Metrolink users

[mat]

I'm not too sure mate.

It boils my piss as I work on the railway. My trains have been delayed numerous times by waiting for the football specials to feck off. Even though they need permission to join the main line.

 

[Eccles Blue]

I agree. How many Blues come in from Eccles I wonder? The Altrincham line is always rammed even on non match days but you still wait while media city trams float past half empty.

I do......... but I don’t get the tram any more. Plus if I did I wouldn’t get the Media City one.

Being serious for a minute though. When I did get the tram I got on at Ladywell (one stop in from Eccles) and the tram was always almost full when I got on and by the time we got to Harbour City it was heaving. Coming back they cram everyone on no matter where it is going to. I have never seen a half empty tram going from the Etihad after a match no matter where it is going to! Some folk get on & get off at Piccadilly to change for wherever. Or St Peter’s Square or even Cornbrook. But I can guarantee that the tram was always full to Eccles. So a lot of people come in from, & go home to, Eccles!

 

[Roachy]

I do......... but I don’t get the tram any more. Plus if I did I wouldn’t get the Media City one.

Being serious for a minute though. When I did get the tram I got on at Ladywell (one stop in from Eccles) and the tram was always almost full when I got on and by the time we got to Harbour City it was heaving. Coming back they cram everyone on no matter where it is going to. I have never seen a half empty tram going from the Etihad after a match no matter where it is going to! Some folk get on & get off at Piccadilly to change for wherever. Or St Peter’s Square or even Cornbrook. But I can guarantee that the tram was always full to Eccles. So a lot of people come in from, & go home to, Eccles!

Well that's not what I experience getting to the match as my earlier post states. Coming back I agree all services are busy if not rammed. The Alty line is just unbearable. However, to reiterate I now get on at Exchange Quay and have done for months with a range of ko times on various days. It's never rammed but occasionally a bit busier than other times.

 

[manchester blue]

I had to be in town early yesterday so got the tram. By early I mean 9AM which is earlier than normal. First two trams from Oldham were that rammed there were 30 people left on the platform unable to get on. Third one I just barged in and honestly cattle travel in better conditions.

On the way back all trams were suspended and I had to walk to Monsall from Victoria to get one home. Waiting for a call from a manager to discuss my formal complaint and for a refund.

Absolutely useless service run by amateurs.

 

[TheRemainsOfTheDave]

The trams, as they stand, are just not up to the job of getting large crowds to and from City's ground. If you use them off-peak, they are generally great. Peak times, be prepared to be packed like a sardine, but they will get you there. Massive football crowds are a bridge too far.

I am sorry, I still take the view that we need an actual railway station on that goods line round the back, and yes I know it will cost money. But if we are going to make our ground bigger and eventually have a host of other attractions around the estate, it is needed. Pissing about with tram schedules and so on is not going to do it. Because the trams are being asked to do a job they are not up to - the fact they share the road with ordinary traffic over part of the route doesn't help either. Again, if you are on it on a Wednesday afternoon, it's fine. Football nights - bloody hopeless.

The other thing that might solve it would be a bespoke solution like a monorail to and from town - but that would cost a mint and it's about as likely as the Isle of Man joining the space race.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-11201179

 

[Gray]

I e mailed them when the changes first happened asking why they had stopped the direct services from Altrincham and changed it to a direct service from Eccles. The reply was other areas were complaining there was no direct service from their area and they had to be fair. Still no idea why they can't just run trams that are going into Piccadilly the extra few stops to the stadium on match days, it doesn't seem that difficult. They tend to forget they are supposed to be a public service run for OUR benefit, not on the whims and strops of their managers and employees.

I have contacted the Club, Metrolink and Andy Burham about the appalling service on a match day and only got negativity and waffle in response.

My main points were:

• Double trams to be provided in the hour before kick-off and after the final whistle to avoid overcrowding.
• Trams to be queued on the third track between Etihad Campus and the Velo Park stops.

To me it was simple to organize if there was a will.

Here is the reply from his Worship the Mayor, why anybody voted for this Scouse buffoon is beyond me?

 

[TheRemainsOfTheDave]

I have contacted the Club, Metrolink and Andy Burham about the appalling service on a match day and only got negativity and waffle in response.

My main points were:

• Double trams to be provided in the hour before kick-off and after the final whistle to avoid overcrowding.
• Trams to be queued on the third track between Etihad Campus and the Velo Park stops.

To me it was simple to organize if there was a will.

Here is the reply from his Worship the Mayor, why anybody voted for this Scouse buffoon is beyond me?

Does his response not answer part of your concerns by explaining why trams aren't available and what is being done to rectify it?

Personally the issue is that every tram has to go via the city centre and often requires a change on a crowded platform. Currently it's just not as quick, cheap, reliable or comfortable as driving by car, so there's absolutely no reason to use it, other than you might possibly be able to have a proper drink and negates the small chance you might get your car vandalised/stolen. It would cost our group of 4 people £25 to travel to the game. I still need to drive to the Met station so am prevented from the benefit of being able to drink unless I catch a bus to the met which adds another £5 each and 30 mins travel time each way. I live just 10 miles from the ground within the GM region. What a shambles.

 

[paulchapo]

Does his response not answer part of your concerns by explaining why trams aren't available and what is being done to rectify it?

Personally the issue is that every tram has to go via the city centre and often requires a change on a crowded platform. Currently it's just not as quick, cheap, reliable or comfortable as driving by car, so there's absolutely no reason to use it, other than you might possibly be able to have a proper drink and negates the small chance you might get your car vandalised/stolen. It would cost our group of 4 people £25 to travel to the game. I still need to drive to the Met station so am prevented from the benefit of being able to drink unless I catch a bus to the met which adds another £5 each and 30 mins travel time each way. I live just 10 miles from the ground within the GM region. What a shambles.

He says more and more people are using the tram, well guess why? The reason is they have cut bus services completely along routes the tram serves so people have no choice. Prior to the cuts I could get a 370 or a 41 bus from Altrincham to Didsbury and back. I bought a bus daysaver, hopped on a bus around the corner and got off and got a connection straight into Didsbury village. Cost £5.90. Now I have to get a bus to Altrincham, a tram to Trafford bar, walk over a bridge and wait on another platform for a tram to Didsbury, cost £7.30. Going home is the same. If I want to catch a bus to my house from Altrincham I have to get back there for 22:20 when the last one leaves or pay a taxi adding another £10 to my night out, that's if I can get one. The transport system in Manchester is appalling.

 

[Gray]

Does his response not answer part of your concerns by explaining why trams aren't available and what is being done to rectify it?.

Last home game I went to Navigation Road to catch the tram to the Etihad via a change at Cornbrook. I was there at just after 6pm and there was lots of double trams coming out of town both from Bury and Piccadilly as it was still in the rush hour.

Where were these trams just 4 hours later when the match finished, the tram back to Altrincham was as is normal a single overcrowded unit.

If the trams are available in the rush hour as I and many others have witnessed first hand why aren't they there later on in the day?

Burnham is lying, pure and simple - it is not lack of trams but overtime payments and weekend working payments that effect the match day service.

I would respect him more if he did a proper investigation, and told the truth.

 

[TheRemainsOfTheDave]

Last home game I went to Navigation Road to catch the tram to the Etihad via a change at Cornbrook. I was there at just after 6pm and there was lots of double trams coming out of town both from Bury and Piccadilly as it was still in the rush hour.

Where were these trams just 4 hours later when the match finished, the tram back to Altrincham was as is normal a single overcrowded unit.

If the trams are available in the rush hour as I and many others have witnessed first hand why aren't they there later on in the day?

Burnham is lying, pure and simple - it is not lack of trams but overtime payments and weekend working payments that effect the match day service.

I would respect him more if he did a proper investigation, and told the truth.

Fair enough. Is this common knowledge/rumour? I'm not disputing it, I just don't follow events on Metrolink developments because there's currently no way I would use it.