What is Manchester Metrolink?
{{Infobox Public transit | box_width = | name = Manchester Metrolink | image = | imagesize = | image2 = Metrolink Tram.jpg | imagesize2 = 250px | locale = [[Greater Manchester]] | transit_type = [[Light rail]] | lines = 3 | stations = 37 | ridership = 52,000 | chief_executive = | headquarters = Metrolink House,<br> Queens Road,<br> [[Manchester]] | began_operation = 6 April 1992 | ended_operation = | owner = [[GMPTE]] | operator = [[Stagecoach Group]] | marks = | vehicles = 32 [[Ansaldobreda, S.P.A.|Ansaldobreda]] [[T-68]]s | train_length = {{convert|30|m|ft|abbr=on}} | headway = | system_length = {{convert|37|km|mi|abbr=on}} | track_gauge = [[Standard gauge]] | minimum_radius_of_curvature = | average_speed = | top_speed = {{convert|80|km/h|mph|abbr=on}} | map = [[File:Map of Manchester Metrolink.png|265px]] | map_state = collapsed |}} '''Manchester Metrolink'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dft.gov.uk/foi/responses/2005/feb/manchestermetrolink/|publisher=dft.gov.uk|author=[[Department for Transport]]|date=2005-02-02|accessdate=2008-11-01|title=Manchester Metrolink Working Group Minutes|archive-date=2008-11-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081107063839/http://www.dft.gov.uk/foi/responses/2005/feb/manchestermetrolink/|url-status=dead}}</ref> (or usually just '''Metrolink''') is the name of the [[tram]] system in [[Greater Manchester]], [[England]]. The system is owned by [[Transport for Greater Manchester]], which used to be called the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive. It is operated under contract by the [[RATP Group]]. ==History== [[File:Manchester RJD 47.JPG|thumb|250px|A 1910 map of railways in central Manchester]] The construction of Manchester's railway network in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries had created a lot of termini around the City Centre. These were not linked together. This