From Monday, July 13, tram passengers across Greater Manchester will face three weeks of major disruption as three Metrolink lines close for improvement works. Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) confirmed that works at Deansgate-Castlefield, Trafford Bar, and along the Eccles line will halt services on the Eccles, Altrincham, and Trafford Centre lines.
Affected Services and Stops
No trams will run on the Eccles, Altrincham, or Trafford Centre lines during the closure. Services on the Manchester Airport and East Didsbury lines will terminate at Firswood and will not continue into Manchester city centre. A total of 31 Metrolink stops will be out of service, including Deansgate-Castlefield and St Peter's Square in the city centre.
Alternative Transport Arrangements
Trams will continue to run between Bury and Ashton-under-Lyne via Piccadilly in both directions. All Rochdale line trams will terminate at Exchange Square. Frequent tram replacement bus services will operate on the following routes: Altrincham to Piccadilly, Chorlton to Piccadilly, Eccles to Piccadilly, and Trafford Centre to Piccadilly. These buses will call at every stop on their respective lines except Pomona.
Replacement buses on the Altrincham and Chorlton routes will run every seven-and-a-half minutes before 8pm on Monday to Saturday, every 15 minutes on Sundays before 8pm, and every 30 minutes after 8pm. On the Eccles line, services will run every 15 minutes before 8pm seven days a week, and every 30 minutes thereafter. Trafford Centre replacement buses will run every 30 minutes until 8pm seven days a week, with no service after 8pm. Passengers are advised to use Bee Network bus services 30, 150, 248, 250, 255, 256, and 263 after 8pm instead.
Investment and Future Works
A post on the TfGM website states: "From Monday, July 13, to Sunday, August 2, tram improvement works will take place at Deansgate-Castlefield and Trafford Bar. During this time, additional works will take place along the Eccles line, allowing us to reduce further closures of the tram network... Tram services will resume as normal from start of service on Monday, August 3." Separately, on Sunday, July 12, no Metrolink services will operate between Rochdale and Victoria via Oldham due to improvement works. A tram replacement bus will run every 15 minutes, calling at all stops except Oldham Central and Oldham King Street.
TfGM added: "Planned improvement work will take place across the tram network throughout 2026. We’re investing almost £150m through to 2027 on maintenance, upgrades and improvements. This includes crucial work to fix and replace older tram tracks in the city centre."
