Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has confirmed a series of replacement and alternative travel options for football fans this weekend.
It’s the highly-anticipated Manchester Derby this weekend, with both the red and blue side of the city set to make their way to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday 6 March for a 4:30pm kick-off, but unfortunately, significant disruption is expected on Metrolink services that football fans need to be aware of and plan around accordingly.
Due to what is branded as “essential engineering” taking place at Deansgate-Castlefield, TfGM has said that no trams will run between Chorlton, Stretford and Manchester city centre on Saturday and Sunday (March 5 and 6).
Services to Manchester Airport, Ashton, Eccles, and Rochdale will also be amended, with some set to terminate early.
As a result of these planned works, TfGM has confirmed that bus replacement services will instead be operating every 10 minutes on Saturday and 12 minutes on Sunday on the following routes:
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Chorlton – Victoria
Stretford – Piccadilly via Cornbrook
Wharfside – Piccadilly via Cornbrook
East Didsbury Park and Ride – Etihad Stadium (Sunday only)
After the game, trams will not serve Holt Town and Velopark until crowds have cleared from the Etihad Campus stop.
Big Manchester Derby this Sun (6 March) with #ManCity looking to extend their lead at the top of the table and #ManUnited aiming to stay in the top 4!
With improvement works taking place, make sure you miss none of the action by planning ahead.
— Manchester Metrolink 🚊 (@MCRMetrolink) March 3, 2022
Alongside the tram replacement buses, a bespoke shuttle bus service is also being laid on between the East Didsbury tram stop and the Etihad Stadium, especially for match-goers, with the double-decker buses set to depart from East Didsbury every 10 minutes from 2:50pm and 3:10pm, returning every 10 minutes from 6:30pm to 7pm from the bus stop on Ashton New Road outside the stadium after the game.
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These shuttle buses will not stop anywhere en route, however.
For those who are planning on making their own way to the match via car, TfGM has also advised fans based off previous weekend matches at the Etihad, that Alan Turing Way, Pottery Lane, Ashton Old Road, and Mancunian Way all had an additional 12 minutes journey time 90 minutes prior to kick off.
Significant disruption is expected on Metrolink services that football fans need to be aware of this weekend / Credit: Manchester City
Giving football fans more of an insight into the travel circumstances and what to expect ahead of Derby day, Danny Vaughan – TfGM’s Head of Metrolink – said: “Our contractor is replacing a critical set of points at Deansgate Castlefield over the weekend to improve the reliability of the network [but] unfortunately, it requires some disruption on Saturday and Sunday as trams from the south of the network will have to stop short of Deansgate Castlefield.
“A strengthened tram service will be in place for the Manchester Derby, with trams running between Bury and Ashton [and] there will be a six-minute double tram service from Piccadilly to Etihad.
“A bus replacement service will be in place throughout the works, with services running from Stretford and Wharfside stops to Piccadilly, and from Chorlton to Victoria, and an additional bespoke shuttle service from the Park and Ride at East Didsbury to the Etihad Stadium will be in place before and after the match on Sunday.”
He also added that he’d encourage people to check the TfGM website for the latest travel information “before travelling” over the weekend.
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The Manchester Derby will kick-off at 4:30pm on Sunday 6 March / Credit: Flickr
Despite these Metrolink engineering works being in the pipeline for a few months now, some fans have still been angered by the disruption it will cause to what is always one of the most important days in the city’s football calendar, with many taking to Twitter to share their viewpoints.
One Twitter user wrote: “We’re all aware that essential work needs to be carried out on the system, but which shortsighted clown decided to do it on a Derby weekend?”
“How can you possibly justify engineering works on the Metrolink this weekend when it’s the Derby and tens of thousands need ti move around Manchester? Appalling mismanagement,” another Twitter user questioned TfGM.
You can find more information on travelling to the Manchester Derby this weekend via the TfGM website here.
Tram diversions and disruption on Market Street as improvement works are carried out
Emily Sergeant
Essential improvement works are currently taking place on the Metrolink network between Shudehill and Market Street.
As the next phase of the ongoing £150m investment into Greater Manchester’s tram network gets under way this month, essential track replacement work is now being carried out in a bid to make the network ‘safer’ and ‘more resilient and reliable’ for years to come.
As of yesterday (1 June) through to Tuesday 9 June, improvement works are taking place in the city centre, and during this time, no trams will operate via Market Street and Shudehill.
This means that, while the work is carried out, some disruption is expected and passengers are urged to ‘plan ahead’ for their journeys.
For the next week, all services from Altrincham will operate to Bury via Exchange Square, and all services from Bury will operate to Altrincham via Exchange Square – with neither calling at Piccadilly Gardens, Piccadilly, Market Street, and Shudehill.
Tram diversions and disruption on Market Street as improvement works are carried out / Credit: The Manc Group
Services from the Trafford Centre will operate to Etihad Campus, while services from Manchester Airport will operate to Victoria via Exchange Square.
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has advised that, for customers on the Bury and Altrincham lines, the easiest way to reach Piccadilly will be by changing trams at St Peters Square, although you may need to change platforms for the right trams, so you should check departure boards and signage on stop for more details.
Customers may need to change trams, take a short walk, or hop on the free Bee Network bus to continue their journey. Outside of free bus operating times, however, a replacement bus will operate between Piccadilly and Victoria.
🛠️ Tram works are taking place in the city centre until Tuesday 9 June. Changes to the service pattern are in place:
– Altrincham/Bury & Airport/Victoria services are operating via Exchange Square – Trafford Centre services are operating to Etihad Campus
“These improvements are part of our continued £150m investment to make our tram network safer, more reliable and more resilient for the long term,” commented Ian Davies, who is TfGM’s Network Director for Metrolink.
“I’d strongly encourage everyone travelling during this period to plan ahead, as some tram services will need to change while we carry out this essential work.”
Tram services will resume via the Market Street/Shudehill stops from the start of service on Wednesday 10 June.
Everything you need to know about the planned works is on the TfGM website here.
Featured Image – TfGM
News
Pair jailed after filming themselves driving over 130mph before killing man in fatal Manchester collision
Emily Sergeant
Two men who filmed themselves driving at speeds of over 130mph before a fatal collision earlier this year have now been jailed.
20-year-old Uways Hussain, of Marley Road in Manchester, has been sentenced to 11 years and eight months in prison, while 23-year-old Usmon Mahmood, of Buller Road in Manchester, has been sentenced to 12 years and nine months.
Their sentences follow a night of what Greater Manchester Police (GMP) called ‘dangerous driving’ around the South Manchester area, which started at around 11pm on the evening before the collision.
The vehicle – a Volkswagon Golf – belonged to Mahmood, but he allowed Hussain to drive the vehicle at high-speed throughout the night.
On the evening prior to the collision, beginning at around 11pm, Hussain and Mahmood were driving recklessly around the South Manchester area.
According to police, the pair filmed themselves consistently travelling at speeds of over 100mph on 30mph roads, and in several cases, theyvreached over 130mph and seconds before impact, were recorded at 139mph.
Recorded footage also showed them running red lights and weaving through traffic with no regard for the safety of other road users or pedestrians.
At one stage during the night, the pair stopped at a petrol station, where footage shows Mahmood inhaling from a balloon in the passenger seat, while later o Hussain can be seen doing over 100mph and also appearing to be inhaling from a balloon while driving.
The fatal collision happened at around 4:36am on Monday 9 March 2026 at the junction of Green End Road and Kingsway, where the victim – Sylvester Abayomi, 50 – was on his way to work and entered the junction on a green light, believing it was safe to proceed, but was then struck by the car being driven by Hussain, which had travelled through a red light at extremely high speed.
Sylvester Abayomi / Credit: GMP
Immediately following the collision, GMP received several emergency calls and an automatic alert from Hussain’s Apple Watch saying he had been involved in a collision.
During this alert, both men could be heard discussing plans to flee the scene and attempting to decide what evidence they needed to remove from the vehicle. They were also heard discussing reporting the vehicle as stolen, and shortly afterwards, they booked an Uber to escape.
Emergency services attended the scene, but sadly, despite their best efforts, Sylvester sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced dead.
GMP says it received its first report of the incident at 4:37am,, and within 12 minutes the pair had been located, caught, and arrested by officers.
DC Thomas Johnson, from GMP’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit, described the incident as ‘one of the most extreme cases of dangerous driving we have encountered’.
It’s also believed that this is one of the first times in the country where a passenger has been convicted for aid and abetting causing death by dangerous driving.
Emily Sergeant -
4th March 2022 
