Train to PiccadillyorMetrolink tram?

From

The railway platforms in The Station, between Terminals 2 and 3 — about 10 minutes' walk from Terminal 2 and 5 from Terminal 3; ticket machines in baggage reclaim and at the station, ticket office 06:30 to 22:30

To

Manchester Piccadilly, direct; some trains run on to Manchester Oxford Road, Deansgate, Salford Crescent and Manchester Victoria

Runs

03:21–02:28

Journey

13–20 min

The Bee Network tap does not work on this train — it covers only Greater Manchester's buses and trams. Buy a ticket instead.

It is £1.60 more than the tram and £4.20 more than the bus, and it saves 36 minutes on the tram and about 50 on the daytime bus. At 16 minutes it is the fastest thing on this page by a distance.

Advertised "from" prices are not the walk-up fare: Northern's £3.90 needs booking 9 weeks ahead, TPE's £5.70 is its cheapest Advance, and Advance fares tie you to one specific train. A flight is not a train, so book the walk-up fare instead.

It runs through the night on weekdays: trains at 00:38, 01:14, 01:50 and 02:28 on Tuesday to Saturday mornings, then the day's first at 03:21 — the longest gap is 53 minutes. The airport's own page prints different times (first 04:12, last 01:34); go by the timetable's 03:21 and 02:28.

The gap is the weekend. Saturday's last train is 23:46 and Sunday's first 07:37 (07:20 from 15 November); Sunday night has one train at 00:38 and then nothing until 03:59. The 43 covers both.

A ticket bought to "Manchester CTLZ" rather than to Piccadilly includes the Metrolink in zone 1, so St Peter's Square, Deansgate-Castlefield, Market Street and Victoria come free with it.

Up to eight trains an hour by day, unevenly spaced — three operators share the line — so a wait is rarely more than ten minutes. The airport says "every 10 minutes"; Northern's "every 23 minutes" counts its own trains only.

Train to Piccadilly: price for every party size →

From

The Metrolink platform inside The Station, between Terminals 2 and 3; tap in at the reader on the platform before boarding

To

Deansgate-Castlefield in 49 minutes, St Peter's Square in 52, Market Street in 55 and Victoria in 60, via Wythenshawe, Sale Water Park, Chorlton, Trafford Bar and Cornbrook

Runs

05:45–23:15

Journey

49–60 min

It costs £4.60 because the airport is in zone 4 and the center is zone 1, so the ride crosses every zone and pays the network maximum. One zone is £1.40. There is no airport supplement; there is simply no way to reach town through fewer zones.

Tap out. A journey tapped in and never tapped out is charged the full £4.60 and counts towards no cap. Use the same card or phone every time, one card per adult; tap-and-go charges adult fares, so buy family tickets at the platform machines for children.

Going back the same day by tap costs £4.90 in total, not £9.20: the all-zone off-peak day cap is thirty pence more than one single. It is £7.10 if the first tap is between 07:00 and 09:30 on a weekday.

It is 2.3 times the price of the 43 for the same 50 minutes, and slower than the train by half an hour. What it buys is a seat and stops the bus and the train do not make: Wythenshawe, Chorlton, Deansgate-Castlefield, St Peter's Square, Victoria.

Buy or tap before boarding; nothing is sold on the tram. Untapped at an inspection is £60 on the spot or a £120 penalty fare.

The last through tram is 23:15 (00:15 on Fridays and Saturdays) and the first 05:45 (06:45 on Sundays). Outside those hours the 43 is the public transport, and on Tuesday to Saturday mornings the £6.20 train runs until 02:28.

Metrolink tram: price for every party size →