Transport idea went off the rails

1990S MONORAIL SKYWAY TO THE SHOPS DESIGN THAT NEVER WAS

- DAMON WILKINSON

A MONORAIL to the Trafford Centre? It might sound like the plot of a Simpsons episode, but in the late 90s that's exactly what bosses at the giant shopping mall were considering. At the time the Trafford Centre could only be reached by car, bus or on foot.

Frustrated after talks with transport chiefs over a £78m plan to extend the Metrolink ground to a halt, they began seeking out alternative forms of public transport.

And, one of the more eye-catching ideas, was what the Manchester Evening News dubbed a 'Skyway to the shops' -ie a monorail, an elevated, single-track railway.

"It would be cheaper to build and would run along a two mile route branching off from the Metrolink line in the Old Trafford area and go through Trafford Park," the M.E.N. reported in December 1998.