Metrolink’s line to Airport hailed major success

SOARING passenger numbers have seen 1.88 million journeys made on Metrolink’s multi award-winning Manchester Airport line in its first year.

The 15-stop line, which was opened more than a year ahead of schedule, is celebrating its first birthday.

The success of the £400m line – one of the largest locally-funded transport projects of its kind in the country – was recently recognised during the industry award season with four wins at different national award ceremonies.

Transport bosses say the line – which required 3,412,123 hours of work to deliver – has brought with it economic growth and opportunity that stretches far beyond the nine miles of track that run through the heart of south Manchester.

Almost 60km of rail track was used to construct the line, which uses 670 overhead poles to power the trams. Twenty-eight tramway/highway junctions were either newly installed or modernised; a 337 metre-long viaduct was constructed over the River Mersey and two 580 tonne motorway bridges were installed over some of the busiest sections of urban motorway in the country.

Local residents have also benefited by the so-called ‘Metrolink effect’, which has seen house prices near to the line increase well above the national average.

A scheme to recruit staff local to the area by Metrolink’s operator, RATP Dev,  was also an unprecedented success, it says, with 12 employees going on to work as part of the wider customer service team at Metrolink.
    
Peter Cushing, TfGM’s Metrolink Director, said: “The Airport line has been hugely successful, delivering improved public transport and access to employment, business, retail and leisure opportunities, as well as education and healthcare.
 
“Part of its charm and success stems from the recruitment drive that ensured jobs went to local residents: people with knowledge and passion for their communities as well as the Metrolink network that serves them.

“Our success is ultimately down to our customers and staff.”

TfGM Committee chair Cllr Andrew Fender added: “We’ve had nothing but positive feedback from residents’ right along the Airport line, who’ve seen their local communities rejuvenated.
 
“Businesses are thriving in outlets that at one time stood empty.
Home owners have seen the value of their homes soar and job opportunities are increasing all the time. All this is testament to the fact that the successful delivery of major projects like the Airport line goes well beyond simply helping people get from A to B.”

Chris Coleman, managing director of RATP Dev, said: “We were very clear from the start that we wanted to recruit local people from the Wythenshawe area for the new customer service roles on the Airport line.

“We worked with Wythenshawe Community Housing Group as part of their Talent Pool programme which saw interest from 250 local residents for the positions.

“We achieved unprecedented success with the recruitment programme which has not only meant employment for Wythenshawe residents, but has also allowed us to use the local knowledge of our new employees to provide even better customer service to our passengers.

“As a result of the success of the project, our new recruits have now gone on to form part of the bigger customer service team here at the company, including a new customer ambassador project which will see them provide customer service at key city centre stops.”

The Manchester Airport via Wythenshawe line was delivered by the MPT consortium, formed of Laing O’Rourke, VolkerRail and Thales.
 
Greater Manchester’s Metrolink network claims to be  one of the most successful light rail systems in the UK, carrying more than 32 million passengers every year. The opening of the Airport line brought the number of Metrolink stops across Greater Manchester to 92, spanning some 60km.