ITV is marking a year of the Coronation Street Experience with “the most Manc tram ever.”
Working with Manchester agency, Meanwhile and Transport for Greater Manchester, a new Coronation Street Experience branded tram will join the network this week.
With a CGI tram appearing in the soap’s credits and a tram stop on the show’s set, TFGM admits that they do often get calls from confused viewers to find out where the Corrie stop is.
In fact, after the 2010 tram crash in its 50th anniversary episode, almost 300 people got in touch with them to find out if trams were still running.
“We’ve got our very own Weatherfield tram stop where our characters catch a handy tram ‘into town’. And we’ve even very occasionally got a virtual tram going past over our bridge,” explained John Whiston, MD Continuing Drama for ITV Studios.
“However we’ve never actually ventured onto Manchester’s Metrolink other than fictionally, so it’s exciting that an actual tram will sport some fine Coronation Street livery. All in the aid of telling people how easy it is to journey to the Coronation Street Experience on a ‘real tram’ so they can walk down those legendary cobbles. Bring flat shoes!”
The set, near IWM North, is the largest single television production site in the world.
“We are beyond excited to launch the Coronation Street Tram as we celebrate a year of the Coronation Street Experience. We can’t wait to see the reaction from fans in Manchester as this iconic tram rolls through the city, bringing the magic of the Coronation Street Experience to life,” added Jurian Van de Meer, EVP Brand Licensing, ITV.
Meanwhile created the ‘insta-trammable’ rolling stock with illustrations representing its famous on-set locations.
“Since opening in 1992 Metrolink has seen several expansions and new stops built, so we were delighted to welcome some of Coronation Street’s residents onto the newly crowned Weatherfield North stop on the Trafford Park Line,” said Pete Sommers, TfGM’s Interim Metrolink Network Director – for the record and to avoid more calls to TfGM, it was a temporary renaming for a day.
“Metrolink, like Corrie, is an iconic symbol of Greater Manchester that has gone from strength to strength over the years, so we are delighted to be supporting ITV Studios and the Coronation Street Experience which is just a stone’s throw away from the Imperial War Museum stop.
“Passengers will also have the chance to board the Corrie-themed tram out on the network over the coming months, so I’d urge people to keep an eye out.”
