Metrolink to / from Etihad

East Level 2 said:
Compared to 800 on a six-car Piccadilly Line tube running every three minutes through Arsenal station after games.
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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!
 
Citizen of Legoland said:
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.

I know it sounds odd but they do want to provide a service for passengers at Piccadilly and if everyone piled on at the Etihad there’d be no space for them to board at Piccadilly so likely decided it best to run through seeing as there was another “proper” one 3 mins behind.
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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.
 
staffsblue said:
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.
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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.
 
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?
 
Vic said:
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?
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Yes its a case of Hobson's choice, they know lots of people have little of it. For me, although i am on the Altrincham line, i will only use the tram when i have very little or no choice. It really is a miserable journey.
 
paulchapo said:
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.
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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 emailed Bee Network re services to Ashton after games, I asked what plans they had in place for when the North Stand expansion was complete.
Here is the reply.IMG_2192.jpegIMG_2193.jpegIMG_2194.jpeg
It’s obviously been copied & pasted as there’s some repeated text. Does it even make sense?
 
Pezzer2 said:
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 .
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That sounds like it. We were delayed as the doors kept on jamming. I was sat backwards from the direction of travel so i couldn't see what was happening but from the noise and shouting this sounds like the reason. The drunken late twenty/mid thirties blokes aggressively shouting at people to move down the tram when there was nowhere to move to should be ashamed of themselves. Not satisfied with that they sarcastically shouted "Cheer up love!" as two women they had been shouting at left the tram. Wankers.
 
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