Metrolink to / from Etihad

They seemed to be running double sets on the Altrincham route through to the Etihad. However, bizarrely there were at least 2 single units on the Eccles to Ashton circuits which I've never seen on match days before.

Yes, they’re usually all doubles, all day on the Eccles line on match days. Yesterday was a mixture of singles and doubles. It looks like they split the doubles between Altrincham and Eccles yesterday which is maybe a better idea if they haven’t got enough doubles to cover both.
 
Yes, they’re usually all doubles, all day on the Eccles line on match days. Yesterday was a mixture of singles and doubles. It looks like they split the doubles between Altrincham and Eccles yesterday which is maybe a better idea if they haven’t got enough doubles to cover both.

Seemed to work in the central section. In both directions I let single sets go to wait for the double behind. Must have been a pain for anyone traveling to and from the Ashton or Eccles directions though.
 
In Metrolink’s defence they can’t just magically turn a single unit into a double.
But they can anticipate where the passengers will be waiting. Who needs a double beween the airport and wherever it goes on a Saturday afternoon ? I go back to Chinese New Year and City at home, Alty to town, all singles. A 5 year old could plan it better than these fuck wits.
 
But they can anticipate where the passengers will be waiting. Who needs a double beween the airport and wherever it goes on a Saturday afternoon ? I go back to Chinese New Year and City at home, Alty to town, all singles. A 5 year old could plan it better than these fuck wits.
The point is that they run singles and they run doubles. There’s a limit to how many doubles they can run and they are told they have to prioritise turning them back at the Etihad to go back into town but now people expect both directions. That sort of defeats the turn back argument. I’ve no idea why all trams aren’t doubles in the first place but if there’s a reason why singles are run then it’s pot luck which one will turn up.

I don’t know how scheduling is done but I’m pretty sure it’s not as simple as people think it is. Most jobs are more difficult than they look to an outsider.
 
The point is that they run singles and they run doubles. There’s a limit to how many doubles they can run and they are told they have to prioritise turning them back at the Etihad to go back into town but now people expect both directions. That sort of defeats the turn back argument. I’ve no idea why all trams aren’t doubles in the first place but if there’s a reason why singles are run then it’s pot luck which one will turn up.

I don’t know how scheduling is done but I’m pretty sure it’s not as simple as people think it is. Most jobs are more difficult than they look to an outsider.

I used to have similar roles within Virgin Trains around providing suitable capacity around special events. When I worked in the Commercial team, I used to monitor special events & look at historic loadings to ask the train planning team to provide additional capacity when required either through deployment of 11 car vice 9 car trains, or running additional services where required.
I later moved to the train planning team so carried out the required changes to the stock diagrams myself in consultation with the commercial chaps and other parts of the business.
Since I retired, Avanti are now unable to operate additional services because of the current well publicised traincrew disputes and shortages.

I'd imagine Metrolink have similar plans in place, although they no doubt have a much smaller planning team & it's all done on a bit of a shoestring.
 
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I used to have similar roles within Virgin Trains around providing suitable capacity around special events. When I worked in the Commercial team, I used to monitor special events & look at historic loadings to ask the train planning team to provide additional capacity when required either through deployment of 11 car vice 9 car trains, or running additional services where required.
I later moved to the train planning team so carried out the required changes to the stock diagrams myself in consultation with the commercial chaps and other parts of the business.
Since I retired, Avanti are now unable to operate additional services because of the current well publicised traincrew disputes and shortages.

I'd imagine Metrolink have similar plans in place, although they no doubt have a much smaller planning team & it's all done on a bit of a shoestring.
@Citizen of Legoland @staffsblue

Cheers for the reply staffsblue. That is the point I am making, it isn't hard to plan ahead. The Met are skint thanks to covid and work from home so looking for extra revenue on a match day is a priority. I use the Alty line so pass the depot at Old Trafford. Loads of trams are parked up enjoying their day off, meanwhile Joe public is ignoring having a day out in town and thereby giving the Met money, because the few trams that are running are rammed. The Chinese New Year being the best example, a woman I spoke to had been unable to board the 2 previous single trams at Sale and fought like buggery to make sure she wasn't missing the 3rd single. (They are every 12 minutes so she'd waited over 36 minutes)
The Met knew a match was on at the same time as the parade but presumably couldn't be arsed.
If trams are running nine past the stadium before or after a match, commen sense says put doubles on.
 
@Citizen of Legoland @staffsblue

Cheers for the reply staffsblue. That is the point I am making, it isn't hard to plan ahead. The Met are skint thanks to covid and work from home so looking for extra revenue on a match day is a priority. I use the Alty line so pass the depot at Old Trafford. Loads of trams are parked up enjoying their day off, meanwhile Joe public is ignoring having a day out in town and thereby giving the Met money, because the few trams that are running are rammed. The Chinese New Year being the best example, a woman I spoke to had been unable to board the 2 previous single trams at Sale and fought like buggery to make sure she wasn't missing the 3rd single. (They are every 12 minutes so she'd waited over 36 minutes)
The Met knew a match was on at the same time as the parade but presumably couldn't be arsed.
If trams are running nine past the stadium before or after a match, commen sense says put doubles on.

It is quite frustrating having worked in the transport industry when I notice stuff like this. However, I remember that planning roles are tricky jobs & you don't know what else is going on with individuals' jobs at the time, what timescales they have to work to and what other priorities they have at the time.
I was lucky in previous roles that the company was well resourced & there was good communication between all departments. There were also little things like Yammer groups allowing the frontline staff to provide feedback on how things went on the day, and to give insight into events we may have either overlooked or had no intelligence on.
 
@Citizen of Legoland @staffsblue

Cheers for the reply staffsblue. That is the point I am making, it isn't hard to plan ahead. The Met are skint thanks to covid and work from home so looking for extra revenue on a match day is a priority. I use the Alty line so pass the depot at Old Trafford. Loads of trams are parked up enjoying their day off, meanwhile Joe public is ignoring having a day out in town and thereby giving the Met money, because the few trams that are running are rammed. The Chinese New Year being the best example, a woman I spoke to had been unable to board the 2 previous single trams at Sale and fought like buggery to make sure she wasn't missing the 3rd single. (They are every 12 minutes so she'd waited over 36 minutes)
The Met knew a match was on at the same time as the parade but presumably couldn't be arsed.
If trams are running nine past the stadium before or after a match, commen sense says put doubles on.
I’m still not sure what you’re expecting. Are you saying that when they see a surge in demand at a location they should send more trams that way?
 
I’m still not sure what you’re expecting. Are you saying that when they see a surge in demand at a location they should send more trams that way?
No I'm saying that when the PL announce the fixtures a bloke in an office can write them down on a wall chart. Ok the TV companies can move the fixture by a day but you get at least a month's notice of this.
On the same chart you write down in large letters, Chinese New Year (or any other important event ) It would give him a little bit of a clue that the trams are going to be very busy between 10am and 2pm.
If he can't do such a simple task perhaps he is in the wrong job. The way to test that theory is to see if he bothered getting off his fat arse and doing something like putting double units on. As loads were parked up when we went past, I'd say he's simply not up to his job. To confirm my belief, this thread highlights every single home game how shit at his job he is.
 
No I'm saying that when the PL announce the fixtures a bloke in an office can write them down on a wall chart. Ok the TV companies can move the fixture by a day but you get at least a month's notice of this.
On the same chart you write down in large letters, Chinese New Year (or any other important event ) It would give him a little bit of a clue that the trams are going to be very busy between 10am and 2pm.
If he can't do such a simple task perhaps he is in the wrong job. The way to test that theory is to see if he bothered getting off his fat arse and doing something like putting double units on. As loads were parked up when we went past, I'd say he's simply not up to his job. To confirm my belief, this thread highlights every single home game how shit at his job he is.
According to those who know on Skyscrapercity, you need to factor in the power supply being able to cope with running more doubles in the various sections of the network at the same time? There’s limits, doubles presumably use more power.

Next, the coupling/de-coupling of the units happens during out of service hours so those doubles would run empty for large parts of the day, or the whole tram taken out of service for engineering before put back. It also increases the mileage of the units which have an annual maximum they can run to preserve their warranty.
 

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