Heaton Park tramway to return to service after securing funding

Heaton Park tramway is set to operate again after securing major new funding, which will secure its future for generations to come.

For more than 12 months, the trams have been unable to run as the electrical substation, which powers the Heritage Tramway at Heaton Park, needed an overhaul to bring it up to current safety standards.

The £481k funding investment, secured from Manchester City Council, will enable essential restoration work on the substation to begin in spring 2026.  The upgrade should mean the tramway can restart in summer 2026, which coincides with the 125th anniversary of Manchester’s first electric tramways in 1901.

The news is the culmination of the hard work of volunteers of the Manchester Transport Museum Society (MTMS) who have worked in partnership with Manchester City Council since 1979 to keep this popular attraction running in one of the city’s largest and most popular green spaces.

Councillor Lee-Ann Igbon, Executive Member for Vibrant Neighbourhoods, said: “Our support of the much-loved Heaton Park Tramway not only preserves an important piece of local heritage, but a piece of living history. It will be welcomed by visitors to Heaton Park who come to enjoy the outdoor space as well as the variety of attractions that this wonderful park has to offer.  The vintage trams hold a special place in the hearts of many people, and I’m delighted that it will be up and running again in time for the 125 anniversary.”

Geoff Senior Chairman of the Manchester Transport Museum Society said: “This is the wonderful news our volunteers have been looking forward to and represents a huge vote of confidence in the hard work and dedication they have shown in the last almost 50 years of working with the city of Manchester to build, develop and run this vital piece of Manchester’s transport heritage not only for the citizens of Manchester but those who travel to the park from wider afield.”

The funding comes as Tramway Museum Society celebrates its 70th anniversary at the Baker’s Institute on Swan Street in 1955. Tramway enthusiasts and historians from the Greater Manchester area first gathered here to set up a dedicated society for the preservation of tramcars from across the UK, which led to the creation of the National Tramway Museum in Derbyshire and later to the Heaton Park Tramway in Manchester.