Lets see what emerges from the Northern Hub proposals. If platforms are put on the Chat Moss Lines at Salford then the through route from Victoria to Piccadilly will become more like the Circle Line - lots of closely spaced stations which would be good for localised distribution of passengers in that they get on/off where they want to go but difficult for passengers wanting a quick run from Rochdale or Leeds who want a quick run to the airport. Imagine Victoria, Salford, Deansgate, Oxford Road, Piccadilly dwell times adding up - and once the python is in the pipe there will be no overtaking unless the Chord proposes quadding from Ordsall to south of Piccadilly which could be very expensive.
One way of dealing with inner city congestion would be to reduce the number of trains. I have always favoured turning the Salford - Walkden - Atherton - Wigan Route over to trams ot tram trains. Manchester's relative success in light rail as compared to say Edinburgh is the clever conversion of former rail alignments Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Chorlton into Metrolink Routes. Conversion of the Salford Route could include extensions down disused alignments such the proposed bus track to Leigh - a Pomana type flyunder would be simple in tram engineering terms. Other options could include a spur to Westhaughton. I have found that the commute in from the East Lancs Road has become progressively more difficult over the years - the extra capacity from dualling the road from Frederick Road through Pendleton to the M60 put in in the 1970's has been swallowed up by increased traffic - further large road expansion is difficult in the Wigan Manchester corridor
The difficult bit would be from getting from Salford Crescent to the centre of town avoiding the Crescent. However if a double deck station like the LUL Canning Town were built it would be possible to run Metrolink Tracks alongside the current Salford Cresent -Victoria link (having realigned the odd batching plant siding and with a Metrolink Station at Oldfield Road). From Salford Central again using light railway engineering it would be possible to access the rest of the Metrolink system by way of the old Exchange Station site - whilst any developer would probably object to having to put up with large railway station extensions cutting into their prime retail/office space a tramway running through it would be less instrusive and bring footfall to any new development.
Finally in my tramway in the clouds speculation - I would link Salford Crescent to the existing Metrolink Tram route with a DLR type chord running across to the Eccles route at Anchorage via Albion Way near the end of the M602/Regent Road to join . Freeing up the paths from Salford Crescent to Victoria could allow such ideas as the Victoria- Todmorden - Burnley - Blackburn - Bolton- Victoria service and the Victoria Bolton Blackburn Clitheroe Hellifield Settle and Carlisle to be introduced, together with the Huddersfield locals running through to say Southport via Bolton - reducing central area stress. It's a big plan but so is the Northern Hub.
One way of dealing with inner city congestion would be to reduce the number of trains. I have always favoured turning the Salford - Walkden - Atherton - Wigan Route over to trams ot tram trains. Manchester's relative success in light rail as compared to say Edinburgh is the clever conversion of former rail alignments Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Chorlton into Metrolink Routes. Conversion of the Salford Route could include extensions down disused alignments such the proposed bus track to Leigh - a Pomana type flyunder would be simple in tram engineering terms. Other options could include a spur to Westhaughton. I have found that the commute in from the East Lancs Road has become progressively more difficult over the years - the extra capacity from dualling the road from Frederick Road through Pendleton to the M60 put in in the 1970's has been swallowed up by increased traffic - further large road expansion is difficult in the Wigan Manchester corridor
The difficult bit would be from getting from Salford Crescent to the centre of town avoiding the Crescent. However if a double deck station like the LUL Canning Town were built it would be possible to run Metrolink Tracks alongside the current Salford Cresent -Victoria link (having realigned the odd batching plant siding and with a Metrolink Station at Oldfield Road). From Salford Central again using light railway engineering it would be possible to access the rest of the Metrolink system by way of the old Exchange Station site - whilst any developer would probably object to having to put up with large railway station extensions cutting into their prime retail/office space a tramway running through it would be less instrusive and bring footfall to any new development.
Finally in my tramway in the clouds speculation - I would link Salford Crescent to the existing Metrolink Tram route with a DLR type chord running across to the Eccles route at Anchorage via Albion Way near the end of the M602/Regent Road to join . Freeing up the paths from Salford Crescent to Victoria could allow such ideas as the Victoria- Todmorden - Burnley - Blackburn - Bolton- Victoria service and the Victoria Bolton Blackburn Clitheroe Hellifield Settle and Carlisle to be introduced, together with the Huddersfield locals running through to say Southport via Bolton - reducing central area stress. It's a big plan but so is the Northern Hub.
