Metrolink to / from Etihad

[jockblue]

That schedule is the most fucked up I've ever seen created. So you have a major football stadium that will often have games that kick off at 8pm Monday to Friday, so you decide to start running a direct tram there AFTER that time. Similarly at weekend. "Hey a stadium holding 54,000 people often play every other Saturday between 12.30 and 5.30pm. Tell you what, we'll run a tram directly there starting at 6.30 pm " Genius. We may get lucky on a Sunday though on the odd game we play then.
Anybody who thought this scheduling up is either on drugs, a rag or hates the passengers that help pay their wages. Probably all three.

It's really not that complicated.
Before 8pm, trams run every 6 mins from Etihad to town - half then go to Media City, half go to Eccles.
After 8pm and on Sundays, trams run every 6 mins from Etihad to town - half then go to Altrincham, half go to Eccles (think frequency is lower on Sundays)

So you (like me) might think it annoying that I can't always get a direct tram to the stadium. They'll be other people who live/work near Media City who might wonder the same but the other way round...

 

[Stephen230]

Except they don't. You're often waiting for ages at Cornbook for a tram going to the stadium to turn up.

I’ve seen specials starting from Deansgate/ Castlefield, where they have room to park them up for a while. So you wouldn’t see them waiting back at Cornbrook. Might be worth considering staying on an extra stop and changing there.

 

[paulchapo]

It's really not that complicated.
Before 8pm, trams run every 6 mins from Etihad to town - half then go to Media City, half go to Eccles.
After 8pm and on Sundays, trams run every 6 mins from Etihad to town - half then go to Altrincham, half go to Eccles (think frequency is lower on Sundays)

So you (like me) might think it annoying that I can't always get a direct tram to the stadium. They'll be other people who live/work near Media City who might wonder the same but the other way round...

I didn't say it was complicated I said it was fucked up and it is. It's so bad you would think it's been done as a wind up. Who are all the passengers going direct to the Etihad using it all day on a Sunday, aside from when we have a game? Similarly leaving the stadium.

We must be the only country in the world where we have the wherewithal to run a transport system directly to a sports venue when it's needed and don't do it satisfactorily. Sure I'm beating the drum for my own service, why wouldn't I? The Piccadilly trams are running into Piccadilly station anyway, just do the extra few stops to the stadium then turn it around. Instead an often packed tram of people have to get off at Cornbook to join an already overcrowded platform to wait for a direct tram to arrive. When it does it can often be full.

It's not fit for purpose in its present format. God help us against Wolves when we have a concert at the arena too.

 

[paulchapo]

I’ve seen specials starting from Deansgate/ Castlefield, where they have room to park them up for a while. So you wouldn’t see them waiting back at Cornbrook. Might be worth considering staying on an extra stop and changing there.

The recommendation from metrolink is to change at Cornbook. So it's a gamble to do as you suggest. As it fills up very quickly at Cornbook if there isn't an extra service going from Deansgate/Castlefield you'd be fucked when a packed tram arrives from Cornbook.

 

[Citizen of Legoland]

https://www.skyscrapercity.com/posts/188488093/

A view of the tram service for last night’s gig.

 

[paulchapo]

https://www.skyscrapercity.com/posts/188488093/

A view of the tram service for last night’s gig.

It's not fit for purpose for events with large crowds. God help us/it when a football game and a gig happen on the same day.
Instead of talking about extending it to other areas how about improving the routes they have? Like a fast, plentiful, regular and direct service to and from our ground and the new arena.

 

[uwerosler28]

It's not fit for purpose for events with large crowds. God help us/it when a football game and a gig happen on the same day.
Instead of talking about extending it to other areas how about improving the routes they have? Like a fast, plentiful, regular and direct service to and from our ground and the new arena.

You mean like this Sunday?

 

[paulchapo]

You mean like this Sunday?

Yes, now they've actually got the place up and running.

 

[cheddar404]

It's not fit for purpose for events with large crowds. God help us/it when a football game and a gig happen on the same day.
Instead of talking about extending it to other areas how about improving the routes they have? Like a fast, plentiful, regular and direct service to and from our ground and the new arena.

It's embarassingly bad for a city the size of Manchester. An utterly terrible service. No wonder people don't want to get out of their cars.

 

[JPAMCR]

I've been told the reasoning behind this is that a lot of young professionals live in the New Islington/ Ancoats area and commute to and from Salford Quays and Media City, hence why the weekday peak service operates Media City to the Etihad to double the frequency of the Ashton to Eccles service.

It doesn’t double the frequency of Ashton trams, still nominally every 12 minutes. Only suits the media wankers who live in ancoats and work at media city.

 

[jrb]

2 Comments under the article.

was there on their opening performance with Elbow last night. Great to see this place open.

It’s nothing to look at architecturally, inside or out, but it is an asset for the city and I’m glad we have it.

Have to say, the public transport options were terrible, with Metrolink putting on no additional services or even making the trams double.

There were only single trams when we left last night, with about 5000 people waiting, one single 200 capacity car every 12 minutes and only a couple of services left before it shut down for the night.

Basically most people had to walk back to the city. Crazy how bad our public transport is in MCR.

That really lets venues like this down.

------

The transport links should have been part of the plan and they had the data to prove it needed to be upgraded or more carriages made available after any event, as it is the same when leaving Man City's Ground after a match. God knows what it will be like when there is an event and a late match it will be complete chaos

Co-op Live opens as costs set to reach £450m - Place North West

After a series of high-profile delays, the highly anticipated Manchester arena opened its doors on Tuesday to host an Elbow concert.

www.placenorthwest.co.uk

 

[Alfie Budd]

You mean like this Sunday?

This Sunday shouldn’t be too much of an issue due the staggered timings. It’s evening kickoffs on the same nights as gigs that are potential recipes for disaster.

 

[Roachy]

It's embarassingly bad for a city the size of Manchester. An utterly terrible service. No wonder people don't want to get out of their cars.

Bad generally or just the Etihad service?

 

[Citizen of Legoland]

It's not fit for purpose for events with large crowds. God help us/it when a football game and a gig happen on the same day.
Instead of talking about extending it to other areas how about improving the routes they have? Like a fast, plentiful, regular and direct service to and from our ground and the new arena.

I’m hoping that it becomes a general view that the tram is shite (beyond us who already know). It’s how our country works, something has to be on its knees before anyone does anything about it.

 

[Citizen of Legoland]

It doesn’t double the frequency of Ashton trams, still nominally every 12 minutes. Only suits the media wankers who live in ancoats and work at media city.

Something you have to watch with Metrolink is how they boast a 6min tram frequency. That’s a tram calling at either platform every 6mins on average, but that is still only every 12mins in each direction. Clever wording.

 

[JPAMCR]

Bad generally or just the Etihad service?

Generally.

 

[BlueAnorak]

It's very straight forward to fix, but Metrolink is seemingly incapable of fixing it.
For 1.5 hours belfore and after games/gigs everything that goes to Piccadilly should go to the Etihad.
Nope - far to difficult aparantly.

 

[Roachy]

Generally.

Prices are very good, and when all is running smooth a good service is there. However, there are some serious downsides. The Etihad service is nowhere near good enough. Regular engineering works are a total pain also. The network is plagued by mechanical and technical breakdowns on a far too regular basis though whether it be trams, points, OLE, IT systems etc. I can see why people are pissed off with it.

 

[Jazzyblue]

Bad generally or just the Etihad service?

You can guarantee on a matchday that there will be three trams to Bury for every one heading to the Etihad/Ashton/Piccadilly on the way out, and yet a series of empty doubles heading east long after the match is over and fans have left the ground. It’s not just a poor matchday service it’s dangerous, (if reasonably priced). If the new shuttle buses had a couple of extra stops in inner suburban Manchester they’d be better option for a lot of us.

 

[Citizen of Legoland]

You can guarantee on a matchday that there will be three trams to Bury for every one heading to the Etihad/Ashton/Piccadilly on the way out, and yet a series of empty doubles heading east long after the match is over and fans have left the ground. It’s not just a poor matchday service it’s dangerous, (if reasonably priced). If the new shuttle buses had a couple of extra stops in inner suburban Manchester they’d be better option for a lot of us.

Do they do trams direct to Bury from the Etihad after games? I thought they stopped those, but haven’t used it for years. I never see any going to the Etihad from Bury.