Manchester is the UKs second city after London and like the capital boasts a large transport network with many different ways of getting around the city:
Metrolink - The Metrolink has been running since April 1992 and has become a quick and easy method of getting in and out of Manchester and around the city centre with trams running from Bury in the north of Manchester through the centre and to Altrincham and Eccles in southern Greater Manchester. The city centre has seven tram stops with two at Manchester's major railway stations, Victoria and Piccadilly which provide transport links to the rest of the country. The trams run every 12 minutes and are quick to get to the centre with the longest journey being taking 25 minutes to get from Bury to Manchester. The trams also provide a quick link between Piccadilly and Victoria stations where passengers may need to go between the two stations to catch their next train.
Bus - Manchester has several major bus station situated on Chorlton Street, Shudehill Interchange and Piccadilly gardens. These are all situated within walking distance to Manchester's two major railway stations, Piccadilly and Victoria. All three bus stations are also very close to a Metro stop. Manchester runs a series of free buses which people can jump on and off at any designated stop and Manchester features a series of bus lanes on roads in and out of the city to assist the buses in keeping on time.
Train - Manchester Piccadilly station is the busiest major station outside London in England for passenger use and handles over 83,000 passengers each and every day. Manchester train network has links with every major town and city in the country. Piccadilly's main link is with London Euston with a journey time of two and a half hours.
Car - Manchester?s road network is busy, but this is understandable with almost 3 million people living within the county boundary. Manchester does feature the M60 ring road which circles the city enabling easy access to various roads into Manchester meaning that drivers don?t have to drive through the centre and can go around and in on a different road which can be quicker for them.
Plane - Manchester Airport has the fourth busiest airport in the United Kingdom and is the busiest outside London handling over 22 million passengers a year. The airport features good train and bus links with the city centre meaning people transfer quickly to the city; this is very useful for those who are attending meetings in the city centre.
As you can see above, Manchester's transport network is very well linked together with many interchanges to assist passengers go from one type of transport to the other quickly so they can continue their journey with a minimum of disruption.
Manchester does have a series of proposed changes and improvements to the current transport network. Mainly the tram network is going to be extended so it reaches more towns surrounding Manchester and also the airport bringing another valuable link to help people get where they need to go quicker. Also planned is an increase in the amount of trams which run along the lines with new trams being bought to run alongside the existing stock.
Improvements to the train network are also proposed with the aim of more carriages on a lot of services during peak times. Also new indicator boards are proposed at stations to give better information to passengers so there is no confusion over where the train arriving is going to and when it will arrive.
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For more information on the proposed transport improvements partly funded by the congestion charge, please visit http://www.gmfuturetransport.co.uk
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