Old Trafford Metrolink station is a station on the
MetrolinkMetrolink is a light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. It consists of four lines which converge in Manchester city centre and terminate in Bury, Altrincham, Eccles and Chorlton-cum-Hardy. The system is owned by Transport for Greater Manchester and operated under contract by RATP Group...
light railLight rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
network in
Greater ManchesterGreater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is located on Warwick Road and Elsinore Road and serves
FirswoodFirswood is an area of Stretford, in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England.-Geography:Firswood borders Old Trafford and Chorlton-cum-Hardy.-Present day:...
,
Old TraffordOld Trafford commonly refers to two sporting arenas:* Old Trafford, home of Manchester United F.C.* Old Trafford Cricket Ground, home of Lancashire County Cricket ClubOld Trafford can also refer to:...
and
StretfordStretford is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. Lying on flat ground between the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal, it is to the southwest of Manchester city centre, south-southwest of Salford and northeast of Altrincham...
.
It is adjacent to Old Trafford Cricket Ground, the home of
Lancashire County Cricket ClubLancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...
, and only a short walk from Old Trafford football ground, the home of
Manchester UnitedManchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
. As a result, Old Trafford Station regularly faces heavy usage from the crowds attending cricket and football matches and concerts. Crowd control operations often involve the use of turnstiles.
An average of 2,000 passenger journeys are made per day to or from Old Trafford stop, but this can rise to 9,500 on a match day. In order to manage the crowds more effectively, the station was rebuilt in 2009. The pedestrian underpass was closed and passengers instead cross the tram line to change platforms. The platforms themselves were rearranged into a staggered layout by moving the northbound platform (for trams into Manchester), and both platforms were doubled in length. A new match day gating system was installed and the station was redecorated with the new yellow and silver Metrolink corporate identity.
History
A station, situated just to the north of the present station, was opened by the
Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham RailwayThe Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway was a suburban railway which operated a 13.7 km route between Altrincham in Cheshire and London Road Station in Manchester....
(MSJAR) in May 1857. It was known as
Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition, being built to serve the
exhibition of that nameThe Art Treasures of Great Britain was an exhibition of fine art held in Manchester, England, from 5 May to 17 October 1857. It remains the largest art exhibition to be held in the UK, possibly in the world, with over 16,000 works on display...
, which was open between 5 May 1857 and 17 October 1857. The station closed in October 1857. It was adapted and reopened as
Old Trafford Cricket Ground in 1862 for use every year thereafter until 1866, on match days only.
The station opened for special events, such as the
Royal Agricultural SocietyThe Royal Agricultural Society of England was established in the United Kingdom in 1838 with the motto "Practice with Science". The RASE aim is to promote the scientific development of agriculture. The society received its Royal Charter from Queen Victoria in 1840.From its early days the society...
Exhibition in 1869, and again between May and October 1887 for the Royal Jubilee Exhibition in Stretford Royal Botanical Gardens, held to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria, during both of which the station was known as
Exhibition; additional platforms were constructed for the latter. From 1887 until 1963 it operated as a four-platform station. It was renamed
Cricket Ground (Old Trafford) and continued to open on match days only; in 1910 it became
Cricket and Football Grounds following the opening of
Manchester United's groundOld Trafford commonly refers to two sporting arenas:* Old Trafford, home of Manchester United F.C.* Old Trafford Cricket Ground, home of Lancashire County Cricket ClubOld Trafford can also refer to:...
on 19 February 1910.
On 11 May 1931, following the electrification of the MSJAR, the station was renamed
Warwick Road and was open daily. It was also referred to as
Warwick Road (Old Trafford) on early tickets, timetables, etc. Warwick Road closed as a
British RailBritish Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
station on 25 December 1991 (the last trains having run on 24 December 1991) for conversion to light rail operation, and reopened as a Metrolink station on 15 June 1992, at which point it was renamed
Old Trafford.
Services
Old Trafford is located on the Altrincham Line with trams towards Altrincham stopping every 6 minutes during the day, Mondays to Saturdays, every 12 minutes Monday to Saturday evenings and Sunday daytime and every 15 minutes Sunday evenings. Trams also head towards Manchester and Bury, with the Monday to Saturday daytime service running every 12 minutes each to Manchester Piccadilly or Bury, while evening and Sundays journeys run to Bury via Manchester Piccadilly.
Connecting bus routes
Old Trafford station is only served by one service, Stagecoach Manchester service 253, which runs weekdays mornings to
Piccadilly GardensManchester Piccadilly Gardens Bus Station, often abbreviated to Piccadilly or Piccadilly Gardens is one of two main bus stations in Manchester's city centre....
via the universities.
External links