9 years after 22 May 2017 at Victoria station

On 22 May 2017, a terrorist attack at a concert held at the Manchester Arena at 22:31 BST killed 22 people and injured several. The arena is joined to Manchester Victoria rail station (and Metrolink stop) and a memorial was made at Victoria near where the former Metrolink Platform A was to remember those who died.

I passed through Victoria station multiple times on 22 May 2026 and there was always at least one person at the memorial. In the hour or so before 22:31 (exactly 9 years after) a crowd started to gather around the memorial, and a couple of speakers and a microphone were set up. I presumed that someone would give a speech at around 22:31.

At around 22:27 an announcement sounded at Victoria station, asking people to join in with the 2-min silence, and shortly after that the speech began.

Tram 3022 is on the right, with “Special” on the front displays. Taken at 22:14.

At around the same time (the entire reason I’m posting this here), tram fleet #3022 with the MCR livery rolls into an empty centre track at Victoria (Platform B/C) after being stabled under the Miller Street bridge for around half an hour before.

Tram 3022 was chosen to get the Spirit of Manchester livery permanently (it has been on since the 2017 attack), the number symbolising the 22 casualties, but coincidentally also can be related to the date (22 May) and the hour (22:31) of the event.

Tram 3022 at Platform B/C at Victoria at 22:28.

3022 stayed at Platform B/C from around 22:27 to 22:44, which halted the terminating Victoria - Manchester Airport service at Shudehill for a while.

Apparently the entire Metrolink network came to a standstill at 22:31 for two minutes, but I was not on a tram to see this happen. It was interesting to see this unfold for the first time (I had never been around Victoria at this time before), witnessing this added a new layer to my understanding of how Manchester still carries the events of 22 May 2017. I do still see this attack as quite raw (9 years isn’t that long ago) and my prayers are with the families of those who were injured or killed on that day.

A crowd gathered at the 22 May 2017 memorial listening to a speech. Taken at 22:31.