Bury Line

Overview
Type Tram/Light rail
System Manchester Metrolink
Locale Manchester
Bury
Termini Manchester Piccadilly
Bury Interchange
Stations 10
Operation
Opening 6 April 1992
Character Converted railway track
Rolling stock M5000
Technical
Line length 9.9 miles (15.9 km)
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification 750 volts DC overhead
Operating speed 50 mph (80km/h)
Route map
Bury Parking Bus interchange Heritage railway Bolton Street
Radcliffe Parking
Whitefield Parking
Besses o' th' Barn
Prestwich
Heaton Park
Bowker Vale
Crumpsall
Abraham Moss
to Queens Road Depot
Queens Road
to Rochdale
Manchester Victoria National Rail
to Altrincham and Piccadilly

The Bury Line is a line of the Manchester Metrolink running from Manchester to Bury in Greater Manchester. It is, along with the Altrincham Line, one of the original Metrolink lines; it opened in 1992 as part of the first phase of the system's development.

The line runs entirely on an old railway alignment without any street running. It runs north from Manchester Victoria and connects the suburbs of Cheetham Hill, Prestwich, Whitefield and Radcliffe. The entire route from Victoria to Bury is roughly 10 miles (16 km) long. Two services travel along the line, both starting at Bury, and terminating at Altrincham and Etihad Campus for the Green and Light Blue lines respectively.

History

Pre-Metrolink

The line was originally a railway. The first part of what is now the Bury Line was opened by the East Lancashire Railway (ELR) in 1846, From Manchester Victoria to Bury Bolton Street via Salford, Clifton Junction and Radcliffe, continuing north from Bury to Rawtenstall. The ELR was absorbed into the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) in 1859.[1]

The Bury Line shortly before conversion to Metrolink, operated by a Class 504 unit.

The second part was opened in 1879: In order to connect the growing suburbs of Cheetham Hill, Prestwich and Whitefield, in 1872 the L&YR obtained an act to construct a new line from Manchester to the original ELR line at Radcliffe. Construction began in 1876 and was completed in 1879. Originally the line had only five intermediate stations at Crumpsall, Heaton Park, Prestwich, Whitefield and Radcliffe. Three more stations; Woodlands Road, Bowker Vale and Besses o’ th’ Barn were added later.[1]

In response to competition from trams. The line was electrified in 1916 using a unique 1200 volt side-contact third rail system, which remained in operation until the line was converted to Metrolink operation in 1991.[1] From 1959 until 1991, the line was operated by Class 504 EMUs.

The original Bury Bolton Street station was closed in 1980, and replaced by the new, more conveniently located Bury Interchange. The original Bolton Street station is now part of the East Lancashire Railway heritage railway.[1]

Conversion to Metrolink

Railway operations ended on 17 August 1991, in order for the line to be converted to Metrolink operation.[1] This mostly entailed removing the old third rail system and replacing it with a 750 volt DC overhead line system. Available funding only allowed for minimum upgrades to be made, and so most of the infrastructure such as the stations and track were changed little.[2]

Phase one of the Metrolink also involved new tracks from Victoria station through the streets of Manchester City Centre, to Manchester Piccadilly and Altrincham. The line became the first Metrolink line to open for business on 6 April 1992, initially between Bury and Victoria, it then opened to Altrincham on 15 June, and then Piccadilly on 20 July 1992.[3]

One of the original stations Woodlands Road was closed in 2013, after two new stations, (Abraham Moss and Queens Road) were opened nearby.[4]

Services

Trams between Bury and Manchester run 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 Etihad Campus, Manchester and Altrincham, with the Monday to Saturday daytime service running every 12 minutes each to Etihad Campus via Manchester Piccadilly or Altrincham, while evening and Sundays journeys run to Attrincham only with journeys to Etihad Campus requiring a change of trams at Piccadilly Gardens.[5]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Hindle, Paul. "Manchester Victoria to Bury: an historical trip on Metrolink" (PDF). Manchester Geographical Society. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  2. ↑ "Metrolink History 1". Light Rail Transit Association. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "An Introduction to Metrolink". Light Rail Transit Association. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  4. ↑ "New Queens Road Metrolink stop to open". Transport for Greater Manchester.
  5. ↑ "Metrolink - Tram Times - Abraham Moss". Metrolink. Retrieved 13 February 2013.

External links