One of the most fun experiences in Manchester is riding the tram. I enjoy the city and suburban…read moreviews, the other passengers are always friendly and the most exciting part is when they have a raid on the tram to ensure all patrons have paid the correct fair. The police and revenue protection officers block all doors and its funny to watch people trying to get off and when they recognise regular travellers without tickets.

I have a love-hate relationship with the Metrolink in Manchester, there are so many things which…read moreare good, yet so many things which are terrible about the service. Metrolink is arguably one of the best ways to get around Manchester, in terms of speed, you skip the traffic of the roads, hopping on the tram which is always handy, especially with multiple stops having Park and Ride facilities, meaning you can park your car and go about your journey. Obviously, there are some exceptions, for example, if you're heading to Manchester Airport from the city centre, you would want to take the train which takes around 20 minutes, compared to getting the tram, from Manchester Piccadilly it would be a 57-minute journey, across two trams, changing at Cornbrook. Metrolink are also doing very well during difficult circumstances, they're maintaining the best route frequency to allow people to travel when needed, and space out too, the trams are often around every 10-12 minutes on most routes, meaning there's never too long to wait before getting a tram. They are also cleaning trams every two hours to make sure they are COVID-safe and secure, I think this is a reasonable time-frame given the circumstances. The trams are mainly comfortable and pretty spacious, the floor does get very slippy in the rainy weather, which we get more than our fair share of in Manchester so watch-out! There are 8 lines and 99 stations, all of the lines seem to call through Cornbrook, with 7/8 lines calling at Deansgate-Castlefield and Pomona, so you can pretty much get to any stop from anywhere if you're willing to change services along the way, but it would depend on how realistic it is, for example, it wouldn't be worth going from Sale to Sale Water Park, despite being only a couple of miles away it would be a long tram journey due to the construction of the lines meaning you'd have to change at Trafford Bar. All stations are step-free too, so that supports access for disabled people/trams without the need for ramps, sometimes the access is awkward and it is a good walk from the platform to the street, especially in stations away from the city centre outside of Zones 1 and 2, so again you might want to plan ahead. I do like the zone system as it simplifies the ticketing process (just touch in with your contactless card and be charged the lowest fair), it also means that if you are just going one-stop, you won't be charged for going into two zones, as when the zone changes, the preceding station is the following zone. Example) Sale - Zone 3 Brooklands - Zones 3/4 Timperley - Zone 4 The huge cons I have with Metrolink have to be, their customer service can often be pretty poor, I've tried to phone them many times, even using the customer service help point at the stations only to be greeted with the message "This person's phone is turned off", I get staff are having to work from home during the pandemic, but it's called "work from home" not "turn your phone off and ignore passengers from home" Other issues are, I hate how the trams don't have card scanners, Metrolink is one of the few trams I've used in Europe to not have either a conductor or anywhere you can scan your pass on board, this means if you're rushing for a tram, you could potentially miss your service through having to stop at the platform to touch-in, which is pretty ridiculous. I do think conductors on the trams would be great, especially to avoid this problem and stop anti-social behaviour, which can be a problem especially in certain areas/routes, it would also help tackle fair dodging and provide money to actually improve services, I openly heard a person bragging about the trams being free... due to a lack of inspections. It's great to see Metrolink working on expanding their routes too, in March 2020, they had a quiet launch of the Trafford Centre line, which finally added Metrolink services to the Trafford Centre, calling at Wharfside for Old Trafford Stadium, Imperial War Museum for Media City, and then Trafford Centre, I do think it's pretty strange how the construction of the new line came early, but the new trams for that line came late, this meant the services have to terminate at Cornbrook right now, which is annoying as it means changing trams. 4* - Still one of the better ways to get around town in most cases, the grey and yellow trams are becoming a symbol of Manchester, like the orange buses used to be, it does have its' flaws including the fact that on a match-day at The Etihad Stadium, they never seem to run enough services which often means waiting for ages and then being packed on the tram like sardines.

I've never used the Manchester shuttle, but then again I quite enjoy walking. However, Stockport…read morehas hills, so this bus is a nice idea. This handy little free shuttle bus can be picked up from the 300 bus stop in Stockport Bus Station every 12 minutes between 8am and 6.30pm Mondays to Saturdays and between 10.30am and 5.30pm on Sundays. Unless you're disabled, have a lot of shopping or are just damn lazy, you shouldn't need the shuttle to get from the bus station to the train station (5 minute walk) or to the main shopping area (another 5 minute walk). However, it could be useful if you want to get up the hill towards the Town Hall or Stockport College or in the other direction out to the Peel Centre (which just isn't the same after the death of Border's Books) or to the giant Tesco on the other side of the M60.

An upgrade as this is one of the nicer Metrolink stations on the network, despite its' flaws, it's…read morestill a pretty modern station with connections into Deansgate Train Station offering slower more regional services. The station has nice views of the city, including the huge Deansgate Towers including Beetham Tower, home to the Hilton Hotel on the same side as the Piccadilly Bound Platform. The station is modern and clean in most areas, I do think the lift could be given more regular maintenance though, but this can be said for the network as a whole as they can often become smelly/dirty. To get between the city centre bound platform and the Cornbrook bound platform it is a little difficult as if you're unable to go up steps it involves walking the whole length of the platform and back again, it's a shame this couldn't have been constructed better. The double platform in the middle is useful as it means trams can start and terminate here, which is rare to find on the network - Strangely most trams on the Trafford Park lines carry on from here after "terminating at Cornbrook" to go back, which makes no sense. The station seems to be reguarly supervised and staffed, as with most city centre zone 1 stations. 4*

Beautiful new station with greenery on the train tracks and glass overhanging. Passes right next to…read morethe Hilton and has a very futuristic feel. Definitely a good addition to the Manchester city scape! PS: Right next to the railway station.

Firstly, this should not be confused with its big sister the Chorlton Street Bus Station. The…read moreChorlton Street Bus Station is in the centre of Manchester, has an indoor waiting area with a coffee shop and hosts National Express and Eurolines buses. Chorlton Bus Station is a mere series of bus stops in Chorlton. The other day my bus stopped at Chorlton Bus Station. A middle-aged man with reams of toilet paper sticking out of his nose and all over his face got onto my bus. In an attempt to avoid eye contact I stared out of the window. There was another middle-aged man with a white bear glove puppet carrying a flowing roll of toilet paper. Apart from as a point for such (for want of a better word) unique Chorltonites to congregate, I've never really understood the point of Chorlton Bus Station. It's just a series of bus stops from which you can catch the 85 and 86 into the city centre, the 23 to Didsbury and the Trafford Centre, and numerous other buses, most of which you can also catch further down the road in the centre of Chorlton. On a positive note, if you have a long time to wait for your bus, the bus station is opposite some excellent little bars such as Escape, or if you have even longer to wait, Japanese restaurant Yakisoba is also just opposite.

New Islington Metrolink is a fairly modern Metrolink location, just outside the city centre, being…read moreonly a few minutes away via the Metrolink (just one stop) from Piccadilly Station, it's also two stops away from the Etihad Stadium, but it is worth noting that it's probably best to avoid this station on a match-day at the Etihad, because the trams are so packed coming into the station to the point I'd even say they shouldn't stop here (People are queuing for long periods at time at the two stations before until the trams get packed). It is located on two lines, which is quite common for most Metrolink stops which aren't directly in the city centre, on both lines whether it's the light blue line between Eccles and Ashton, or the orange line between Media City UK and the Etihad, the next stops are Piccadilly or Holt Town. Both lines follow basically the same route, with the blue line following the same route as orange, just carrying on a little further in both directions. It's also situated looking towards some modern apartments, so on a nice clear sunny day, it gives you a nicer view than most Metrolink stations. Not too much away, but provides easy access to the city centre being just a stop or two away, and it is far from the ugliest station on the Metrolink network. 3*

Great location in the New Islington area of Ancoats. Above all this stop is within the City Zone…read moremeaning that (currently at time of writing) a single ticket costs £1.20 or a return (round trip) costs only £1.50 anywhere withjn the city zones. Bargain! Trams are every 12 minutes!

What a refreshing change from the rickety Magic Buses with miserable drivers!…read more I recently had to get to Poynton (where?) for an interview and after consulting the GMPTE website, decided that it would be best to take a Baker Bus from Stockport. I didn't really know what I was looking for, but found a brand new yellow and blue bus complete with friendly driver. The driver chatted to many of the passengers and after my A to Z let me down, he helped me find where I had to get off. This bus service (391,392,393) runs from Stockport to Macclesfield and stops in many little places in between. Bakerbus also runs services around Crewe and Stoke. The only problem was that I had to catch the train back, as the next bus wasn't for 2 hours!

This is a local tram ( Light rail vehicle ) station with services going into Bury on one platform…read moreand services to Didsbury and Manchester Piccadilly station (Mon-sat) There is a ticket machine on each platform and a destination board to inform you when your next tram is. There are no toilets and a large car park but you cannot park over night

Fairly straight forward!…read more You arrive at the station, you go to the machine and ... After several taps later you are finally able to complete your order on the "touch" screen to buy your ticket. These machines are not touch sensitive and need a firm couple of presses! Bring your foam hands! The tram stop finally has an LED screen to tell you when the next tram is due - an absolute miracle when you're in a rush and need to decide if you have time to hit up the cash machine or if you need to grab that taxi instead. The facilities have improved over the years but the touch screens definitely need looking at again!