The Mancunian Way: Bikes on trams

"Practically since the Metrolink started people have been campaigning for this," says Kathy England as she props her bike in a priority space normally reserved for wheelchairs or prams and buggies. Kathy, from Stockport, is one of two cyclists onboard the 11.45am East Didsbury into Manchester city centre service; the other is multiple Paralympic gold medallist Dame Sarah Storey.

The reason for their journey is to take part in a trial to determine whether it's safe and practical for bicycles to be taken onto trams. Kathy is one of 60 volunteers who will be taking their bikes on the Metrolink over the next eight weeks while being observed by researchers.

It comes after Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, committed to trialling dogs - now allowed - and bikes on trams during his campaign to be re-elected in May, 2021. One sticking point, however, could be that the Metrolink wasn't designed to carry bicycles.

But that’s not insurmountable - it could be something as simple as removing a row of seats, or changing fixed seats for folding seats to make room for bikes. Kathy, for one, certainly thinks it ‘ought to be doable’.

"Other countries do it,” she told transport correspondent Paul Britton. “It needs a bit of imagination and it may be that it can only work during off-peak times. Bikes on trains works, as it should work on board trams.”

There have been reviews of the policy in the past, but transport leaders have always upheld bans on bikes on Metrolink, despite cycling campaigners arguing two thirds of tram systems across Europe allow bicycles on board. The results of the trial are expected to be analysed during April and May, with a further report presented in the summer.

After two years of legal wrangling, the