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Thales gets the trams to Manchester Airport a year early

Thales, in consortium with M-Pact (Laing O’Rourke and VolkerRail) and in partnership with Transport for Greater Manchester, has delivered the new 14.5 km Metrolink line to Wythenshawe and Manchester airport more than 12 months ahead of schedule.

Thales supplies a fully-integrated tramway management, control and communication solution that enables all aspects of the tramway to be operated safely, efficient and quickly. In addition, Thales as a consortium member of the principle contractor MPT (M-PACT Thales) also deliver overhead line, power, communications, passenger information and CCTV with the associated systems integration and maintenance the expanded metrolink network.  The Metrolink expansion is the largest single public transport investment outside London and the early opening of the new line will bring the network to 92 stops serving nearly 100km of tramway in Greater Manchester.

Alistair McPhee, Vice President, Ground Transportation Systems (GTS) at Thales UK said,

The opportunity to open the 14.5km Metrolink line to Wythenshawe and Manchester Airport a year early demonstrates Thales’s capability in the delivery of complex systems in collaboration with our client, consortium partners and suppliers.

“Yet again we have demonstrated our ability to exceed customer expectations on major infrastructure projects. This line will be a tremendous boost for Manchester and we are delighted to have been a major part of the project.”