Featuring the lines to Trafford Park and Eccles, plus a visit to the Heaton Park Tramway.

This DVD covers the Manchester Metrolink Trafford Park line which is the newest route on the tramway system, opening in March 2020. There are scenes of trams in action on the route, which at the moment runs from Cornbrook to the Trafford Centre, plus a passenger eye view of the whole route. More new trams are in the process of delivery in 2021/2022, when enough trams are available the route will be extended through Manchester city centre to Crumpsall on the Bury line where a siding has been constructed as a terminus for the Trafford Park line trams.

The Trafford Park Industrial Estate is situated on the Southern side of the Manchester Ship Canal and was opened in the late 1890s, it was the first planned industrial estate in the world and is still the largest in Europe. The estate declined in the 1970s and 1980s, the advent of containerisation of the worlds shipping meant that the larger ships were too big for the ship canal and the Manchester Docks were closed in the 1980s. An urban development corporation was founded in 1987 to regenerate the area and today the park is once again home to industry and warehousing providing employment for thousands of workers. The Trafford Centre, at the end of the line, is a large shopping mall which also provides many jobs as well as being a destination in its own right. Other attractions on the line include the Imperial War Museum North and the ITV Granada Studios which are adjacent to the IWM, there is a footbridge across the ship canal which connects these studios to Media City which is on a branch off the Eccles line.

The Eccles line is also covered from Pomona to Eccles, the lines share the track from Cornbrook to Pomona. The Eccles line was opened in 1999/2000 and the Media City branch in 2010, the line crosses the Manchester Ship Canal at Pomona and then runs through the former Salford Quays dock area on private right of way until it reaches Broadway stop, the line then has street track on South Langworthy Road and Eccles New Road to the terminus in Eccles.

In contrast to the Trafford Park line, which is mainly industrial, the regenerated dock area is largely offices and residential with many large blocks of apartments along the route. BBC North has its studios and offices at Media City together with the University of Salford Media department, providing traffic for the Media City branch. There service runs from Pomona to Ashton-Under-Lyne via Manchester City Centre. When the line opened, Metrolink introduced the T68a type trams which were suitable for street running, a number of T68 trams were also later modified so that they too could work on the line. These trams have now been replaced by the Bombardier M5000 type trams, built in Bautzen (Germany) and Vienna (Austria), when the current order is completed, there will be 147 of these trams on the system. There are scenes of trams in action on the route plus a passenger eye view from Pomona to Eccles.

Finally a visit to the Heaton Park Tramway on 22nd August 2021, this museum line uses the former Manchester Corporation line that branched off Middleton Road into Heaton Park. The museum have extended this line further into the park, now terminating beside the lake where a new depot has been built in recent years.

Subtitles, no commentary, enjoy the sights and sounds of the trams in and around Manchester.

Produced by - Bob Hodges Transport DVD's
Running time - 65 Minutes
Format - 16:9 Widescreen PAL (UK)
DVD only
Released - February 2022