Metrolink accessibility
Step-free by design — what that means in practice, and what this site can and cannot tell you.
Level boarding at every stop
Metrolink is unusual among British light-rail networks in being step-free across the whole system. Platforms are built at floor height and the trams are low-floor, so there is no gap to climb at any of the 99 stops: a wheelchair, a pushchair or a suitcase rolls straight on. There are no staff-operated ramps to wait for because there is nothing to ramp.
What varies from stop to stop is getting to the platform. Stops on former railway alignments — the Bury and Altrincham corridors, most of the Oldham and Rochdale line — often sit above or below the street and are reached by a ramp, a lift or a long slope. Street-running stops in the city centre and through Salford Quays are at pavement level.
What this site does not claim: we do not publish a lift-by-lift status or a list of which ramps are steep, because the operator does not release that as data and guessing would be worse than silence. For a specific stop, the operator’s accessibility pages and its travel team are the right source.
Travelling with a concessionary pass
Questions about accessibility
Yes — every stop and every tram. The platforms are level with the tram floor across the whole network, so boarding is step-free everywhere.
At the stops that sit above or below street level, yes. Most stops are at street or platform level and need no lift at all.
Folding bicycles are carried. Full-size bicycles are not, which catches people out on the Airport and Rochdale runs where the distances tempt you to try.
From 09:30 on Monday to Friday, and all day at weekends and on bank holidays.
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.