Metrolink tram times
First tram, last tram and how often they run — every line, every day of the week, from the operator’s registered timetable.
Every 15 minutes, not every 12
Two things soften that. Where two lines share the same track you get both of them: through the city centre the Pink Line pair gives a tram every 7 or 8 minutes, and the Yellow Line through Salford Quays does the same. And peak extras still run on some routes. Every number on this site is measured from the operator’s own registered timetable rather than copied from anywhere, which is why they occasionally disagree with what you read elsewhere.
Four kinds of day, not two
Metrolink does not run a single “weekday” timetable. The registered timetable splits the week into Monday to Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, because Friday and Saturday nights run roughly an hour later than the rest of the week. We do not group those days by hand: two days are shown together only when their departure list is identical at every stop, so if a line splits Friday out, it is because the trams really are different.
One line is missing a day altogether: the Green Line does not run on Sundays. Its corridors, Altrincham and Bury, are covered by the Purple and Blue Lines instead.
First tram, last tram and frequency, line by line
Measured at the busiest stop of each direction — the one where the most trams call. Each stop has its own first and last tram on its own page.
| Line | Direction | Days | First | Last | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Line | towards Ashton-under-Lyne | Monday to Thursday | 05:14 | 00:20+1 | every 15 min |
| Blue Line | towards Ashton-under-Lyne | Friday to Saturday | 05:14 | 01:20+1 | every 15 min |
| Blue Line | towards Ashton-under-Lyne | Sunday | 06:14 | 00:05+1 | every 15 min |
| Blue Line | towards Bury | Monday to Thursday | 05:41 | 00:49+1 | every 15 min |
| Blue Line | towards Bury | Friday to Saturday | 05:41 | 01:49+1 | every 15 min |
| Blue Line | towards Bury | Sunday | 06:41 | 00:21+1 | every 15 min |
| Green Line | towards Altrincham | Monday to Friday | 06:27 | 20:57 | every 15 min |
| Green Line | towards Altrincham | Saturday | 08:27 | 19:27 | every 15 min |
| Green Line | towards Bury | Monday to Friday | 06:06 | 20:36 | every 15 min |
| Green Line | towards Bury | Saturday | 08:06 | 19:06 | every 15 min |
| Navy Line | towards Manchester Airport | Monday to Thursday | 05:17 | 23:46 | every 15 min |
| Navy Line | towards Manchester Airport | Friday to Saturday | 05:17 | 00:46+1 | every 15 min |
| Navy Line | towards Manchester Airport | Sunday | 06:17 | 23:31 | every 15 min |
| Navy Line | towards Victoria | Monday to Thursday | 06:05 | 00:35+1 | every 15 min |
| Navy Line | towards Victoria | Friday to Saturday | 06:05 | 01:35+1 | every 15 min |
| Navy Line | towards Victoria | Sunday | 07:05 | 00:19+1 | every 15 min |
| Pink Line | towards East Didsbury | Monday to Thursday | 06:24 | 01:24+1 | every 7 min |
| Pink Line | towards East Didsbury | Friday | 05:33 | 00:59+1 | every 7 min |
| Pink Line | towards East Didsbury | Saturday | 05:33 | 00:59+1 | every 8 min |
| Pink Line | towards East Didsbury | Sunday | 07:24 | 00:39+1 | every 15 min |
| Pink Line | towards Rochdale Town Centre | Monday to Thursday | 05:01 | 23:46 | every 8 min |
| Pink Line | towards Rochdale Town Centre | Friday | 05:56 | 01:22+1 | every 8 min |
| Pink Line | towards Rochdale Town Centre | Saturday | 05:56 | 01:22+1 | every 8 min |
| Pink Line | towards Rochdale Town Centre | Sunday | 06:01 | 23:31 | every 15 min |
| Purple Line | towards Altrincham | Monday to Thursday | 05:33 | 00:18+1 | every 15 min |
| Purple Line | towards Altrincham | Friday to Saturday | 06:04 | 01:49+1 | every 15 min |
| Purple Line | towards Altrincham | Sunday | 07:04 | 00:34+1 | every 15 min |
| Purple Line | towards Etihad Campus | Monday to Thursday | 05:53 | 00:38+1 | every 15 min |
| Purple Line | towards Etihad Campus | Friday to Saturday | 05:14 | 00:58+1 | every 15 min |
| Purple Line | towards Etihad Campus | Sunday | 06:14 | 23:58 | every 15 min |
| Red Line | towards Crumpsall | Monday to Thursday | 05:02 | 00:33+1 | every 15 min |
| Red Line | towards Crumpsall | Friday to Saturday | 05:02 | 01:33+1 | every 15 min |
| Red Line | towards Crumpsall | Sunday | 06:02 | 00:18+1 | every 15 min |
| Red Line | towards The Trafford Centre | Monday to Thursday | 05:15 | 00:45+1 | every 15 min |
| Red Line | towards The Trafford Centre | Friday to Saturday | 05:15 | 01:45+1 | every 15 min |
| Red Line | towards The Trafford Centre | Sunday | 06:15 | 00:30+1 | every 15 min |
| Yellow Line | towards Eccles | Monday to Thursday | 05:22 | 00:52+1 | every 8 min |
| Yellow Line | towards Eccles | Friday | 05:22 | 01:52+1 | every 8 min |
| Yellow Line | towards Eccles | Saturday | 05:22 | 01:52+1 | every 8 min |
| Yellow Line | towards Eccles | Sunday | 06:22 | 00:37+1 | every 15 min |
| Yellow Line | towards Piccadilly | Monday to Thursday | 05:11 | 00:41+1 | every 7 min |
| Yellow Line | towards Piccadilly | Friday | 05:08 | 01:41+1 | every 7 min |
| Yellow Line | towards Piccadilly | Saturday | 05:11 | 01:41+1 | every 7 min |
| Yellow Line | towards Piccadilly | Sunday | 06:11 | 00:26+1 | every 15 min |
Timetables for every stop
There is no single page that can hold 99 stops’ worth of departures and still be usable. Every stop has its own page with its own first tram, last tram and full list of departures in each direction.
Why this site has no live times
TfGM does publish a live feed, at api.tfgm.com, and it is free — but it needs a key that can only be requested through a browser sign-up we have not completed. Until we hold one, everything here is the published timetable, and the site says so on every page rather than dressing a schedule up as something it is not. To see where a tram is at this moment, use the operator’s own site or the displays at the stop.
Questions about Metrolink times
Every 15 minutes on each line through the day. Where two lines share the same track — the city centre, Salford Quays — it works out at a tram every 7 or 8 minutes.
04:58, Monday to Thursday, from Firswood on the Navy Line. Most of the network starts between 05:00 and 06:00.
The last departure anywhere Monday to Thursday is 01:24. Friday and Saturday run about an hour later — and a tram leaving at, say, 00:40 belongs to the previous day’s service, which is why you will see times written as 24:40 in raw timetables.
Yes. Sunday starts later and finishes earlier, and the Green Line does not run at all.
From the Traveline National Dataset, the operator’s own registered timetable, published under the Open Government Licence. We parse the 5,194 circulations in it and check the result against the stop register before anything is published.
On this page
Tram times on this page come from the Traveline National Dataset (TransXChange, Open Government Licence v3.0); stop names and coordinates from NaPTAN, the Department for Transport stop register. Manchester Metrolink is an independent guide: it is not run by Metrolink or Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and has no connection with either. Check tfgm.com before you travel.