Metrolink users

[Roachy]

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.

He is lying mate. Last season, the Huddersfield game I think, got off the tram at the Etihad for the match. There was a tram just leaving heading to town, one at the platform and another waiting behind that. This was obviously not pre planned, but it begs the question why can't it be pre planned. Reason- they can't be arsed.

 

[Gordyola]

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.

Write to Burnham and see what he’s got to say about that

 

[paulchapo]

Write to Burnham and see what he’s got to say about that

I did. You get the usual response about funding, services non profitable etcetera. Getting around Manchester is a slow, cold, frustrating expensive joke. That is if you can get where you want to go of course.

As for going to the match I now have a tram service that once I am in Altrincham will take me direct to the stadium after years of not being able to do so. Fantastic, it was a dream come true. So what did they do? Discontinue it. It is like some insane comedy sketch except it isn't funny.

 

[Blue Mist]

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.

As I have said many times, they line up double trams for the end of every Rag game. I have been on them and I have not queued. One after the other pulls in. loads up and goes. So why can't we ?
When Maureen had to walk to the ground on a Champs league night Burnham was quick to go to the press to say how he was going to make it a priority, yet again pandering to the raggies but eff all for us.

 

[Roachy]

I did. You get the usual response about funding, services non profitable etcetera. Getting around Manchester is a slow, cold, frustrating expensive joke. That is if you can get where you want to go of course.

As for going to the match I now have a tram service that once I am in Altrincham will take me direct to the stadium after years of not being able to do so. Fantastic, it was a dream come true. So what did they do? Discontinue it. It is like some insane comedy sketch except it isn't funny.

That's very concerning.

 

[paulchapo]

That's very concerning.

Its insanity. Let's build a transport infrastructure that gets people directly to a sports stadium to watch sport. When we have done that, let's then not do it but make them all get off the transport that could take them directly there, then wait with an ever increasing crowd of people in the cold and rain for another tram going to the same location and direction.

The sodding tram goes to Piccadilly station anyway! Three more stops and it is at the stadium! Nobody is asking them to run trams directly there on non match days but hey, wouldn't it be a great idea if we ran them direct when there was an event on, who'd have thought of that ingenious idea?

 

[Roachy]

Its insanity. Let's build a transport infrastructure that gets people directly to a sports stadium to watch sport. When we have done that, let's then not do it but make them all get off the transport that could take them directly there, then wait with an ever increasing crowd of people in the cold and rain for another tram going to the same location and direction.

The sodding tram goes to Piccadilly station anyway! Three more stops and it is at the stadium! Nobody is asking them to run trams directly there on non match days but hey, wouldn't it be a great idea if we ran them direct when there was an event on, who'd have thought of that ingenious idea?

It wouldn't take much and judging by the amount of people crammed in post event, a tidy amount of money to be made as well.

 

[berryblue]

Only once did I try to get the tram home after the game. Left with a couple of hundred others waiting on the platform and no sign of a tram and a larger queue waiting at the top. After 7 minutes a single arrived. Realised it was quicker to walk home and never bothered to use it again.

 

[TheRemainsOfTheDave]

As I have said many times, they line up double trams for the end of every Rag game. I have been on them and I have not queued. One after the other pulls in. loads up and goes. So why can't we ?
When Maureen had to walk to the ground on a Champs league night Burnham was quick to go to the press to say how he was going to make it a priority, yet again pandering to the raggies but eff all for us.

I was more querying the quote about overtime, I should have been clearer.

The comparison with the dark side is interesting. There are numerous lines going that way, with a new one to come, giving the poor deluded sods a choice of about 3-4 stops on different lines to pick a tram from. Metrolink seem to have gone down the route of the London Underground where trams run on a timetabled official line and are not deviated off that (hence the loss of direct Alt-Ashton and Bury-Ashton services). The logistics of moving trams around the network must mean there are generally more over that side of the city and over the border at the Swamp due to the number of lines, but I hear your point about Burnham jumping on their whinge.

The solution for us, I think, is more lines & trams rather than just more trams on one line.

 

[bennyboy]

Bus to the ground is a far better option than the tram.
Shame about the shambles after the match though.
Find myself walking back into town more and more now after the match.
Never done it in 20 min though.
30 min on average.