Time travel!

Photo: Darren Robinson

A Metrolink tram running past Oldham Lyceum

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MANCHESTER'S Metrolink celebrates its 25th anniversary today with the network now three times the size it was when it launched.

The tram network, currently the largest in the UK, opened on April 6, 1992, with services operating between Bury and Manchester Victoria.

Services to Altrincham followed, before the Queen officially opened the network during a special ceremony in July, 1992.

In the subsequent 25 years, the network has grown quickly and beyond all recognition, covering more than 60 miles with 93 stops across seven lines and hosting 37 million passenger journeys every year.

Councillor Andrew Fender, chairman of the Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) Committee, said: "Having overseen the development of the original plans to reintroduce a tram system to Greater Manchester, I'm immensely proud to see the positive impact it's made to so many people's lives.

"It took 10 years to develop the first lines out to Bury and Altrincham, so you could say that today's birthday is in fact the realisation of 35 years of careful planning and commitment by a great many people.

"This year has already seen us deliver the Second City Crossing and start work on a new line out to the Trafford Centre and that's a real testament to the fact that we don't rest on our laurels. Here's to another 25 years of growth."

Before Metrolink operated, a tram hadn't run in Manchester since 1949, when the last original service was decommissioned, to be replaced by buses. The concept of bringing trams back into service was born back in 1982, when a Rail Study Group was created to give the local rail network a secure long-term future by creating a new north/south link across the city centre that was much easier for people to access.

The group consisted of members from Greater Manchester Council, Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) and British Rail and it was within this group that plans to create the UK's first modern street-running light rail system were developed.

Danny Vaughan, TfGM head of operations for Metrolink, said: "Having delivered a transformational construction programme that's unparalleled in the light rail industry in terms of the size and scale of growth, it's fitting that we're celebrating the 25th anniversary in such a bumper year."

Metrolink arrived in Oldham in August 2012, almost three years after the heavy rail Oldham Loop line closed for work to start on coversion to the tram network. It was extended with new stops at Derker and Shaw and Crompton a few months later, before the line began operating through Oldham town centre in January 2014.

Among the events to mark the silver jubilee year, TfGM is partnering with the Bridgewater Hall - which celebrates a 21st anniversary this year - to create an epic creative music project, which will be launched during a special event at the hall today.