Boroughs

TfGM confirms Manchester’s late-night trams will continue into the new year

It comes after their reintroduction has been "proving popular" over the last few months.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 22nd December 2023

Manchester’s late-night tram services that were reintroduced a couple of months back will continue into 2024, it has been confirmed.

After proving popular since their highly-anticipated – and publically demanded – reintroduction back in September, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has confirmed that the late-night services will continue to run until 1am on Fridays and Saturdays in 2024.

This will include several double trams operating between Altrincham-Etihad Campus, Bury-Piccadilly, and to East Didsbury.

The confirmation of the continuation of the well-received services comes as TfGM has also announced this week that more frequent and extended Metrolink services are being introduced in the new year too, in a bid to cater for and meet increased public demand – with the number of passengers travelling by tram across Greater Manchester continuing to grow, and some now even reaching the same levels as pre-pandemic.

This means that, from Tuesday 2 January 2024, a revamped timetable will see a new six-minute service between Etihad Campus and Manchester city centre from 7am until the end of service, which will be made possible by extending Altrincham-Piccadilly services to the Etihad Campus at the following times:

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  • After the termination of MediaCityUK-Etihad Campus peak service (after 8pm Monday to Friday, and after 6:30pm on Saturdays) until the end of service
  • All-day on Sundays

There will also be an uplift in the number of trams operating on the Altrincham and Bury lines too, after TfGM says it has seen “encouraging signs of passenger growth”, with double trams set to operate between the newly-extended Altrincham-Etihad Campus service, as well as Bury-Piccadilly services, once 2024 arrives.

Manchester’s late-night trams will continue into the new year / Credit: Matthew Waring (via Unsplash)

Between Monday and Saturday, double trams will operate from the start of service on the Bury-Piccadilly and Altrincham-Piccadilly lines, with doubles introduced on Altrincham-Etihad Campus services after 6:30pm too.

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And then on Sundays, there’ll be a mixture of single and double trams – with the majority being doubles – between Altrincham-Etihad Campus, and Bury-Piccadilly.

Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, says he’s “delighted” that more Metrolink services are being added in the new year, as the public transport system “provides a vital connection” for people travelling between the north and south of the region.

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“These changes, combined with the late-night trams, will provide a real boost to regular passengers,” he concluded.

Featured Image – Jakob Cotton (via Unsplash)

Boroughs

This Manchester suburb has just been named one of the UK’s ‘happiest’ places to live in 2024

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia Didsbury named one of the best places to live in the UK

An annual poll has named the Manchester suburb of Didsbury spot among 70 locations said to be the ‘happiest’ places to live in the UK.

Greater Manchester has got lots to say for itself, especially with its diverse and unique cultural landscapes, as well as various vibrant communities, so it comes as no surprise that one of our beautiful suburbs has been voted in a list of the UK’s happiest places to live for this year.

The survey included submissions from 5,000 people and there’s a lot of love being shown to the neighbouring areas of Yorkshire like Doncaster, Bingley, and Harrogate – the lattermost placed in second in the entire country.

But, ranking 62nd out of a possible 70 places, the distinct and vibrant area of Didsbury has been noticed by Furniturebox as one of the ‘happiest’ places to live in the UK.

Credit: The Manc Group

The results took into consideration good state schools, affordable housing, as well as accessibility to pubs, bars, restaurants, independent shops, retailers and more.

With multiple parks, walking destinations, and top-notch travel links with Bee Network trams and buses easily taking you back into the city centre and out to other boroughs, East, West and Didsbury Village all remain some of the most sought-after areas in the region.

There’s a whole host of indie retailers to enjoy, especially on the likes of the main high street and Burton Road, which effectively serves as its own cultural district, home to vintage clothing shops like Steranko, tailored styling opticians Fox Brothers and much more.

Burton Rd also boasts countless fantastic food and drink spots like The Great Kathmandu, SANTÉ, Volta and Proove Pizza, just to name a few; we’ve spent plenty of time just on this stretch of Didsbury alone.

If you’ve spent even a little time in Dids, you’ll know there’s plenty going on and it’s certainly one our happiest places in all of Greater Manchester and therefore the UK.

You can also enjoy the famous ‘Didsbury Dozen’ right on your doorstep.

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Elsewhere, and somewhat unsurprisingly, Shakespeare’s ever-romanticised hometown of Stratford-Upon-Avon once again reigned supreme at the top of this list.

That being said, it’s refreshing to see that these locations weren’t entirely related to wealth and similar factors, the survey took affordability into careful consideration.

Cheshire was destined for success with its cracking views and grand properties, as the North West county made waves for the region managing to place in fifth position, holding up against Falmouth in Cornwall which placed in sixth.

Although not nabbing that all-important top spot, Didsbury is carrying the flag for 0161 and showing what all know to be true: Northerners do it best.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images – The Manc Group

Boroughs

‘Shocking’ images taken with AI camera of drivers using mobiles and not wearing seatbelts released

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Thousands of people in Greater Manchester have been caught using mobile phones while driving or not wearing their seat belts.

Images captured by the state-of-the-art ‘Heads Up’ camera system – which uses a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and human reviewers – as part of a trial in Greater Manchester, show drivers holding mobile phones in front of their face, to their ear while behind the wheel, and sometimes with passengers next to them.  

According to Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), in several cases, the cameras also found drivers and passengers, both passengers and children, not being securely fastened in their seats or not wearing seat belts at all.

The trial aims to detect drivers who are potentially breaking the law and putting themselves, their passengers, and other road users, at risk.  

‘Shocking’ images taken with an AI camera of drivers using mobiles and not wearing seatbelts have been released / Credit: TfGM

AI is used as the first filter in a bid to ensure privacy for “the vast majority of law-abiding motorists” while also checking hundreds of thousands of vehicles over an intermittent period, TfGM explained – something which would likely take a human reviewer several months to complete.

Images containing “evidence of an offence” then go through a two-stage human check to confirm that an offence has taken place.

Any offences detected as part of the trial were then passed on to Greater Manchester Police (GMP) to consider for further action, however if no offence was committed, the image was immediately deleted by the software.

The trial – which was carried out by AECOM and Acusensus, on behalf of Safer Roads Greater Manchester – was held across the region throughout September and October to “gather data” and “understand the scale of the issue” to inform future education campaigns and enforcement.

It comes after it was revealed that nearly 10,000 people who live in, work in, or visit Greater Manchester have been killed or seriously injured on our roads over the last decade.

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During the deployment, the ‘Heads Up’ system recorded 812 drivers distracted by using mobile phones behind the wheel, and 2,393 incidents of seat belt non-compliance by drivers or passengers. 

As it stands, no offenders have yet been prosecuted from this trial, TfGM confirmed.

Featured Image – TfGM

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