Manchester Evening News Lite will come out at 4.30pm from next Monday with a mix of news, entertainment and lifestyle taken from the paid-for-edition.
The launch is primarily targeting a younger audience of 25- to 34 year-old ABC1 commuters who do not regularly read the Manchester Evening News nor read a paper on the journey home from work.
The news comes as the latest set of ABCs saw the Evening News' weekday circulation fall 7.4% on 2003 to 141,737 between July and December last year.
David Benjamin, managing director of the Manchester Evening News, stressed that the Lite version would not take readers away from the main paper.
"This is not about cannibalising our paid-for-sale. It's a market we do not get to and we're going to expand our reach," he said.
For the first 12 months, ads will run across both Manchester Evening News titles at no extra cost.
Associated Newspapers launched a free Lite version of its London Evening Standard last year.
The Standard Lite, which is handed out to commuters from midday, has already been hailed as a success by its owner. Its daily circulation is set to rise from 54,000 to 72,000 copies.
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