The incident caused major delays to services and closed the entire line of Manchester’s Metrolink to Manchester airport.
System analyst Marizu Okereke, 45, was on his way home from the shops when he witnessed the car’s underside scraping along the tracks.
He Said: “It was crazy seeing the car all the way down the tracks like that with the tram stopped in front of it.
“I had to nip home and grab my camera as the scene was surreal.
“The car and the tram looked like two bulls facing each other in some kind of joust, almost as if one could charge at the other one at any moment.
“I’ve no idea how anyone could have got themselves into such a scenario and carry on driving like that.”
Anthony Marsland, 28, from Chorlton said: “I couldn’t believe how far down the tracks the driver had managed to get.
“I can understand someone making a wrong turn on the road, and people have done it before, but I’ve never seen anyone continue down the tracks like that. Who knows what the driver was thinking.
“The driver had got out of the car and was walking around it clearly flustered and not knowing what to do.
“He was completely stranded and I think the underside of his car must have been damaged by the tracks.”
A Metrolink spokesperson said: “At around 8.30pm on Thursday September 24, a vehicle got stuck on the Metrolink tracks at Barlow Moor Road.
“The Airport Line was closed in both directions, with inbound trams from the airport diverting back at Sale Water Park and outbound trams from the city centre doing the same at St Werburgh’s Road.
“Metrolink tickets were accepted on bus services until the vehicle was moved by a recovery truck at around 10.30pm.”
