Plans for a rapid transit station in St Peter's Square were made in the 1970s; proposals for the abandoned Picc-Vic tunnel envisaged the construction of an underground station to serve both St Peter's and the neighbouring Albert Square.^[2] The early proposals for an on-street light rail system in Manchester revived the idea of a station in the square. St. Peter's Square was one of the original city-centre stops to open when Metrolink started operations in 1992, when it consisted of two side platforms and basic shelters. In common with most newly built Metrolink stops at the time, St. Peter's Square had two-level platforms, meaning only a short section of the platforms offered level boarding.

The stop was demolished and rebuilt with a full length platform and improved passenger facilities in November 2009. When a building called Elisabeth House, which had stood between Dickinson Street and Oxford Street since the 1970s, was demolished for redevelopment in 2011 as One St Peter's Square,^[3] architects' plans were entered in a competition, which was modified in 2011 to incorporate proposals to improve the Metrolink station. In March 2012 a shortlist of two submissions was made.^[4]

The stop closed in 2015 for 14 months to allow a total redevelopment,^[5] and re-opened on 28 August 2016 as a four-platform interchange, comprising 2 island platforms, one for inbound services and the other for outbound. This offers same-direction cross-platform interchange. The stop was moved slightly north towards Princess Street, from that of its old location, which was in front of Manchester Central Library. A number of trees were planted within the structure of the platforms to improve the look and feel of the space.^[6] The Manchester Cenotaph was also relocated and the entire square has been redeveloped into a new public space. During most of the work, a reduced service ran through the square on a single track^[7] - but there were 2 full 2-month closures at the beginning and end of the project. This meant between late June and the end of August 2015^[8] and from 26 June 2016 until 28 August 2016, no Metrolink services ran through the square. The rebuilding work uncovered the remnants of an 18th century church crypt.^[9]

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  An artist's impression of light rail in St Peter's Square (1987)
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  T-68 Tram at the old St Peter's Square tram stop in 1992.
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  The rebuilt four platform stop, 2018

Service pattern edit

Peak service (07:15 – 19:30 Monday to Friday, 09:30 – 18:30 Saturday):

• Platform A: 10 tph to Altrincham, 5 tph to MediaCityUK, 5 tph to Eccles, 5 tph to Manchester Airport
• Platform B: 10 tph to East Didsbury
• Platform C: 5 tph to Bury, 5 tph to Victoria, 5 tph to Ashton-under-Lyne, 5 tph to Etihad Campus, 5 tph to Piccadilly
• Platform D: 5 tph to Rochdale Town Centre, 5 tph to Shaw and Crompton

Off-peak service (all other times during operational hours):

• Platform A: 5 tph to Altrincham, 5 tph to Eccles via MediaCityUK, 5 tph to Manchester Airport
• Platform B: 5 tph to East Didsbury
• Platform C: 5 tph to Victoria, 5 tph to Ashton-under-Lyne, 5 tph to Piccadilly (to Etihad Campus during evenings and Sundays)
• Platform D: 5 tph to Rochdale Town Centre

• Tram times and station information for St Peter's Square Metrolink station from Manchester Metrolink
• St Peter's Square area map