The stop is located in what was previously an undeveloped woodland area near Sale Golf Club south of Rifle Road, which was cleared and graded for the Metrolink.[3] The stop also has a 300-space car park which is free for Metrolink passengers.[4] Despite this, the stop is one of the least used on the Metrolink network.[5] This stop is a 10-minute walk away from its namesake, Sale Water Park. It also serves the Sale Moor area across the M60 motorway.
History
(18 December 2011) The site of the future tram stop has been cleared.
Phase 3b construction work started in March 2011, and at this time, trees were being cleared around this area and along the M60 for the tram stop and the surrounding track to be built.[3] By the end of 2011, the area was cleared of trees, but track laying had not commenced by October 2012 according to Google Street View imagery.
On 23 June 2014, the first trams were tested on the Airport Line, possibly running past Sale Water Park.[6][7] On 20 October, trams ran the full route all the way to Manchester Airport. The entire physical line between St Werburgh's Road and Manchester Airport opened on 3 November 2014, ahead of the anticipated 2016 opening.
Layout
East entrance to the stop.
Sale Water Park tram stop has one island platform serving two tracks, and was constructed with accessibility in mind. There are two entrances to the station, both from Rifle Road: the west entrance only includes a track crossing and a step-free access ramp up to the platform. The east entrance has a step-free access route from Rifle Road, and steps down to track level, both leading to another track crossing and ramp up to the platform.
Two dot matrix passenger information displays stand at the centre of the station platforms serving one side 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.
There is a crossover track about 250 metres south of the stop to enable trams to terminate and turn around at Sale Water Park in any direction in case there is a disruption to normal service.
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 (unlike this stop) will have a combined headway of 6 minutes during peak times.
Sale Water Park is located in Zone 3, and the stop itself has two platforms in an island layout which aren't named. Trams towards Victoria depart from the inbound platform (northernmost), and trams to Manchester Airport stop at the outbound platform (southernmost).
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