The first tram now arriving...

Heavy load...the first tram arrives by truck.

The first of many Metrolink trams has arrived in Manchester after a marathon journey from Vienna.

The M5000 unit made the final leg of its journey from the manufacturing site under police escort arriving at the Queen’s Road depot in the early hours of the morning.

The vehicle is the first of a new generation of tram for the expanding Metrolink network.

A total of 40 trams have been ordered to provide more room on existing services and to cater for passengers on new lines being built to Rochdale, Oldham, Droylsden, Chorlton and Salford.

The tram is yellow and silver in line with the new Metrolink identity. The colours have also been used inside the tram and full-length glass double doors will make it feel lighter and brighter than the current vehicles.

The tram was welcomed at the depot by the chairman of the Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority, Councillor Keith Whitmore.

He said: “This is a fantastic day for Metrolink and its thousands of passengers. Our trams have become an icon of Manchester — and this new generation will ensure that legacy continues – but this new tram is also a symbol of a very bright future for Metrolink.

“People already make around 20 million journeys on our trams each year but we’re currently building four new lines that will double the size of the network by 2012.

“Metrolink is only going to keep growing and these new trams will ensure that, when it does, we can continue to provide high quality services fit for the 21st century.”

Philip Purdy, GMPTE’s Metrolink director, added: “We’ve been looking forward to this day and following the new tram’s progress very closely. I am really pleased with the result.

“The tram will now undergo extensive operational and safety tests and we’ll also have to train people how to drive it.”

The M5000 tram, which cost just over £2 million, was manufactured by global transport company Bombardier. The same model already runs in several European cities.

It left the Bombardier depot in Vienna on the back of an articulated lorry in the early hours of Thursday and travelled almost 1,000 miles as it made its way through Germany, the Netherlands and Rotterdam before landing at Hull on Sunday.