Tram 'stuck for 20 minutes' as driver abandons car before 'five women push it away'

This was the bizarre moment a busy tram became stuck in Manchester city centre after someone abandoned their car. A Metrolink service for Rochdale should have been making its way from Exchange Square to Victoria station earlier this evening (November 14).

But as it travelled along Corporation Street towards Printworks, a blue Volkswagen Polo was stuck in its path. Video footage shows the car with no one inside, stopped on the tramline near to the junction with Shudehill.

A crowd of stunned passers-by watched on with the tram, filled with passengers, seemingly unable to move. The frustrated Metrolink driver then toots his horn in a desperate attempt to get the Volkswagen to move.

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The car had been abandoned though, and the tram was facing gridlock. Passengers reportedly began to get 'agitated' as the stalemate continued, with the tram driver continuing to sound his horn.

Eyewitnesses say the drama finally came to an end when the Volkswagen was moved on by a group of five women who decided to take matters into their own hands by pushing it out of the tram's way. Tracey Drain, who posted the video on X (formerly Twitter), wrote: "Look [at] this crank just parked and ditched car on tram tracks.

"@MCRMetrolink driver is rightly furious." The incident unfolded at 8.55pm, with the tram understood to have been stuck for around 20 minutes.