‘Screeching trams are ruining my life’

MAN SAYS NOISE FROM NEW METROLINK LINE IS KEEPING HIM AWAKE

A RESIDENT who lives near the Trafford Metrolink line says he’s losing 14 hours of sleep a week due to ‘screeching and grinding’ trams.

The £350m extension connecting Cornbrook to the Trafford Centre opened last month despite concerns over coronavirus, as it was seen as a boost to keyworkers’ connectivity.

But the long-awaited 3.4-mile route, which was funded by Greater Manchester’s devolution deal with a £20m contribution from Trafford council, has not been welcomed by everyone.

Michael Roberts, 42, who lives in Salford, says he and his neighbours are losing sleep because of the new line.

Metrolink bosses have now told the

M.E.N. they will investigate the problem.

Michael, who works in IT, said: “It’s not long been open yet it’s already destroying quality of life.

“It runs 18 hours a day and wakes me up at 6am every morning to the sound of the first tram screeching.

“I’d usually get up at eight so I’m losing two hours a night. That’s like getting five nights of sleep a week.

“It affects your mood, I’m constantly tired, and it doesn’t help on top of the ongoing crisis. It’s hard to concentrate when you’ve got that constantly going on.

“I work from home now and I’ll be on conference calls with people asking me what the noise is.”

Michael, who lives in a block of 250 apartments at Imperial Point near the MediaCity stop, can see the S-bend at

Trafford Wharf from his windows. The first bend runs along Trafford Road.

He says there are at least 1,000 apartments in the immediate area whose inhabitants will be affected.

Michael says he first complained about the line months ago during construction and has written to them a number of times since.

He added: “I told them this is going to cause massive issues for us.

“All I got in response was ‘we will be running quiet trams on modern tracks and it will be much quieter than other lines.’

“But it’s not - it’s absolutely horrific.” Danny Vaughan, TfGM head of Metrolink, said they had been made aware of the noise levels at this location and that engineers were investigating the issue to take ‘appropriate action.’