A family travelling on a Manchester tram were told they could face a fine when their family ticket was deemed invalid as their children were “too young”.
Cassie was travelling into central Manchester from Droylsden in Tameside with her baby and toddler earlier this month to a church service when the incident occurred.
The family purchased a £7.10 off-peak family day travel card only to be told by a ticket inspector that because under-fives travel for free, they did not count as “children”.
“I felt shocked,” said Cassie, whose last name is not known.
“Obviously we are a family,” she told the Local Democracy Reporting Service. “I do not know how we are not a family.”
She added that the inspector said Cassie and her husband should have instead purchased a £4.30 adult day ticket instead, totalling £8.60, warning that they could have been fined for travelling without a valid ticket.
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has since apologised and said it would “make sure that all staff are aware that there is no minimum age for children travelling on a family ticket”.
Manchester’s Metrolink tram system is owned by TfGM, also known as the Bee Network, which is the public body responsible for coordinating public transport in Greater Manchester.
According to their website, a family travelcard “is for group travel on Metrolink trams for one to three children (aged under 16) accompanied by one or two adults.
“Any adult can buy this ticket. Children travelling as part of a family group must be aged under 16 and, if aged 11 to 15, will need proof of age ID.
“There is no minimum age for children travelling on a family ticket.”
In a statement to The Independent, Fran Wilkinson, customer and growth director at TfGM, said: “Bee Network family tickets can be used by a group of one to three children accompanied by one or two adults when travelling together, and there is no minimum age for children travelling on this type of ticket.
“It appears that the customer who has raised this issue was given the incorrect information by a member of our team.
“We’re sorry any confusion this has caused and will be making sure that all staff are aware that there is no minimum age for children travelling on a family ticket.”
The news comes just weeks after Metrolink’s interim network director said that crashes between trams and vehicles in Greater Manchester were mostly caused by “motorists not paying attention”.
Ian Davies made the remarks after new data revealed a 30 per cent rise in the number of collisions involving Metrolink trams and other vehicles in 2024.
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