The new city centre Exchange Square tram stop is set to open on Sunday 6 December, transport leaders announced today.
The opening date, subject to successful completion of testing and commissioning work in the coming days, is a boost for the busy city centre shopping and leisure district in the run up to Christmas.
The striking island-style Exchange Square stop is in the heart of the busy shopping and leisure district, right outside the Manchester Arndale and near the Corn Exchange, Printworks and – during December – the Christmas Markets.
Services will initially run between Shaw and Crompton and Exchange Square via the brand new outbound Platform D, opening the same day at Victoria Station’s new-look Metrolink stop. Inbound trams from Oldham will continue to use Victoria stop Platform A.
Combined with the Rochdale via Oldham line service, the new line means a six-minute daytime service between Shaw and Crompton, Oldham and the city centre from Monday to Saturday, with a less frequent service on Sundays.
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) Metrolink Director, Peter Cushing, said: “We’ve pulled out all the stops to get the new line to Exchange Square up and running before Christmas, which will be great news for the city and particularly Rochdale via Oldham line customers.
“In the days ahead we’ll be in the last stages of an extensive testing and commissioning process to get the stop, surrounding roads and Metrolink drivers ready for services going live.
“Services to Exchange Square will also see us open a new platform at Victoria stop, meaning some changes for passengers and trams.
Chris Coleman, Managing Director of Metrolink RATP Dev which operates the network on behalf of TfGM said:
“The opening of Exchange Square marks yet another important milestone, not only for the Metrolink network but all our employees at Metrolink RATP Dev who have worked hard to deliver this latest project in partnership with our client TfGM. It sets the scene for the introduction of a Second City Crossing which is the next phase of further improvements for the Metrolink customer as it gives us more capacity to deliver a service to the 90,000 journeys made on the network each day.
