THE OPERATORS of Manchester’s tram network received a number of calls from confused commuters asking if trams were still running, after a fictional tram featured in a massive crash to mark Coronation Street’s 50th anniversary on Monday night.

The Manchester Evening News reports that Metrolink, the tram operator, received at least six calls from various viewers who had seen the crash scene on television and had wanted to see if any of the service’s lines would be disrupted.

Callers may also have been confused, the MEN report adds, by a fictional TV news broadcast following the show – which was watched by over 14 million people in the UK, and an estimated half-million more in Ireland.

A spokeswoman for the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive said that while none of the callers seemed panicked or distressed about the scenes, many were genuinely confused as to whether the line (which they presumably thought ran through the Weatherfield set) would have its services disrupted by the “accident”.

The crash on Monday’s show occurred after an explosion at the local Weatherfield joinery, which trapped many people attending a fictional stag party, and which left a gap in the track through which a tram crashed, potentially killing up to a dozen of Coronation Street’s residents.

The show’s writers have closely guarded the identities of any characters killed in the explosion-cum-tram-crash, and viewers can only expect indications of who might die when the show airs again tonight.