Car parks on Rochdale town centre tramlines

Car on tramlines

This is the moment a car was left parked across the Metrolink tramlines in Rochdale town centre on Thursday (21 March).

It is not known how the car, a blue Volkswagen, came to be parked on the light-rail tracks as no roads leading to the tracks are accessible by drivers.

The adjacent Smith Street is closed to vehicles other than buses, as is the bottom of Drake Street.

This leaves the taxi rank on Stationers Entry outside the Regal Moon as the only way for cars and other traffic on South Parade to turn around.

The nearby Constantine Road is also inaccessible due to the new Rochdale Riverside shopping complex development, opening further debate to how the car came to be on the lines.

Fortunately, the vehicle was swiftly recovered by Greater Manchester Police.

A spokesperson said: “We responded at 3.16pm to a report of a blue Volkswagen on the tramlines and recovered the vehicle.”

Metrolink has been contacted for comment.