Piccadilly Gardens is a

tram stop A tram stop, tram station, streetcar stop, or light rail station is a place designated for a tram, streetcar, or light rail vehicle to stop so passengers can board or alight it. Generally, tram stops share most characteristics of bus stops, ...

in Zone 1 of

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...

's Metrolink light rail system. It is located beside Piccadilly Gardens in

Manchester city centre Manchester City Centre is the central business district of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England situated within the confines of Great Ancoats Street, A6042 Trinity Way, and A57(M) Mancunian Way which collectively form an inner ring road. ...

, and serves both as a

transport hub A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles and/or between transport modes. Public transport hubs include railway stations, rapid transit stations, bus stops, tram stops, airports and ferry slips. F ...

(by integrating with the adjacent Manchester Piccadilly Gardens bus station), and

interchange station An interchange station or a transfer station is a train station for more than one railway route in a public transport system that allows passengers to change from one route to another, often without having to leave a station or pay an additiona ...

(which can be used for changing between Metrolink lines). Piccadilly Gardens tram stop opened on 27 April 1992, as part of Metrolink's Phase 1. The station was rebuilt during 2009 with a wider platform and a new canopy, reopening on 2 November 2009. The stop is one of the most used on the Metrolink network.

History

In 1931, a new

bus station A bus station or a bus interchange is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. While the term bus depot can also be used to refer to a bus station, it generally refers to a bus garage. A bus station is ...

was opened on Parker Street on the former site of the

Manchester Royal Infirmary Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) is a large NHS teaching hospital in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester, England. Founded by Charles White in 1752 as part of the voluntary hospital movement of the 18th century, it is now a major regional and nati ...

, providing a central transport interchange for bus passengers. In 1945, adjacent site was landscaped as an ornamental sunken garden and named Piccadilly Gardens. In 1991, construction work began on a new light rail transport network,

Manchester Metrolink Manchester Metrolink (branded locally simply as Metrolink) is a tram/ light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. The network has 99 stops along of standard-gauge route, making it the most extensive light rail system in the United Ki ...

. New tram lines were laid along the southern and western sides of Piccadilly Gardens, and a new tram stop constructed alongside the bus station, providing an inter-modal exchange between tram and bus.

Services

Service pattern

Services mostly run every 12 minutes on all routes. At peak times (07:15 – 19:30 Monday to Friday, 09:30 – 18:30 Saturday): *5 trams per hour to Altrincham *5 trams per hour to Ashton-under-Lyne *5 trams per hour to Bury *5 trams per hour to Eccles *5 trams per hour to Etihad Campus *5 trams per hour to MediaCityUK *10 trams per hour to Piccadilly Offpeak (all other times during operational hours): *5 trams per hour to Altrincham *5 trams per hour to Ashton-under-Lyne *5 trams per hour to Bury *5 trams per hour to Eccles (via MediaCityUK) *10 trams per hour to Piccadilly

Gallery

File:Piccadilly Gardens (1976) - geograph.org.uk - 2266502.jpg, Piccadilly Gardens bus station in 1976 File:Manchester - Parker Street Bus Station - geograph.org.uk - 1641775.jpg, The future site of Piccadilly Gardens tram stop, photographed in 1989 File:Delta junction, Manchester - geograph.org.uk - 712195.jpg, Construction of the Manchester Metrolink lines at Piccadilly Gardens in 1991 File:Construction of Piccadilly Gardens tram station - geograph.org.uk - 736036.jpg, Construction of Piccadilly Gardens Metrolink platforms in 1991 Image:Piccadilly Gardens Tram Station, David Dixon, 3795002.jpg, Piccadilly Gardens tram stop in December 2013. Image:Metrolink tram at Piccadilly Gardens.jpg, A older T-68 tram at Piccadilly Gardens tram stop in 2005. File:Parker Street and Piccadilly Gardens Tram Station - geograph.org.uk - 1748738.jpg, Inter-modal exchange at the bus station File:Manchester Metrolink City Centre Zone map.png, Map of Manchester City Centre Metrolink stops

References

External links

Piccadilly Gardens Stop InformationMetrolink City Centre area map
{{Greater Manchester Metrolink stations Tram stops in Manchester Tram stops on the Altrincham to Piccadilly line Piccadilly Gardens