‘If you jump into two trams you know what you are doing - I am against protecting fools’

Millions will be spent trying to prevent ‘tram surfing’ following fatalities in recent years - despite opposition from some councillors.

‘Tram surfing’, where yobs climb on to the coupling connecting a double-tram, and ‘bus surfing’, where they hang on to the windscreen wiper, has surged in 2025.

Last year, 64 incidents were recorded, compared to 164 from January to August this year alone.

Two people died in 2021 when they ‘fell into the gap between the coupling’, leading the tram safety watchdog to order Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) to take action to curb the practice.

TfGM has now confirmed it will spend £4.6m on new sensors to detect tram surfers.

However, some councillors have criticised the move - with one saying he is ‘against protecting fools’

“There’s plenty of roads that need that [money]. I am against protecting fools,” Bury councillor Alan Quinn told the Bee Network committee.

“I am saying if you jump into two trams you know what you are doing.

"They are making a calculated choice.

"That money could be spent elsewhere.

"The people know exactly what they are doing.”

Salford councillor Mike McCusker added: “Are there no other priorities around safety that can draw that sort of funding?”

The new technology, called LIDAR, uses lasers to paint a 3D map of the gap between two trams so it ‘will pick up the presence of a person’ on the coupling and alert a driver.

The same tech is used by cars for cruise control and emergency braking.

And the investment is necessary to keep Greater Manchester moving, TfGM’s chief network officer Danny Vaughan said.

He replied: “There’s huge number of priorities from a safety perspective. This is one of many. 

“The reason we focus on trams is it’s a risk to the operation of Metrolink.

"We had two fatalities at the end of 2021 where people fell into the gap between the coupling.

"They were not necessarily surfing.

“The Office for Road and Rail (ORR) expressed some concern about our operation of the coupling.

"If we cannot run doubles then we limit capacity. 

“The ORR said to operate doubles we have to mitigate the risk.

"We did everything they recommended, and the remaining thing was to investigate if we could employ new technology.”

It’s not the only drive to stamp out surfing, as Kate Green, TravelSafe manager at TfGM, added: “Tram and bus ‘surfing’ is incredibly dangerous behaviour which could have catastrophic consequences.

"It is also a criminal offence.

“We are deploying both proactive and covert patrols alongside GMP and other partners each week to known hotspot locations and we will take further action against those found taking part in this inherently dangerous activity.

“Alongside this we are also engaging with young people across Greater Manchester, both in schools and out on the network, to educate them on the dangers this type of activity poses.”

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