Metrolink - Again

[Munkey Boy]

I wasn't just talking about going to the match but about their use in general. It takes half an hour to get to town on the tram from Didsbury; a bus down the Parkway is quite a bit quicker. They advertise it as being quicker than driving but that's just bollocks.

Sorry, didn't realise you were talking in general.

Timetables say the 101 bus from Southern Cem to Picc Gdns is over 30 mins in the morning peak, 27 off peak.

The tram is 22 minutes from Burton Road to Market Street, any time of day.

-- Mon Apr 07, 2014 3:31 pm --

An undergound Metro would have been miles better but apparently not an option in Manchester, or so I've heard, as apparently Manchester is riddled with undergound mines, from the town centre to the suburbs, and most of these are not on any sort of map or anything. So apparently miles and miles of tunnels and mines that no one knows where they all are or how deep and cavernous they are.

I've even heard that there are a couple of old deisel trains undeground somewhere that were there in case the cold war went off for real, but I've never been able to figure out the link between nuclear war and not being able to use modern trains.

There would be ways around going underground, but it's just the expense. Underground systems are several times more expensive than trams, and the trams cost more than £1.5bn.

 

[Matty]

Are you agenda loons seriously suggesting that Metrolink always run a normal service on all lines whenever United are at home?

I am fairly sure that they don't actually PLAN line closures for maintenance when the rags are at home like they did last Saturday.

I certainly can't be arsed checking but I'd be amazed if there wasn't at least one line shut for 90% of United home games, played on Sundays in the last couple of years.

"I have no proof but here's a spurious statistic I've made up that makes it look like I'm right".

 

[JoeMercer'sWay]

I wasn't just talking about going to the match but about their use in general. It takes half an hour to get to town on the tram from Didsbury; a bus down the Parkway is quite a bit quicker. They advertise it as being quicker than driving but that's just bollocks.

Sorry, didn't realise you were talking in general.

Timetables say the 101 bus from Southern Cem to Picc Gdns is over 30 mins in the morning peak, 27 off peak.

The tram is 22 minutes from Burton Road to Market Street, any time of day.

-- Mon Apr 07, 2014 3:31 pm --

An undergound Metro would have been miles better but apparently not an option in Manchester, or so I've heard, as apparently Manchester is riddled with undergound mines, from the town centre to the suburbs, and most of these are not on any sort of map or anything. So apparently miles and miles of tunnels and mines that no one knows where they all are or how deep and cavernous they are.

I've even heard that there are a couple of old deisel trains undeground somewhere that were there in case the cold war went off for real, but I've never been able to figure out the link between nuclear war and not being able to use modern trains.

There would be ways around going underground, but it's just the expense. Underground systems are several times more expensive than trams, and the trams cost more than £1.5bn.

Sheikh Mansour my lord, Sheikh Mansour...

 

[west didsblue]

I wasn't just talking about going to the match but about their use in general. It takes half an hour to get to town on the tram from Didsbury; a bus down the Parkway is quite a bit quicker. They advertise it as being quicker than driving but that's just bollocks.

Sorry, didn't realise you were talking in general.

Timetables say the 101 bus from Southern Cem to Picc Gdns is over 30 mins in the morning peak, 27 off peak.

The tram is 22 minutes from Burton Road to Market Street, any time of day.

No, the 101 is 22 minutes for most of the day including rush hour.
http://www.tfgm.com/journey_planning/RouteMaps/101.pdf
The tram has taken at least half an hour on the few occasions I've used it. I've not used it enough to know if that's typical and I can't find a timetable. Even if it's supposed to be 22 minutes, for a 5 mile journey thats an average of 14 mph which is very poor. For comparison, the London Underground average is 21mph.

This discussion is worthy of Boring Milner's twitter;-)

Edit: Actually I was looking at Saturday, but most of the day on weekdays the 101 is around 24 - 27 minutes

 

[Munkey Boy]

No, the 101 is 22 minutes for most of the day including rush hour.
http://www.tfgm.com/journey_planning/RouteMaps/101.pdf
The tram has taken at least half an hour on the few occasions I've used it. I've not used it enough to know if that's typical and I can't find a timetable. Even if it's supposed to be 22 minutes, for a 5 mile journey thats an average of 14 mph which is very poor. For comparison, the London Underground average is 21mph.

This discussion is worthy of Boring Milner's twitter;-)

Edit: Actually I was looking at Saturday, but most of the day on weekdays the 101 is around 24 - 27 minutes

LOL, we're getting well anoraky now. I'll just leave it to say my reading of the timetable is different to yours, I still get 33 minutes in the AM. I agree the trams could be quicker than they are now, but they're still faster than buses ;-)

How long do people have to wait heading into town after a match, as a matter of interest? Queues always look long.

 

[tidyman]

I am fairly sure that they don't actually PLAN line closures for maintenance when the rags are at home like they did last Saturday.

I certainly can't be arsed checking but I'd be amazed if there wasn't at least one line shut for 90% of United home games, played on Sundays in the last couple of years.

"I have no proof but here's a spurious statistic I've made up that makes it look like I'm right".

Ok, I'll go and dig out all Metrolinks engineering work dates from the last two years and be back later with the exact figure.

In the mean time, I can tell you for a fact that Metrolink very rarely run a full service on any Sunday. And Manchester United play quite a lot of home games on Sundays.

I'd suggest if you put those two things together, you'll find that people saying, they would never shut the Metrolink when United are at home, are probably talking shit.

 

[ChesterRdBlue]

No, the 101 is 22 minutes for most of the day including rush hour.
http://www.tfgm.com/journey_planning/RouteMaps/101.pdf
The tram has taken at least half an hour on the few occasions I've used it. I've not used it enough to know if that's typical and I can't find a timetable. Even if it's supposed to be 22 minutes, for a 5 mile journey thats an average of 14 mph which is very poor. For comparison, the London Underground average is 21mph.

This discussion is worthy of Boring Milner's twitter;-)

Edit: Actually I was looking at Saturday, but most of the day on weekdays the 101 is around 24 - 27 minutes

LOL, we're getting well anoraky now. I'll just leave it to say my reading of the timetable is different to yours, I still get 33 minutes in the AM. I agree the trams could be quicker than they are now, but they're still faster than buses ;-)

How long do people have to wait heading into town after a match, as a matter of interest? Queues always look long.

Long enough for me to have tried it and thought never again. I'd say that you can definitely walk to town as quick and avoid the stress and cost of the tram.

Overall a terrible transportation system for which ever reason Greater Manchester is obsessed with.

 

[Gray]

Ok, I'll go and dig out all Metrolinks engineering work dates from the last two years and be back later with the exact figure.

In the mean time, I can tell you for a fact that Metrolink very rarely run a full service on any Sunday. And Manchester United play quite a lot of home games on Sundays.

I'd suggest if you put those two things together, you'll find that people saying, they would never shut the Metrolink when United are at home, are probably talking shit.

City play a lot of games on a Sunday as well and we are not talking about the usual disruption because of "Essential Maintenance" but the complete shutdown that occurred on Saturday.

By the way why does a reasonably modern transport system need so much "Essential Maintenance"?

 

[BlueSkyBlue]

My 'moan' isn't about whether United are favoured by Metrolink or not - my point is that it is bad planning by Metrolink to schedule any works on the weekends when there are major events on that will attract visitors from other cities or even countries. It makes the city look bad to tourists - I think I need to find a Metrolink forum instead of here though :)

I know it probably isn't possible to schedule ALL works around football, cricket, major concerts, marathons - it just seems we get the raw end of the deal more often than not.

 

[Munkey Boy]

City play a lot of games on a Sunday as well and we are not talking about the usual disruption because of "Essential Maintenance" but the complete shutdown that occurred on Saturday.

By the way why does a reasonably modern transport system need so much "Essential Maintenance"?

Because they're tripling the size of the network in about four years construction time? Also, they are currently building another line through the City centre, adding another platform at Victoria (as well as re-roofing it) and adding another platform at St. Peter's Square and Deansgate-Castlefield too.