Manchester Metrolink (Non speculative discussion)

[Mcr Warrior]

Also there will be a complete closure of the Altrincham, Eccles and Trafford Centre lines from Monday 13th July to Sunday 2nd August (inclusive) due to track relaying at Cornbrook and Deansgate-Castlefield.

Presumably this also affects the East Didsbury and Manchester Airport lines. Trams inbound terminating at Firswood tram stop?

 

[Rail Ranger]

Yes. This is from the Bee Network website:
From Monday 13 July to Sunday 2 August, tram improvement works will take place at Deansgate-Castlefield and Trafford Bar. During this time, additional works will take place in the city centre and along the Eccles line, allowing us to reduce further closures of the tram network.

The following changes will be in place across the network:

No trams will operate on the Eccles, Trafford Centre and Altrincham lines
Services operating on the East Didsbury/Manchester Airport lines will terminate at Firswood.
Services operating on the Rochdale line will terminate at Exchange Square.
Replacement buses will operate between the affected stops.

Tram services will resume as normal from start of service on Monday 3 August.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

Presumably this also affects the East Didsbury and Manchester Airport lines. Trams inbound terminating at Firswood tram stop?

Yep, all on the website.
Replacement bus info not yet added.

https://tfgm.com/tram-improvement-works/deansgate-castlefield-and-trafford-bar-workshttps://tfgm.com/tram-improvement-works/deansgate-castlefield-and-trafford-bar-works

From Monday 13 July to Sunday 2 August, tram improvement works will take place at Deansgate-Castlefield and Trafford Bar. During this time, additional works will take place in the city centre and along the Eccles line, allowing us to reduce further closures of the tram network.

The following changes will be in place across the network:

• No trams will operate on the Eccles, Trafford Centre and Altrincham lines
• Services operating on the East Didsbury/Manchester Airport lines will terminate at Firswood.
• Services operating on the Rochdale line will terminate at Exchange Square.

Replacement buses will operate between the affected stops. See below for more information.
Tram services will resume as normal from start of service on Monday 3 August.

Tram service pattern:

Monday to Saturday
Services will operate every 15 minutes:
Bury - Ashton-under-Lyne
Bury - Etihad Campus (peak-time only) / Victoria - Etihad Campus (outside peak)
Rochdale Town Centre - Exchange Square
East Didsbury - Firswood
Manchester Airport - Firswood

From Monday to Friday, peak-time only services will operate from 7am - 8pm.
On Saturday only, peak-time only services will operate from 9am - 6.30pm.

Sunday
Services will operate every 15 minutes:
Bury - Ashton-under-Lyne
Victoria - Etihad Campus
Rochdale Town Centre - Exchange Square
East Didsbury - Firswood
Manchester Airport - Firswood

I assume the main limit is serviceable trams given everything for Ashton, Bury and Rochdale will have to be run out of Queens Road, since Trafford is on the wrong side.

 

[edwin_m]

I assume the main limit is serviceable trams given everything for Ashton, Bury and Rochdale will have to be run out of Queens Road, since Trafford is on the wrong side.

Perhaps, although I'm a bit surprised they aren't running Altrincham from Old Trafford using the western depot access to turn back. With Eccles and Trafford definitely offline I'd have thought they would have enough vehicles in Trafford depot to do so.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Also there will be a complete closure of the Altrincham, Eccles and Trafford Centre lines from Monday 13th July to Sunday 2nd August (inclusive) due to track relaying at Cornbrook and Deansgate-Castlefield.

I wonder how much travel angst this will cause in that longish time spell to passengers who rely on the trams to travel to work?

 

[M60lad]

Looks like with all these possessions coming up it will keep the likes of Mario's, Transperia, First Manchester, Tyrers, Diamond and any other operators busy over the Summer along with other work that they do.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Looks like with all these possessions coming up it will keep the likes of Mario's, Transperia, First Manchester, Tyrers, Diamond and any other operators busy over the Summer along with other work that they do.

How well do these replacement buses jourbey times compare to the tram times normally?

 

[Par]

How well do these replacement buses jourbey times compare to the tram times normally?

Well, we’ve just completed a two week shutdown on the Rochdale line and replacement bus journey times were approximately double the tram equivalents.

 

[Bantamzen]

I wonder how much travel angst this will cause in that longish time spell to passengers who rely on the trams to travel to work?

From my own experience, the peaks from Altrincham and Eccles / Media City get very busy even when doubled up. So shunting all that traffic onto replacement buses is going to lead to chaos and some long journeys & hanging around for buses. Thankfully these days I travel via Piccadilly and have a shortish walk to the office. But previously I worked in Salford Quays, travelling via Altrincham, so frankly I would have sacked the commute and worked from home for the period of the closure.

 

[AndyB28]

Following the recent two-week closure of the Rochdale line I notice that all the newly installed track uses what appears to be standard-type concrete sleepers. Does this mean that Metrolink are moving away from the previous type which just has concrete pads under the rails with metal cross-pieces? Does anyone know the reason for the change?

 

[507 001]

Following the recent two-week closure of the Rochdale line I notice that all the newly installed track uses what appears to be standard-type concrete sleepers. Does this mean that Metrolink are moving away from the previous type which just has concrete pads under the rails with metal cross-pieces? Does anyone know the reason for the change?

I can't comment on what the policy is going forward as I don't know, however what I do know is that conventional sleepers aren't uncommon on Metrolink anyway, and M5000s typically ride better over the areas of the system that used conventional sleepers (be they timber or concrete).

Bi-block sleepers have also been replaced with conventional sleepers in a few locations over the last decade. These locations tended to be areas with poor ground conditions.

 

[AndyB28]

Interesting point, thank you! Given that such organisations rarely specify the more expensive option, I would guess that the bi-blocks were cheaper but have since proved to be a false economy?

 

[507 001]

Interesting point, thank you! Given that such organisations rarely specify the more expensive option, I would guess that the bi-blocks were cheaper but have since proved to be a false economy?

I'm not sure to be honest, I would note that bi block sleepers are used extensively on the French high speed lines...

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Question... What do the blue lights located up on poles, trackside, at certain (strategic?) locations on the Metrolink tram network signify? Only very occasionally ever seen them actually flashing!

 

[tram21]

Question... What do the blue lights located up on poles, trackside, at certain (strategic?) locations on the Metrolink tram network signify? Only very occasionally ever seen them actually flashing!

Correct me someone if wrong, but I believe they flash if there are two trams occupying a single line section at once, signalling to stop immediately to avoid a collision?

 

[edwin_m]

Correct me someone if wrong, but I believe they flash if there are two trams occupying a single line section at once, signalling to stop immediately to avoid a collision?

Correct. Certain junctions too, where the tram drivers might not have a good view of the other tram.

 

[507 001]

They are SPAD lights.

You'll often see them flashing if there is a conflict monitor fault, which means the TMS system can't tell whether there's more than one LRV in a section. The line controller will be talking any services past the affected signals in this case.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

Seems interesting, I don't think I've ever actually noticed any of them before, and I've travelled the whole network several times over. I'll keep an eye out for them in future now I know they exist.

 

[507 001]

Seems interesting, I don't think I've ever actually noticed any of them before, and I've travelled the whole network several times over. I'll keep an eye out for them in future now I know they exist.

You won't see them in street running areas, just segregated running.

They also, weirdly, aren't present at East Didsbury.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

With Parklife on Saturday, when are trams North of Victoria expected to be busy from? Might just go by car instead.
Planning to head up to the East Lancashire Railway on Saturday but just discovered that Parklife is on.

And does anyone know which bits of rare track will be used to turn trams at Victoria, the entrance and exit to Platform B/C, the crossover being used to access Platform D, or both? If the crowding is going to be insane I can just wait for engineering works to use at least one of those routes.

 

[pdsalford]

From memory the lines are insane all day, both days. It's a nightmare for us local residents. I just go away for the weekend to avoid it. I can't recall the tracks that are used, sorry.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

From memory the lines are insane all day, both days. It's a nightmare for us local residents. I just go away for the weekend to avoid it. I can't recall the tracks that are used, sorry.

Thanks, I've ended up in the city by accident on Parklife day before, but couldn't remember when the crowds for trains up to Bury started to get insane.

 

[Paul AC]

With Parklife on Saturday, when are trams North of Victoria expected to be busy from? Might just go by car instead.
Planning to head up to the East Lancashire Railway on Saturday but just discovered that Parklife is on.

And does anyone know which bits of rare track will be used to turn trams at Victoria, the entrance and exit to Platform B/C, the crossover being used to access Platform D, or both? If the crowding is going to be insane I can just wait for engineering works to use at least one of those routes.

There's more info at the TfGM "June weekend Friday 19, Saturday 20 & Sunday 21 June 2026" page: https://tfgm.com/june-weekend - as well as Parklife there are events at Old Trafford and Etihad. There's a section for "tram service pattern".

Previously the middle platform at Victoria has been used for the Bury <-> Victoria services; the Airport service, which normally uses this platform from the city end, is diverted to Piccadilly. There's likely to be a queueing system in place at Victoria to control access - which I guess is why Market Street and Shudehill are closed in the busy periods, to stop people from easily bypassing the queue.

 

[sprunt]

Hmm, I was planning to head into town on Saturday (from Bury) but this makes it look awkward. Looking at it, my best bet would be to come back from St Peter's Square (or maybe even Castlefield) - does that sound about right?

Or maybe drive to Ladywell and go in from there.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

Hmm, I was planning to head into town on Saturday (from Bury) but this makes it look awkward. Looking at it, my best bet would be to come back from St Peter's Square (or maybe even Castlefield) - does that sound about right?

Or maybe drive to Ladywell and go in from there.

There aren't through tram services towards Bury, they're just running Victoria - Bury.

It is best to avoid going anywhere near Heaton Park whatsoever so driving round is a sensible option.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Hmm, I was planning to head into town on Saturday (from Bury) but this makes it look awkward. Looking at it, my best bet would be to come back from St Peter's Square (or maybe even Castlefield) - does that sound about right?

Or maybe drive to Ladywell and go in from there.

Where exactly on the Metrolink network are you hoping to get to? Somewhere in Manchester City centre?

 

[sprunt]

There aren't through tram services towards Bury, they're just running Victoria - Bury.

The link above says that Bury-Altrincham services are running until 6.30, which will be fine for me.

Where exactly on the Metrolink network are you hoping to get to? Somewhere in Manchester City centre?

Yes - getting there from Bury won't be an issue, it's more a question of getting back without having to queue for ages.

 

[pdsalford]

Thanks, I've ended up in the city by accident on Parklife day before, but couldn't remember when the crowds for trains up to Bury started to get insane.

I used to work above Victoria station and there were long queues at 8am on my way to the office.

 

[Paul AC]

Trams being delayed at Brooklands due to a dog on the loose, possibly now under the tram I'm on. Nothing on the App or website. Delay 30 minutes and counting.

 

[Tim33160]

Just after Old Trafford tram stop, inbound, the old part of the four track MSJAR are has been stoned over and a single line laid, with stockpiles of rail and sleepers etc. The city end of which has been curved towards the inbound tram track. Will this be a temporary siding for the tram works closing the Altrincham line ??

From Monday 13 July to Sunday 2 August, tram improvement works will take place at Deansgate-Castlefield and Trafford Bar. During this time, additional works will take place along the Eccles line, allowing us to reduce further closures of the tram network.
The following changes will be in place across the network:

• No trams will operate on the Eccles, Trafford Centre and Altrincham lines
• Services operating on the East Didsbury/Manchester Airport lines will terminate at Firswood.
• Services operating on the Rochdale line will terminate at Exchange Square.

Replacement buses will operate between the affected stops.

https://tfgm.com/tram-improvement-works/deansgate-castlefield-and-trafford-bar-works