Travel advice ahead of the Conservative Party Conference
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Trams, trains, buses and roads will be extremely busy between Sunday 1 October and Wednesday 4 October as The Conservative Party Conference returns to Manchester.
The Conference, which is likely to attract around 10,000 visitors, is being held at The Midland Hotel and Manchester Central.
As a result there will be a significant security operation around both locations and a number of local road closures will be in place between Thursday 28 September and Friday 6 October. This means some bus services will be diverted and people are advised to avoid driving in the area.
In addition to road closures, changes to access and exits points are being introduced at Deansgate Castlefield Metrolink stop, which is adjacent to the event.
Around 75,000 people are also expected to join protest marches in the city centre on Sunday 1 October. Greater Manchester Police and Manchester City Council have authorised a number of walking routes for the protest.
TfGM’s Transport and Event Planning Lead, John Fryer, said: “We are working closely with event organisers and partners to ensure every effort is made to keep people moving during The Conservative Party Conference; however, our strongest advice is to expect disruption and plan ahead now.
“We’ll be providing as much capacity on the transport network as possible and our travel pages have lots of useful information, so check them before you travel and please allow extra time for your journeys.
“There are numerous park and ride sites across Greater Manchester offering 100 or more spaces for public transport services, helping people to avoid congestion on the roads.”
In addition to the Conservative Party Conference next month, First Manchester buses across the city-region will be affected by industrial action on Monday 2 October.
Northern rail staff will also hold strikes on Tuesday 3 and Thursday 5 October. Most Northern services are not expected to run on these days and any services that do run will be working to a revised timetable.
Further detailed travel information regarding this industrial action will be available soon.
John Fryer, said: “Commuters can play a part in helping to minimise disruption during these strikes.
“For example, can you travel at a different time – or does your employer allow you to work from home? If you can travel at a quieter time, or in a different way – by bus, tram, bike, foot or a mixture – it can make a massive improvement not just to your journey but to also to those people who simply don’t have a choice.
“Our control room will open earlier and work later on the strike days and we’ll have additional customer service support on the phones and online to help people who have to travel.”
For information on public transport across Greater Manchester visit www.tfgm.com, call 0161 244 1000 (7am-8pm, Monday to Friday, and 8am-8pm at weekends and bank holidays) or follow @OfficialTfGM on Twitter.