A look at the trams, motorways, rail and cycle routes that link Stretford to central Manchester, the airport and beyond.
Connectivity is one of the first things buyers ask about, and Stretford answers the question on several fronts at once. Sitting on the south-western edge of Greater Manchester, it has tram, motorway, rail and active-travel links within easy reach: a combination that not every commuter town can claim. Here is what stacks up when you check the detail.
Trams: two lines on the doorstep
Stretford has its own Metrolink stop on the Altrincham Line, which has served the town since the original Metrolink network opened in 1992. Trams run frequently throughout the day and connect Stretford directly into central Manchester (St Peter’s Square is reported to be around 15 minutes away) as well as south towards Altrincham. Because Metrolink is a single integrated network, onward connections to Bury, the Etihad Campus and beyond are a simple interchange in the city centre.
The area is also served by the Trafford Park Line, which opened in March 2020 and runs to The Trafford Centre via stops including the Imperial War Museum and Trafford Palazzo. That extension brought the wider TraffordCity district firmly into the tram map for the first time.
Road and rail
For drivers, the M60 orbital motorway is close at hand, with Junctions 9 and 10 serving the Trafford Centre and Trafford Park to the north. From the M60 the wider motorway network (the M62, M61 and M56 towards the airport) is quickly accessible, which matters for anyone commuting by car or running a business locally.
On rail, Trafford Park station, managed by Northern, sits within the wider area and links into the regional network. Mainline services from Manchester’s city-centre stations open up longer-distance routes once you have made the short hop in by tram.
Airport and active travel
Manchester Airport is reachable by tram via the city centre on the Navy Line, with services running every day; allow around an hour door-to-door from this part of Trafford, plus the connection. For shorter, greener journeys, Stretford has benefited from sustained investment in walking and cycling. The Bridgewater Way provides a largely traffic-free route along the canal through Stretford and Trafford Park towards Manchester, while the Bee Network’s Stretford cycleway and active-travel corridor have added segregated lanes and safer crossings along key routes.
Taken together, Stretford is genuinely multi-modal: you can reach the city centre by tram, the motorway network within minutes by car, and the airport without changing transport mode entirely. For a town of its size, that is an unusually broad set of options.
For anyone weighing up One Trafford Edge, a location is only as good as how easily you can leave it. On Barton Road in Stretford and close to TraffordCity, the development sits within the same tram, motorway and active-travel network described here: the kind of everyday connectivity that supports both owner-occupier appeal and tenant demand over the long term. Register your interest →