram stop, where our characters catch a handy tram ‘into town’, and we’ve even very-occasionally got a virtual tram going past over our bridge, commented John Whiston, who is the MD for Continuing Drama at ITV Studios, as the tram officially hit the region’s tracks today.

“However, we’ve never actually ventured onto Manchester’s Metrolink other than fictionally, so it’s exciting that an actual tram will sport some fine Coronation Street livery.”

Mr Whiston added that the point of the new themed tram is to show visitors just “how easy it is to journey to the Coronation Street Experience on a real tram.”

Urging Mancs and Greater Manchester visitors to “keep an eye out” for the new Corrie-themed tram across the Metrolink network over the next 12 months, Pete Sommers, who is TfGM’s Interim Metrolink Network Director, added: “Metrolink, like Corrie, is an iconic symbol of Greater Manchester that has gone from strength to strength over the years, so we are delighted to be supporting ITV Studios and the Coronation Street Experience.

“Passengers will also have the chance to board the Corrie-themed tram out on the network over the coming months, so I’d urge people to keep an eye out.”

Featured Image – ITV Studios