Of course those fans who use it for a journey to the city centre feel that it's not fit for purpose because short-travel is not its purpose. You have to walk to the stop, queue and wait, stand in a cramped carriage, and travel. By the time you've done that, the walkers have beaten you. You get all the negatives and few positives. If you are travelling out to Ashton or Altrincham then it makes sense because then the high speed travel comes into its own.It's 3 stops and an almost 30 min walk, so yep. most rational people do select it...and it's not fit for purpose
Correct they should increase the frequency especially after the match finishes. Running the Sunday service on a match day just shows that Metrolink don't give a shit about matchgoing football fans.I have no idea what the solution is but its obvious on a match day the service is struggling to cope. Maybe increasing the frequency of trams, particularly in the peak two hour window before and after kick off if possible? Yesterday they were just running to a Sunday service when there was 55,000 football fans to move around, as well as your normal shoppers etcetera. It just wasn't good enough.
As I've said on here before the tram is my method of getting to and from the match. It's becoming a real pain in the arse now and quite honestly a chore. That Alty line is an absolute shocker to and from the matches with some of the others not much better. Get some more bastard trams on that Etihad/Ashton line pre and post match you morons.
Correct they should increase the frequency especially after the match finishes. Running the Sunday service on a match day just shows that Metrolink don't give a shit about matchgoing football fans.
On the platform at the Etihad after the game it showed a Bury tram due in 12 minute and an Altrincham one due in 14 minutes. They both got down to 1 minute and then after another 3 minutes a Bury tram arrived and drove straight through without stopping. After another 3 minutes the Altrincham tram arrived so in total a 20 minute wait.
It simply isn't good enough the Club should intervene but they don't give a fuck and Metrolink are a bloody disgrace.
Fair point and I used the No.5 bus for the Bournmouth game and couldn't fault it.In fairness to the club they have provided the match day buses which are a great addition. They will be limited in what input they have with how metrolink run their business.
There is no direct service to Bury from the Etihad except occasionally during maintenance on other parts of the line, so it sounds like they have had to run an empty tram from Piccadilly to the Etihad turn-back and then back to Piccadilly. Probably had a tram in the Piccadilly turn-back.Correct they should increase the frequency especially after the match finishes. Running the Sunday service on a match day just shows that Metrolink don't give a shit about matchgoing football fans.
On the platform at the Etihad after the game it showed a Bury tram due in 12 minute and an Altrincham one due in 14 minutes. They both got down to 1 minute and then after another 3 minutes a Bury tram arrived and drove straight through without stopping. After another 3 minutes the Altrincham tram arrived so in total a 20 minute wait.
It simply isn't good enough the Club should intervene but they don't give a fuck and Metrolink are a bloody disgrace.
The end stations of the network suffer from passengers arriving from out of the area. Bury is notorious for it. I used to catch a tram daily at 7.30 into town at Radcliffe (the 1st stop after Bury) and never once got a seat because it was already full. There was standing room but the park and ride at Radcliffe attracts drivers from places like Burnley so there were occasions when people at the 3rd stop at Whitefield couldn’t fit on the tram. That’s 8 more stops on the line where it sometimes can’t pick anybody up until it reaches Victoria.I had the misfortune to miss the match day bus from Altrincham yesterday so i had to catch the tram to the ground, something i try to avoid at all costs these days. At least on a Sunday they do go directly to the ground thankfully. A tram had just left so i had a 15-20 minutes wait until the next one. By the time it arrived the platform was already packed. Luckily i got a seat at the back but by the time we left Altrincham it was standing room only. Very few people seemed to get off along the way, just more people crowding onto an already full tram. The tram left Altrincham about 14:45 so there was still 1 hour 45 minutes to kick off. Even though i had a seat it was still a very claustrophobic and unpleasant experience.
Well done to the drunken loud bellends who got on at Saint Peters square I think and were aggressively shouting at people, particularly two women, to move down the tram, when there was nowhere to move to. Eventually a few blokes stood against the wall shouted "We're almost in the drivers cab mate we can't go any further!" so they shut up.
All in all it was a miserable hours journey and i had a seat, i felt sorry for the poor sods standing up.
I have no idea what the solution is but its obvious on a match day the service is struggling to cope. Maybe increasing the frequency of trams, particularly in the peak two hour window before and after kick off if possible? Yesterday they were just running to a Sunday service when there was 55,000 football fans to move around, as well as your normal shoppers etcetera. It just wasn't good enough.
I don't know what a normal Sunday service is but I had to get the tram from Piccadilly Station to the game yesterday, which I try and avoid. But one came in after 2 minutes. Jam packed, virtually no-one could get on. But as soon as it left, another one came in, literally one minute behind it. Still very busy obviously but enough room for everyone waiting to squeeze on I think. I noticed another one on the board, showing for 4 minutes after ours. Obviously no idea if that came as advertised. but assuming it did, that was three double trams within about 7 minutes. I highly doubt that is a normal Sunday service.Correct they should increase the frequency especially after the match finishes. Running the Sunday service on a match day just shows that Metrolink don't give a shit about matchgoing football fans.
On the platform at the Etihad after the game it showed a Bury tram due in 12 minute and an Altrincham one due in 14 minutes. They both got down to 1 minute and then after another 3 minutes a Bury tram arrived and drove straight through without stopping. After another 3 minutes the Altrincham tram arrived so in total a 20 minute wait.
It simply isn't good enough the Club should intervene but they don't give a fuck and Metrolink are a bloody disgrace.
and it has been like that for years. We stopped using it after a crush on a tram injured Mrs S. I wrote to them and got all types of assurances that they had plans to improve things and it sounds like nothing has changed. Manchester deserves so much better.I had the misfortune to miss the match day bus from Altrincham yesterday so i had to catch the tram to the ground, something i try to avoid at all costs these days. At least on a Sunday they do go directly to the ground thankfully. A tram had just left so i had a 15-20 minutes wait until the next one. By the time it arrived the platform was already packed. Luckily i got a seat at the back but by the time we left Altrincham it was standing room only. Very few people seemed to get off along the way, just more people crowding onto an already full tram. The tram left Altrincham about 14:45 so there was still 1 hour 45 minutes to kick off. Even though i had a seat it was still a very claustrophobic and unpleasant experience.
Well done to the drunken loud bellends who got on at Saint Peters square I think and were aggressively shouting at people, particularly two women, to move down the tram, when there was nowhere to move to. Eventually a few blokes stood against the wall shouted "We're almost in the drivers cab mate we can't go any further!" so they shut up.
All in all it was a miserable hours journey and i had a seat, i felt sorry for the poor sods standing up.
I have no idea what the solution is but its obvious on a match day the service is struggling to cope. Maybe increasing the frequency of trams, particularly in the peak two hour window before and after kick off if possible? Yesterday they were just running to a Sunday service when there was 55,000 football fans to move around, as well as your normal shoppers etcetera. It just wasn't good enough.
Compared to 800 on a six-car Piccadilly Line tube running every three minutes through Arsenal station after games.According to Google the capacity of a Metrolink Tram (single) is 206 people - lets say about the same as thre buses
Never going to make much of a dent on a five figure number of fans trying to get from/to the stadium, never mind the fact they doesn't go where you want them to half the time
For the game against them when the Beast of The East was keeping all the Southern ....... at home had a whole tube carriage to myself at rush hour! Even at 1950 last night the trams from the Etihad were still full, I bet that doesn't happen at OT with their 3 stations!Compared to 800 on a six-car Piccadilly Line tube running every three minutes through Arsenal station after games.
It was pants yesterday as I mentioned earlier. It is becoming a real problem now on the Etihad service which will only be exacerbated with the new stand opening. Metrolink management need a serious kick up the arse.There was an amended timetable in operation yesterday as a result of the Remembrance Day event in St. Peters Square, resulting in no trams being able to traverse the square during the event.
As a result, the Ashton line trams were diverted to Bury, the Eccles trams terminated at Cornbrook and the Etihad turnrounds diverted to Victoria until 13:00, after which they reverted to running to Altrincham.
Quite why the other service patterns couldn't revert to normal Sunday services after 13:00, I've no idea (rostering? laziness on the part of the service planners?), but it led to a complete lack of overall capacity.
As well as our match, it was the first Sunday of the Christmas markets, so demand was definitely there.
Thankfully we don't have any more home games on Sundays for the rest of the year, but the overcrowding was the worst I've ever witnessed post match yesterday.
and next season that will be a SMALLER stadium than ours!Compared to 800 on a six-car Piccadilly Line tube running every three minutes through Arsenal station after games.
Two physical changes to increase capacity could be explored. Rather than reverse at Velopark and stable in the siding, let trams run direct into the siding (provide a narrow platform for the driver to change ends). Or install a facing crossover to the Manchester-bound platform so outbound trams can reverse in the platform. But I doubt Metrolink want to put on extra trams - why pay the cost of extra drivers if people will wait and get on a packed tram?
I think this is the one I couldn’t get on at St Peter’s square. Absolutely rammed and people trying to force themselves on causing the doors to jam and the tram delayed for 5 mins. I suffer with claustrophobia and couldn’t think of anything worse being on that tram. One came 5 mins later nowhere near as bad but it definitely needs addressing with metrolink .I had the misfortune to miss the match day bus from Altrincham yesterday so i had to catch the tram to the ground, something i try to avoid at all costs these days. At least on a Sunday they do go directly to the ground thankfully. A tram had just left so i had a 15-20 minutes wait until the next one. By the time it arrived the platform was already packed. Luckily i got a seat at the back but by the time we left Altrincham it was standing room only. Very few people seemed to get off along the way, just more people crowding onto an already full tram. The tram left Altrincham about 14:45 so there was still 1 hour 45 minutes to kick off. Even though i had a seat it was still a very claustrophobic and unpleasant experience.
Well done to the drunken loud bellends who got on at Saint Peters square I think and were aggressively shouting at people, particularly two women, to move down the tram, when there was nowhere to move to. Eventually a few blokes stood against the wall shouted "We're almost in the drivers cab mate we can't go any further!" so they shut up.
All in all it was a miserable hours journey and i had a seat, i felt sorry for the poor sods standing up.
I have no idea what the solution is but its obvious on a match day the service is struggling to cope. Maybe increasing the frequency of trams, particularly in the peak two hour window before and after kick off if possible? Yesterday they were just running to a Sunday service when there was 55,000 football fans to move around, as well as your normal shoppers etcetera. It just wasn't good enough.