TfGM encourages people to plan ahead for Manchester Half Marathon weekend

People travelling around Greater Manchester are being encouraged to plan their journeys as around 32,000 runners take part in the Manchester Half Marathon on Sunday 4th October.

A record number of runners are set to take on the 13.1-mile (21 km) route on roads through Trafford and south Manchester, starting and finishing by Old Trafford, with significant road closures in place along the race route, including parts of Stretford, Sale and Chorlton. Extensive bus diversions will also start on Saturday 3 October and stay in place through Sunday 4 October.

Following the event, road closures will start to be lifted from 1pm. Most roads will be reopened by 4.30pm with the last roads reopening by 8.30pm.

Earlier this year, the Manchester Marathon led to a record-breaking day for Metrolink trams, with the highest number of passengers ever recorded on a single day in the network’s history. Metrolink is expected to be busy once again and extra trams will be operating to provide as much capacity as possible across the network, with staff also out at key stops to help everyone get where they need to go.

Ahead of this weekend, people are advised to use the Bee Network app to plan their journeys and are strongly encouraged not to drive within the affected areas, as the closures are likely to cause congestion and delays.

Steve Gilholme, Head of Events at Transport for Greater Manchester, said:

“The Manchester Half Marathon is another one of those special occasions where the people of Greater Manchester and beyond come together, with thousands of people taking on the challenge and raising money for good causes, while many more will line the route to cheer them on.

“This does mean the city centre and especially trams will be incredibly busy so please plan ahead and give yourself extra time to make journeys.

“The Bee Network app and website will be the best places to get the latest travel information and tap and go contactless payments are the quickest and easiest way to pay.”