Plan ahead of what promises to be a hectic city weekend

A big weekend is in prospect so passengers are urged to plan their city transport

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Runners, spectators and anyone planning to travel through Manchester city centre are being advised to plan ahead in preparation for another big weekend of sport and events.

The big weekend starts with the Great City Games, on Friday, May 18, followed by The Simplyhealth Great Manchester Run on Sunday, May 20.

The size and locations of the events mean that there’ll be changes to public transport and a number of local roads will be subject to closure and bus route diversions – particularly on the day of the run.

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has developed a dedicated web page, offering information and travel advice, and will be implementing a number of measures to help those travelling make their journeys as easy and as stress free as possible.

TfGM’s Events Manager, Ryan Carter, said: “We’ve worked closely with event organisers and transport operators to make sure the marathon and transport arrangements run as smoothly as possible.

“There will be extra trams running and with stops at the start and finish  – as well as at key locations along the route - I’d encourage runners, spectators, families and friends to use Metrolink to travel to the event wherever possible.

“There are also hundreds of free Park and Ride spaces for customers available across the tram network and additional staff will be on hand on hand to help people get around.

“We are expecting large numbers so the best thing to do is to plan ahead and allow extra time for journeys.

“We’ll be monitoring the transport networks from our 24 hour Control Centre and I’d encourage people to keep an eye on our website and Twitter account for the latest travel information and advice.”

For information on public transport across Greater Manchester visit www.tfgm.com, call 0161 244 1000 (7am-8pm, Monday to Friday, and 8am-8pm at weekends and bank holidays) or follow @OfficialTfGM on Twitter.