I’ve been watching the progress with the construction of Transport for Greater Manchester's Metrolink Second City Crossing (2CC) over the past few months.   Images from my visits are documented in this gallery;

http://www.russellwykes-photography.com/f189670113

I’m not an engineer by training, but I can appreciate the many challenges that a project of this nature offers – particularly when it’s being carried out in the full gaze of the public everyday in the heart of the city.

The new Metrolink tram stop in St Peters Square in particular is one part of the project which is now really taking shape, as the images from my latest visit on 27th May 2016 show;

http://www.russellwykes-photography.com/p227877036#h7fb7dd65

I doff my (hard) hat to the guys and gals involved with 2CC.  When the job is finally done and the trams are running, I’m sure they’ll take deserved pride in what they’ve achieved.  And I hope 2CC inspires a few students currently studying at school to consider pursuing a career in civil engineering.

No doubt Metrolink, like all public transport systems, has the occasional nightmare day which leaves customers and staff frustrated in equal measure.  But it is nonetheless a first class example of how a modern urban transit network can help the regeneration, continued growth and prosperity of a great city and its suburbs.

I bet those cities and large urban conurbations in the UK without a similarly efficient system – Bristol, Leeds/Bradford and Southampton/Portsmouth to name a few – must look on with envy.