Metrolink to / from Etihad

[staffsblue]

Touched lucky yesterday. Disembarked the Altrincham tram at Cornbrook and after thinking "Oh no!" Seeing nothing on the board for the ground suddenly two direct to the stadium popped up after five minutes. The one I was on was empty so I actually got a seat.

As someone who's a regular visitor to Greater Manchester I find the public transport perfectly reasonable. The only thing that needs improving is linking up smart ticketing across trams, buses & trains.
Where I live, the buses stop running at 6pm, the Birmingham trams have been suspended since before Easter because of cracks on the vehicles, and train services are still running at reduced frequencies because of COVID related staff shortages.
I always find it very easy to get around Manchester & in my opinion the public transport is only 2nd to London in the UK

 

[paulchapo]

As someone who's a regular visitor to Greater Manchester I find the public transport perfectly reasonable. The only thing that needs improving is linking up smart ticketing across trams, buses & trains.
Where I live, the buses stop running at 6pm, the Birmingham trams have been suspended since before Easter because of cracks on the vehicles, and train services are still running at reduced frequencies because of COVID related staff shortages.
I always find it very easy to get around Manchester & in my opinion the public transport is only 2nd to London in the UK

We're kind of getting there but small tweaks could make all the difference, particularly with transport to and from the game. We do have an integrated ticket system called system one. You can buy a ticket that will let you use any bus and tram for £7.50 for a day. You can add trains onto that too for an extra cost.

In other ways we have gone backwards. When I was a kid and teenager buses ran all the time 24/7. You could get a bus Christmas day, indeed one year Manchester transport ran them free of charge. I could go to a club and get a bus home after 2am. They were less frequent than the day and more expensive but it was cheaper than a taxi.

 

[staffsblue]

We're kind of getting there but small tweaks could make all the difference, particularly with transport to and from the game. We do have an integrated ticket system called system one. You can buy a ticket that will let you use any bus and tram for £7.50 for a day. You can add trains onto that too for an extra cost.

In other ways we have gone backwards. When I was a kid and teenager buses ran all the time 24/7. You could get a bus Christmas day, indeed one year Manchester transport ran them free of charge. I could go to a club and get a bus home after 2am. They were less frequent than the day and more expensive but it was cheaper than a taxi.

In terms of integrated ticketing I was on about being able to tap in and tap out with contactless debit cards or smart phones on all modes of transport & having the daily rate capped as in London, but I understand that's coming to GM next year.
As well as travelling to and from matches, I travel to various leisure centres around GM while I'm up for swims, and find it really easy to navigate my way round, even though I'm not always familiar with the area.
I know GM's public transport may seem sub standard to those that live there, for a visitor it is really user friendly compared to the majority of cities in the UK.

 

[manclad]

We're kind of getting there but small tweaks could make all the difference, particularly with transport to and from the game. We do have an integrated ticket system called system one. You can buy a ticket that will let you use any bus and tram for £7.50 for a day. You can add trains onto that too for an extra cost.

In other ways we have gone backwards. When I was a kid and teenager buses ran all the time 24/7. You could get a bus Christmas day, indeed one year Manchester transport ran them free of charge. I could go to a club and get a bus home after 2am. They were less frequent than the day and more expensive but it was cheaper than a taxi.

The all night bus that I used to get was the 60 that went up Rochdale Road and then down Victoria Avenue. I would get off on the corner and then walk to Alkrington.
The 02.45 hrs bus was best suited for me,as I would come out of Pips/Rotters/Fagin's etc at 02.00/15 hrs and that gave me 30 minutes to get to Piccadilly bus station .
It wasn't far to walk,but me and my pals were all usually pissed up,and our inebriated meandering often meant we just about got the bus before it departed from the city centre.

 

[paulchapo]

In terms of integrated ticketing I was on about being able to tap in and tap out with contactless debit cards or smart phones on all modes of transport & having the daily rate capped as in London, but I understand that's coming to GM next year.
As well as travelling to and from matches, I travel to various leisure centres around GM while I'm up for swims, and find it really easy to navigate my way round, even though I'm not always familiar with the area.
I know GM's public transport may seem sub standard to those that live there, for a visitor it is really user friendly compared to the majority of cities in the UK.

You can tap in and out on the tram and all buses you can buy a ticket with contactless. No use if you are using them all day though as it's cheaper to buy the day ticket. London transport is unreal cheaper fares and all bus stops display which bus is coming next and how long you have to wait.

If you're using them in the day and especially on the more popular busy routes, especially student areas, they can be okay. At night not so good. My last bus leaves Altrincham at 22:52 rendering it useless if you go for a night out, a show or a night football game as no way can you make it back in time.

 

[staffsblue]

You can tap in and out on the tram and all buses you can buy a ticket with contactless. No use if you are using them all day though as it's cheaper to buy the day ticket. London transport is unreal cheaper fares and all bus stops display which bus is coming next and how long you have to wait.

If you're using them in the day and especially on the more popular busy routes, especially student areas, they can be okay. At night not so good. My last bus leaves Altrincham at 22:52 rendering it useless if you go for a night out, a show or a night football game as no way can you make it back in time.

Yeah, I regularly tap in and out on the trams, and buy day tickets for the buses, but apparently from next year there's going to be seamless TfL style contactless capped fares across all travel modes in GM allowing passengers to mix & match. Will be a bit of a game changer.

 

[blue b4 the moon]

Noticed when I finally got out of SS3 that when walking to the car there was a bigger queue for Ashton than Manchester...don't think I've ever seen that before.

 

[BlueAnorak]

Noticed when I finally got out of SS3 that when walking to the car there was a bigger queue for Ashton than Manchester...don't think I've ever seen that before.

They got it right yesterday. All I can say is wow! It's only taken 7 years since the extended South Stand opened...

 

[mikeyk07]

Rather than getting of at Cornbrook I’ve started getting off at Deansgate from the Altrincham line where there is an empty double tram straight to the ground either waiting or arriving within minutes.

 

[Macca68]

Been for a few beers in Alty this afternoon and decided to get the tram back to Timperley. Guess what... the tram I'm on is direct to the Etihad for the Ed Sheeran gig.. They can do it when they want to.