Underground tunnels are being considered as part of a new plan to improve transport across Greater Manchester, the council has revealed.
A comprehensive report compiled in 2017 by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) concluded that by 2040, the city would require “significant additional cross-city capacity” – and one potential solution raised was the construction of new rail tunnels beneath the city centre.
TfGM said that an underground network would “deliver the excellent connectivity and faster journey times we need into and across the Regional Centre, without taking up valuable land or creating further severance by building new lines at street level.”
Three years later, tunnels remain on the table.
Since 2017, Manchester city centre has gotten increasingly busier and more populous – attracting hundreds of thousands of commuters on a daily basis.
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A fresh report – the Draft City Centre Transport Strategy 2020 – reveals that the council are all set to give the prospect of underground travel serious consideration in the coming months, whilst acquiring feedback from the wider public.
“We will look at the feasibility of further capacity expansions of the network through a Metro tunnel under the city centre,” the council states.
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“This solution would avoid taking scarce street level space to expand the network and to facilitate longer vehicles.
“We will also enhance connectivity between Metrolink and rail at key city centre stations, including Deansgate.”
Those in favour of an underground network might argue that the project is in fact forty years late.
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Manchester was planning a subterranean network as long ago as the seventies, with aims to assemble an ambitious Picc-Vic tunnel that linked the city from top to bottom.
Almost a decade’s worth of planning went into the exciting travel system. Only for the government to abruptly turn off the money tap.
When finances were stopped, everyone involved in the Picc-Vic tunnel simply had to walk away – leaving a gaping hole in the city where construction had already started.
Wikipedia
The first attempt might have ended in disappointment, but the council and TfGM appear to be contemplating modern Manchester tunnels with earnestness.
They’ve included underground travel as part of a prospective long-term strategy for the city. According to the report, this will initially involve creating more Metrolink connections between Salford and the city centre, before making a series of enhancements that prepare the network to dip below street level circa 2035-2040.
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More immediate solutions presented in the plan include a completely pedestrianised Deansgate; a facelift for the permanently-busy Great Ancoats Street; an upgrade to Salford Central Railway Station; redevelopment of Albert Square and Piccadilly Gardens; and important improvements to Mancunian Way.
The council is also aiming to install new cycle routes for Northern Quarter and Chapel Street East, as well as Ancoats & New Islington.
David Dixon / Geograph
Despite the setbacks suffered from the onset of coronavirus, which has hit Greater Manchester particularly hard since the summer, the council remain committed to “recovery” and significant investment, whilst aiming to become entirely zero-carbon by 2038.
“In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, our plans focus on how the city centre can lead a strong, sustainable, healthy and inclusive recovery, taking the achievements made since 2010 to the next level,” the report states.
“By 2040, there is potential for 100,000 more jobs and 50,000 more homes in the city centre. Much of this is driven by planned growth accounted for in Greater Manchester’s plan for Homes, Jobs and the Environment, the Spatial Framework.
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“This includes providing the right locations for homes and creating jobs to ensure the future prosperity of the city-region, whilst prioritising development of brownfield sites and reducing unnecessary green belt release. Planning for the future city centre requires us to balance sometimes competing demands, as growth puts additional pressure on transport systems and streets.”
The report has been made available for public access and can be downloaded from the Manchester City Council website.
News
Microdot exhibit for BRITs 2026: the artwork of Oasis, Verve and more up in Manchester Piccadilly
Danny Jones
If you’ve passed through Manchester Piccadilly of late, you might have noticed two things: one, it’s really quiet, and two, there’s loads of cool Britpop merch and memorabilia on display, including original Oasis, The Verve, Inspiral Carpets art and more – all courtesy of Microdot.
Set up as part of the city’s own BRITs celebrations, along with a raft of other nationwide festivities, as the annual music award ceremony prepares to make its Manc debut at the Co-op Live this month, the showcase features special edition frames and more, all pride of place in the middle of the train station.
This collection, simply entitled ‘A Microdot Design’, is all done by the legendary Brian Cannon, the graphic designer and art director behind so much recognisable visual material within the genre.
We recently had the honour of speaking to the man himself in person ahead of Piccadilly’s temporary closure; you can see our interview with him right here:
The Wigan-born artist and visionary didn’t just make promotional materials for some of the biggest bands in the 1990s; he’s responsible for what has gone on to become some of the most familiar iconography in British music history.
With this pop-up exhibit available for a limited time only, we strongly urge you to go along and, for once, take your time rather than rushing around the station as you peruse the boards placed right near the main entrance.
Charting his work from circa 1990 up until now, it’s crazy to see just how many of Brian and Microdot’s fingerprints are all over so many different bands and artists.
From native names like Oasis, The Verve and the Inspirals, as mentioned, as well as the likes of Cast, Super Furry Animals, Suede and Ash, plus so many more, this guy has been nothing short of prolific over the past few decades.
Audio North took a little tour of the King Street South unit last year in the lead-up to Oasis Live ’25 reunion world tour, and we felt like kids in a Britpop sweetshop.
While this site has sadly since closed, shutting up shop back in July, Brian’s mini, modest, but nevertheless magic Microdot Boutique up in the Lake District is still standing.
Located in the popular North West town and tourist attraction, Kendal, it’s worth a trip there to see more of his portfolio alone.
Currently on display at Manchester Piccadilly ahead of the full 2026 BRITs Week and shindig at Co-op Live, it’s one of the best completely free things you can do in town at the moment – but the exhibition finishes on Sunday, 1 March, so make sure you don’t miss it.
Speaking of the BRIT Awards, if you’re wondering what else is on as 0161 gets ready welcome them for their two-year stint (at least), look no further…
Two brothers from Oldham are beating out the likes of Taylor Swift in the iTunes charts
Danny Jones
A pair of brothers from Oldham who simply go by Two Connors are now holding on to the top spot in one of the biggest iTunes charts, and they’re beating the likes of Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Bad Bunny and many more.
Stuff your global music stars, we’ll back a duo from Greater Manchester all day long.
Danny and Callum Connor, a couple of blokes from Oldham in their mid-30s, are currently number one in the iTunes singles charts with their latest song, ‘Familiar Faces’, but this isn’t the first time they’ve gone big with a release online.
Carving out their own little corner not only in the old Lancashire borough but a small pocket in the UK’s wider grime, drill, rap and hip-hop scene, they’ve only gotten bigger over the last 18 months or so.
After releasing their first two tracks back in 2024, Callum and Danny have been on a very gradual rise, but they quickly gained a cult local following in and around Oldham.
Writing about life and around the area, with high personal and anecdotal lyrics that feel like niche references and in-jokes specifically for‘Roughyed’ residents – it’s not just music by them but FOR them.
In addition to recording their own unique cover of ‘Bad Habits’ by Ed Sheeran, they also went fairly viral for releasing a music video featuring crowds of local children.
Putting their own chant-based chorus slant on ‘Hi Ho, Hi Ho, “It’s off to Work We Go”‘, written by Mitch Miller and The Sandpipers (yes, as in the main theme from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), it was a fairly radio-friendly tune that was easy for kids and more to sing along with.
With various other natives getting involved in the music video, joining them on the town centre streets and lip-syncing the lyrics, it was circulated online all over Britain and beyond.
You can watch it in full down below.
Fast forward to February 2026, and not only have they grown their following across the region, but even further afield now, as it turns out; currently sitting ahead of ‘Opalite’ from worldwide smash-hit album, The Life of a Showgirl, who needs big label backing, eh?
Bringing smiles to even more Greater Mancs by quite literally shining the spotlight on ‘Familiar Faces’ and punters from nearby pubs such as The Up Stepps Inn and former nightclub Sruples, it is a real tribute to their homeland.
Only time will tell how long they’ll cling to that iTunes top spot, but with nearly 73,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and counting, they might be one of the biggest music names to come out of OL in some time.
In other big news over in Oldham, on the sporting side of things, RLFC are staring down yet more uncertainty, with local hero Bill Quinn also wrapping up his time at the club.
The Manc -
25th September 2020 
