Metrolink history

The Altrincham line was formerly the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway, electrified in 1931.

So in 1963, BSDA officially took over the operations and assets of the various transit facilities it purchased from the region’s 15 private firms.

Bus fare in 1973: Back down to 25 cents after a sales tax was passed.

The energy crisis of 1979 spurred dramatic growth in bus ridership, but instead of increasing revenue, higher rider volume strained the system as rising maintenance costs and double-digit inflation actually raised the agency’s cost-per-passenger.

Some station names vary from the 1984 proposals, notably the renaming of Central as G-Mex, and the addition of Cornbrook station.

In 1987, when powers and funding had been secured for the initial phase of the network to go ahead, the brand name Metrolink was first introduced.

Authority to construct Phase 1 of Metrolink was granted in January 1988 with the passing of the Greater Manchester (Light Rapid Transit System) Act 1988.

In 1989 Southern Pacific and Santa Fe offered to sell a number of unused railroad rights-of-way, the first time any railroad anywhere had made such an offer.

The member agencies of the Southern California Regional Rail Authority (SCRRA) had purchased 175 miles of track, maintenance yards, stations and other properties from Southern Pacific Railroad in 1990 for $450 million.

Diesel locomotive D2767 (a North British 0-4-0) was hired by Metrolink to assist in the construction of the overhead wires during the construction phase in 1991.

By 1992, however, gas prices were down, a national recession was underway, and public interest in pursuing big projects had waned.

Three years later, on July 31, 1993, MetroLink debuted its services with a three-day, fare-free introduction to the St Louis region.

Two T-68 trams near Piccadilly in 1994

On 25 April 1997 work began on Phase 2, an extension from Cornbrook on the Altrincham line through Salford Quays to Eccles.

When Market Street was closed to road traffic these stops were replaced on 10 August 1998 by a new platform stop in the centre of Market Street for trams in both directions.

Across the nation in 1999, the federal government stopped providing funding for transit operations, creating a financial strain for BSDA and other transit systems across the country.

The line was officially opened on 9 January 2001.

In March 2003, Serco Investments bought out its partners and Altram (Manchester) Limited became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Serco.

1019 arrives at Deansgate-Castlefield while 2004 departs for Eccles

The bus station complementing it opened on 29 January 2006.

On 22 March 2007, Transport Infrastructure Ireland began the procurement process for Metro North.

A slightly updated route, with changes in proposed station names, some modifications to station locations, and details of proposed overground and underground routes through Swords was released by the RPA in March 2008.

The lines to Altrincham and Eccles were closed for the whole of August 2009 to allow for the existing lines to be modified ahead of Metrolink Phase 3.

It was speculated by the media that the Metro North Project would be indefinitely deferred on 12 August 2011 following a review by Leo Varadkar, then Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport.

June 2017$3.2 MILLION POSITIVE TRAIN CONTROL GRANT

April 2018$1.2 BILLION SCORE GRANT

In December 2019, test drilling for boreholes began for the line.

Engineering consultant firm SNC-Lavalin was appointed by Transport Infrastructure Ireland in March 2020 as operations advisor for the project.