Imperial War Museum tram stop

Imperial War Museum is a tram stop on the Manchester Metrolink's Trafford Park Line. It is located adjacent to Trafford Wharf Road and serves Imperial War Museum North. It opened on 22 March 2020.

History
Some of the tram tracks around Imperial War Museum run very close to the alignments of the now derelict Trafford Park Railway.

Pre-opening
In 2013, the GMCA and the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership announced that it may fund the construction of the Trafford Park Line as far as The Trafford Centre, estimating that the line could be open to passengers by 2018/19, subject to a satisfactory business case, Transport and Works Act Order and public consultation.

During planning stages, the tram tracks were set to merge onto Trafford Wharf Road just west of Wharfside, but the plans were altered before construction due to the Coronation Street set being located near where the tram tracks were set to run. There was a risk of interference with the production of Coronation Street as a result of noise caused by trams, so the tracks now run next to the Manchester Ship Canal further away from the set.

New bus stops were also constructed to serve the tram stop.

Opening
The first trams (3040 and 3014 coupled together) passed by Imperial War Museum in the early hours of 10 November 2019 while on test. The stop opened to passengers on 22 March 2020, and the first passenger service tram (3073) stopped at Imperial War Museum just after 06:39.

Layout
Imperial War Museum does serve IWM North, but also serves MediaCityUK and ITV Studios across a footbridge over the Manchester Ship Canal. This also allows for an out-of-station interchange with MediaCityUK tram stop.

Imperial War Museum tram stop consists of two platforms (island platform). Two dot matrix passenger information displays stand serving one platform each, and show estimated arrival times for trams in minutes up to 30 minutes prior (up to three at a time) and number of carriages.

This stop has step-free access.

Also, a new bus stop was constructed at the tram stop, and the bus stop on the other side of the road was moved further down towards the tram stop and given a canopy.

Services
Services run every 12 minutes on all routes. Some routes (not shown here) only run during peak times.

From this stop, services run to Castlefield in Manchester city centre in one direction and to The Trafford Centre in the other. MediaCityUK tram stop is a 5-10 minute walk away from here, forming an out-of-station interchange.

Bus
Imperial War Museum tram stop is served closest by bus route X50 (Worsley–Piccadilly Gardens) and 250 on Wharfside Way (The Trafford Centre–Piccadilly Gardens). Further away over the Manchester Ship Canal footbridge, bus routes 29, 53, and 79 serve The Lowry.

Train
This tram stop is not connected to any railway stations, but the nearest one is Trafford Park, approximately 1.5 miles away walking.