A Class 504 leaving the station, looking north towards Bury Interchange station.
Prior to Bury Interchange (pre-1980)
The original railway station for Bury was Bury Bolton Street, however it was far away from the town centre. It was closed by British Rail after 16 March 1980, and the terminus of the Manchester to Bury rail line was moved to Bury Interchange railway station closer to the centre of the town, where it linked up with a new transport interchange. The new interchange railway station was part of the axed Picc-Vic tunnel project, as the northern terminus of a line that would run underground through Manchester city centre.[1] The interchange was officially opened by Princess Alexandra on 9 July 1980.
Also nearby is the site of Bury Knowsley Street station, south of the platforms where the current East Lancashire Railway heritage route runs to Heywood. This station closed in 1970.
Prior to Metrolink (1980-1991)
The interchange opened both a railway station and a bus station on 17 March 1980, however shortly after, plans for a light rail scheme to replace the axed Picc-Vic tunnel project surfaced. The Bury Line, being an entirely local railway line was seriously considered for conversion to light rail. It was chosen for conversion as part of Phase 1 Metrolink.[2]
Railway operations ended after 16 August 1991, in order for the line to be converted to Metrolink.[3] Funding only allowed for minimum upgrades to be made, and this meant it only took a few months to reopen to Metrolink.[4]
Bury Bolton Street station was reopened in 1987, now operated by the heritage East Lancashire Railway, running lines north to Ramsbottom, later extended to Rawtenstall in 1991, and east to the present Calder Valley Line via Heywood in 2003, the latter of which passes over the Metrolink on a bridge south of Bury tram stop's platforms.
After Metrolink (1992-present)
Bury Interchange railway station was converted to Metrolink and opened on 6 April 1992 named just "Bury".[5] The interchange is managed by Transport for Greater Manchester and has recently been refurbished, improving facilities and security for passengers.[6]
In 2011 the interchange underwent a small refurbishment.[7]
There is a pedestrian subway running east-west just south of the Metrolink platforms leading to Pyramid Park. The subway was gated off and closed in around 2011. Steps down to the subway still exist. Pyramid Park is set to be redeveloped in the late 2020s and a new footbridge lifted into place over the tram lines replacing the closed subway. The subway tunnel itself will be filled in for this project. The footbridge will also provide access to the tram stop and the interchange as a whole from the south.[8]
Only about the northern 90 metres of the platform were actually refurbished for the Metrolink, though the entire 120 metre platform was regularly maintained. In around 2016, the full length of the platforms were refurbished, and signals that once stood on the south part of the platforms themselves were removed.[8]
In March 2025 it was announced that the Bury Interchange redevelopment has been fast-tracked with £80 million to improve bus and tram connectivity across Greater Manchester.[9]
Layout
The crossovers south of Bury tram stop with the still-open pedestrian subway visible.
The bus station is at street-level, and the tram stop is about four metres below street-level. The two connect via a short walkway and staircase down to the Metrolink. There is also a lift down to the platforms giving step-free access.
There is a Park & Ride site and a Cycle Hub west of the tram stop at street-level.
Bus station
Bury Interchange's bus station has 19 stands, lettered from A to V, leaving out I, O, and U. There is an entrance and exit for buses on Haymarket Street and an additional exit onto Angouleme Way.
Metrolink tram stop
Bury tram stop has two platforms (island), lettered A and B, reflecting the previous platform numbering used during British Rail operation, which used 1 and 2 respectively. The entire tram stop is covered by a canopy extending across the platforms.
Two double-sided dot matrix passenger information displays stand serving one platform each, and show estimated arrival times for trams in minutes up to 30 minutes prior (up to three at a time) and number of carriages.
Every route across the Manchester Metrolink network operates to a 12-minute headway (5 tph) Monday–Saturday, and to a 15-minute headway (4 tph) on Sundays and bank holidays. Sections served by a second "peak only" route (like this stop) will have a combined headway of 6 minutes during peak times.
Bury is located in Zone 4, and the stop itself has three platforms. Trams towards Piccadilly and an extra services runs direct to Altrincham via Market Street during peak times. Both services can depart from either Platform A or B: there is no allocated platform for each destination.
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