Description

This second volume features the changeover to Metrolink services on the Bury and Altrincham lines. Prior to that changeover, sequences record the last days of the 504 units out of Bury and 304 units into Altrincham. Dramatic ‘last night’ scenes capture the end of an era. The programme follows the countdown to the commencement of Metrolink services, featuring the biggest upheaval in any UK city’s transport system for decades. Also included is archive film of the 506 units which ran from Manchester to Glossop and Hadfield and that ended their days in December 1984. Additional rare archive film looks back at the old MSJ and AR between the 1930s and 1971, including a 1969 cab ride!

News footage covers the planning and implementation of Metrolink’s Phase 1, including many of the changes, the arrival of the first unit (1001), street testing, ‘first day’ services in the city centre and out to Altrincham, and the official opening ceremony of the network by Her Majesty the Queen. Supporting interviews with Metrolink and PTE staff together with specially filmed sequences make this programme an ideal companion to Volume l and a concise record of Manchester’s pioneering electric railway’s past, present and future.

‘A wealth of detail and statistics that demand repeat viewing.’ (Rail)