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Tram upgrades and track replacements to take place across Greater Manchester this summer

The work is part of a planned £147m package to "maintain, upgrade, and improve" the Metrolink network up to 2027.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 26th February 2024

Upgrades to trams and several track replacements are set to take place across Greater Manchester this summer.

It comes after it was announced last week that an extra £21.4 million investment funding is being ploughed into the Metrolink network over the next 12 months in a bid to “improve” it and ensure that services remain as “safe and reliable” as possible for years to come, according to Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM).

The improvement works were approved by the Bee Network committee last Thursday (22 February).

According to TfGM, the work is part of a planned £147 million package to “maintain, upgrade, and improve” the network throughout the region up to 2027. 

Immediate priorities for this summer include track replacement in several parts of the city centre, including Piccadilly Gardens and London Road, and on parts of the Altrincham, and Bury Lines too – which transport bosses claim will mean “quicker, smoother, and more reliable” journeys for passengers using these services.

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Plans also include a programme of modifications to the trams themselves, and the installing of state-of-the-art safety systems – including sensors in the middle of double trams, and speed warning devices. 

Tram upgrades and track replacements are set to take place across Greater Manchester this summer / Credit: TfGM

New electrical substations are being added along parts of the Bury Line too to additional power so that more doubles trams run in future.  

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Metrolink is also replacing much of the communications network that’s said to be “critical” to the operation of its signalling and control systems, and is also looking into the replacement of overhead lines on some of the older parts of the network too.

Although the long-term benefits of the works to passengers are expected to be significant, TfGM has conceded that the improvement works set to take place this summer will mean some short-term disruption – but says this is planned to “minimise inconvenience to passengers”.

Vital information about service changes and replacement bus services will be available well in advance of the work, it has been confirmed.

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Works are part of a planned £147m improvement package for the Metrolink network / Credit: Mangopear Creative (via Unsplash)

“Metrolink is an integral part of the Bee Network,” explained Danny Vaughan, who is TfGM’s Head of Metrolink, as the plans were announced last week, “And it’s really important that we invest in it so that we can continue to provide a safe, reliable, and positive experience for the thousands of people who travel with us every day. 

“This is a coordinated package of planned works to maintain, renew, and improve the network and help to keep Greater Manchester moving.

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“While we understand any disruption can be frustrating, we’ll be doing everything we can to keep it to a minimum, and we will make sure passengers know what’s happening well in advance, so I’d ask people to please bear with us while the works are carried out, as the benefits will be there to be enjoyed for years to come.”

For full details of all tram improvement works planned for this year, you’ll want to head to TfGM and the Bee Network website here.

Featured Image – TfGM

News

Police seize an estimated £6m worth of counterfeit goods from Rochdale industrial units

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant Rochdale counterfeit goods

Police have seized an estimated £6 million worth of counterfeit goods from several industrial units in Rochdale.

It comes after the Trading Standards team and officers from Greater Manchester Police‘s (GMP) Rochdale Neighbourhood Policing Team attended a joint visit to a business park, at Crown Top Lane, on the afternoon of Thursday 1 May last week, following the receiving of some intelligence that an Organised Crime Gang from Cheetham Hill had extended their operation and opened another site in Rochdale. 

According to GMP, the visit was part of a ‘targeted operation’ tackling organised crime in the Castleton area of Rochdale. 

When police arrived on the scene, seven units containing counterfeit goods – including a range of branded sports trainers, perfumes, luxury accessories, high-end tech products, and illicit cigarettes – were all discovered.

Two men, aged 29 and 70 were present at the site, and they were subsequently arrested on suspicion of possession and control of counterfeit goods.

Police have seized an estimated £6m worth of counterfeit goods from Rochdale industrial units / Credit: GMP

They have been bailed pending further enquiries, GMP revealed.

Due to the large scale of the boxed goods, the scene was secured overnight and officers and trading standards returned the following day (Friday 2 May) with a HGV to recover all the items.

Police are now appealing to the public for information, with Inspector Anthony Taylor, from GMP’s Rochdale Neighbourhood Policing Team, explaining that it takes any intelligence submitted by the public ‘seriously’ and acts upon it ‘accordingly’.

“If you have any concerns about organised criminals operating in your area, please get in touch with us,” he concluded.

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Anyone with any information is asked to contact police on 101, or via the LiveChat function on the GMP website. 

Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111. 

Featured Image – GMP

News

The annual Manchester Remembers Foundation charity football match has shut down

Danny Jones Danny Jones Manchester Remembers charity game 2025 cancelled

The annual Manchester Remembers charity football match has been cancelled for 2025, and unfortunately, the wider Foundation has also shut down for the foreseeable.

Set up back in 2020, the Manchester Remembers charity game was created to help raise funds for the families of those lost in the tragic 2017 Manchester Arena attack, raising nearly £200,000 in donations for multiple organisations.

It has been a truly treasured community event across Greater Manchester, welcoming thousands to the likes of Manchester City Academy Stadium and Oldham Athletic‘s Boundary Park, as well as spotlighting local musicians and notable figures volunteering their help for a deeply important cause.

However, the Foundation is now set to hang up its boots. Confirming the news over the bank holiday weekend, founders Aaron Lee and Paul Corrigan shared “a difficult statement to make and a decision not taken lightly.”

As explained in the lengthy and emotional post, it is with a “heavy heart” that this year’s charity match has now been officially cancelled, and tickets already purchased up to this point are now being refunded.

Having played a small part in helping spread awareness around the game and the Foundation since it began, we were gutted to learn of this sad news.

The 2025 MCR Remembers game was scheduled to take place this June at a new venue for the event, Bury FC’s home ground at Gigg Lane, but following what they have labelled “a lack of support” from Greater Manchester leaders and “influential people needed to carry the event forward.”

Lee – a former police officer turned firefighter who was one of the emergency responders on 22 May, 2017 – went on to share a follow-up video reflecting on the announcement.

As he puts in the piece to camera, he says that even if those who had been reached out to in recent times were to suddenly respond, that it is “sadly too late.”

Taking time to thank not only past sponsors, managers, ex-pros and celebrity players who have been part of the event in the past, but everyone who bought tickets to the event(s) over the past few years, stating simply: “We cant thank you enough.”

Lee, who was given both a Chief Fire Officers Commendation and British Citizen Award in 2024, went on to address those “so-called leaders and influential people” in a subsequent post, adding: “All we needed was a bit of help. But we were ignored. Thanks for the memories.”

Unsurprisingly, the comments on social media have been awash with messages of love, support and sadness upon learning of this year’s cancellation and the end of The Manchester Remembers Foundation after more than half a decade.

There is some hope, though, as he ends the video by saying, “Who knows if this is the end or not? […] I dare say we’ll be back at some point.” We can only keep our fingers crossed he’s right and the MCR Remembers charity game won’t be shut down for good.

Manchester will always remember.

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Featured Images — The Manc Group/Manchester Remembers Foundation

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