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Manchester Airport · Metrolink tramMetrolink

Metrolink tram.
To Deansgate-Castlefield in 49 minutes.

Transport for Greater Manchester (Bee Network), from the Metrolink platform inside The Station to Deansgate-Castlefield in 49 minutes.

49–60 min ride05:45–23:15

Priced per traveler.

Each traveler pays the fare; group products are applied where they beat it.

TravelersEachTotal
1 adult£4.60£4.60
2 adults£4.60£9.20
3 adults£4.60£13.80
4 adults£4.60£18.40
5 adults£4.60£23
6 adults£4.60£27.60
7 adults£4.60£32.20
8 adults£4.60£36.80

The single for all four zones is £4.60, to be finished within two hours; under-16s pay half. Tap in at the platform and out at your stop for the same £4.60. One zone is £1.40, rising with each zone crossed; the city center is zone 1. The day cap on the same card is £4.90 off-peak or £7.10 if you tap in between 07:00 and 09:30 on a weekday, and £31.00 for a week.

Travelling as three or four?

A private car to your door: £54 for four

Four pay £18.40 on the Metrolink tram. The car meets you in arrivals and takes you to any address in Manchester in about 15 min, at a price fixed when you book ahead with Welcome Pickups.

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A few things for the rest of your trip

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How to get there

From arrivals to Deansgate-Castlefield in 49 minutes

Three steps once you have collected your bags.

01

Find the station

The Metrolink platform inside The Station.

02

Buy and validate a ticket

Before boarding — a ticket bought but not validated can be fined.

03

Ride to Deansgate-Castlefield in 49 minutes

49–60 min.

Worth knowing

First tram 05:45, Monday to Saturday (06:45 on Sundays). The last tram through to the city center leaves at 23:15 (00:15 on Friday and Saturday nights); trams after that, up to 00:15 (01:15 on Fridays and Saturdays), terminate at Firswood, short of the center. Trams run every 15 minutes.

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.

On the way

The stops worth knowing, in riding order.

The Metrolink platform inside The Station
Wythenshawe Town Centre
Chorlton
Cornbrook
49–60 min
Deansgate-Castlefield in 49 minutes
Does the Metrolink tram stop at Wythenshawe Town Centre?

Yes. It calls at Wythenshawe Town Centre on the way to Deansgate-Castlefield in 49 minutes.

Does the Metrolink tram stop at Chorlton?

Yes. It calls at Chorlton on the way to Deansgate-Castlefield in 49 minutes.

Does the Metrolink tram stop at Cornbrook?

Yes. It calls at Cornbrook on the way to Deansgate-Castlefield in 49 minutes.

Where it takes you

Prefer another way into Manchester?

See all of them ranked for your party size

Compared at Manchester Airport