More tram chaos expected

Yakub Qureshi

June 30, 2008

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PASSENGERS have been warned they face more travel chaos tomorrow as repair work continues.

The tram left the tracks near the Princess Street and careered into poles carrying power lines which supply the service.

Although the crashed vehicle is expected to be moved later today, engineers say it will take at least 24-hours to fix the cables and restore power.

Passengers on board the tram, which had been laid on especially because of last night's Radiohead gig at Old Trafford cricket ground, described "sardine-like" conditions on board.

Although officials were unable to confirm the number of passengers, up to 300 were believed to have been onboard when the accident happened at 11.15pm yesterday.

Three people suffered minor injuries.

Independent investigators are now studying the scene to discover what happened.

The closure of the key junction has caused chaos for drivers and for Metrolink users, with two of the three lines affected.

During the disruption, travellers were unable to access information about the replacement services on the Internet.

The website of the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive, which operates the trams, failed at a critical moment when its server collapsed.

It meant that details of working tram lines and replacement services were not available online for a number of hours during the rush hour today.

Meanwhile the traffic problems were compounded by road works in the area.

Mains supply works were taking place on Quay Street, causing long tailbacks, and further emergency repairs were happening on Newton Street, near Piccadilly, to telephone lines which had broken last week.

A BT spokeswoman said: "We've had to set up temporary traffic lights on Newton Street. We have been at the site since Friday and are working as quickly as we can to repair the cables. We apologise to customers and drivers for the delay."

What do you think? Have your say.

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City centre tram chaos

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rammylad, ramsbottom (30/06/2008 at 12:34)

None of us can be bothered stating the obvious.

ace, manchester (30/06/2008 at 12:48)

rammylad, ramsbottom
Lets waste 3billion on a new set of problems (more trams).what a joke of a transport system. "brewery being drunk comes to mind" MCC want to put us all into debt to build more of these useless trams.

Councillor Allheart, in a black cab (30/06/2008 at 12:53)

Just think - if this happens once we have been bamboozled into the CON charge, it will be a nice little earner for MCC - might even pay some of the debt off.

Kiwi-blue, Christchurch NZ (30/06/2008 at 13:04)

This is exactly why vast funds need to be spent on improving the local transport infrastructure!

Ben Kulbacki (30/06/2008 at 13:18)

As someone not from Manchester and who attended the radiohead concert, I found the public transport provision after a major event like this totally inadequate. I think two people were checking all the tickets at old trafford station after the gig, which caused a major bottle neck. Then we were all forced onto the tram like lemmings since metro link did not have to foresight to put on extra trams to ferry everyone back to the centre. So the derailment just compounded the problem.

It's a stark contrast to events in london, where they've even put on free buses to get everyone out of the area.

Mr Noah Whalley Range. (30/06/2008 at 13:24)

So the Government urges the public to use Public Transport, what a laugh, Public transport is not safe after a tram can leave the tracks like that,
Bring back the Horse and Carriages, for a cleaner and safer environment.. I'll stick to my Bicycle for now.

TREVOR THOMAS (30/06/2008 at 14:10)

And they want us to give travelling by cars for this.

Daniel H, Salford Quays (30/06/2008 at 14:30)

I really think that this was a disaster waiting to happen and very lucky there were no serious injuries and lucky the tram halted on the road and not into a building.

From my point of view, you only have to look at the state of the track along Mosely Street and Lower Mosely Street - the road seem's crumbly along stretches of it and have always thought that the small depth of the track into the road could result in such an incident.

Must also point out what a shoddy replacement bus service was on offer this morning. Details on where to wait were non exsistent, and actually meant a large group of people including myself had a bus not even attempt to drive on the MAIN road leading to the tram stop.

Then when the next bus came all hell broke loose as when the passenger who had been directing got off at Exchange Quay, the driver had no idea of how to get to town.

Where are all these Metrolink staff you see out on Match Days, and where were all the drivers who should have been driving trams - could they not have been helping passengers at each stop and helping bus drivers find there way instead of standing in large groups at tram stops in town where there was plenty of help anyway.

bluesoapopera, Blackley Manchester (30/06/2008 at 14:51)

Who knows if all the extra passengers caused this, but one thing is for sure, the tram service to the concert was an absolute joke. Not enough trams were running, and the only way of catching one was to actually go to Piccadilly Train station. Surely if we hold large events we should provide extra services/carriages to ferry these people.

JandB (30/06/2008 at 14:52)

For heavens sake when will people stop being so quick to point fingers! An accident has occured, no-one was seriously injured, there are many people on the at the moment, i have just passed it myself. I think they have acted swiftly and remarkably! Of course those quick to complain are usually the ones "put out" by injuries or accidents of others. Let's see who points the finger if you ever have an accident!

Andy2, Manchester (30/06/2008 at 15:14)

And they keep telling us that trams are the future! As soon as something like this happens, half the network grinds to a halt. Trams are a relic of bygone times, and never should have been brought back.

Planet Telex (30/06/2008 at 15:24)

Ben Kulbacki, there WERE free buses to the city centre last night, and the organisation seemed fine to me. we were heading towards altrincham and got on the first available tram (a double-tram, as was the one arriving towards manchester soon afterwards) and were home not too long after the gig finished. the trams are always crammed in rush hour anyway, so it's hard to imagine that too many people on this one was what caused it to crash...

Snare Drum (Manchester Against Road Tolls), Ashton-under-Lyne (30/06/2008 at 15:41)

Manchester already has adequate transport to cover events like the Radio Head concert, well at least they did back in 2002 for the Commonwealth Games. What memories I have of that great event, when the transport system in Manchester ran so smoothly due to traffic lights being set correctly and bus lanes suspended and not a whiff of congestion. I was a truck driver throughout the games and remember how easy it was to get round Gtr Manchester.

bluelight, Levenshulme (30/06/2008 at 15:56)

Andy, that is a ridiculous comment. Since when were you an expert on tram networks. Countless cities across the globe have efficient tram systems. To come out with a comment like that after one accident in 18 years is daft. Why does one accident make it a thing of the past??? How many bus crashes and accidents do you hear about? - many. You don't hear people calling for them to be scrapped do you.

Ben Kulbacki (30/06/2008 at 16:07)

I'd like to respond to the comment from Planet Telex.

I was aware that there was a bus service back to the centre of Manchester, but the LCD display that I was looking at said it was £2.20, which isn't free. Since I had a return tram ticket I was inclined to use that. Also in London my experience is that they close roads to make sure that the buses have a clear route from the venue. I don't know if that happened in Manchester but I'm inclined to doubt it. I had a train to catch back to Leeds so I needed to make sure I got back to the centre as quickly as possible and the tram seemed the most sensible way of doing so.

Andy, Wythenshawe (30/06/2008 at 16:15)

" To come out with a comment like that after one accident in 18 years is daft. "

SO is that statement, there have been numerous accidents but clearly it's no reason to scrap them.

gemma britton (30/06/2008 at 16:16)

what i want to know is, if this happend last night why werent more buses arranged for this morning during peak time, a single decker coach had to drive past us in salford quays due to it being full. finally at half 9 a bus arrived me being an hour late for work after being stood at the stop for an hour. more rail replacement services would be a start what a joke taking the car tomorrow!

poc (30/06/2008 at 16:38)

Bluelight: "How many bus crashes and accidents do you hear about? - many. You don't hear people calling for them to be scrapped do you"

The difference is that when a bus crashes it doesn't bring so much chaos to Manchester. It was only a couple of weeks ago when the young lad jumped infront of a tram and brought the service to a stop.

A metrolink monthly pass for me is £80 whereas a monthly bus pass is £50. It may take longer on the bus but I know I never have to worry about such things having a massive impact on my journey home.

Metrolink is almost twice as much as a bus journey and part of the problem is that a high number of passengers don't pay, meaning others have to pay over the top to make up for their losses. If they are going to charge twice as much then the service should be twice as good, not one that continually grinds to a halt.

john] (30/06/2008 at 16:53)

The second city crossing proposed in the TIF bid would have stopped the tram network grinding to a halt as they would have been able to just divert them on that.

As for safety the Metrolink has had a handfull of incidents over the years with thankfully very few injuries or fatalities. Compare that with the 3,500 deaths, 29,000 serious injuries and 240,000 minor injuries that occur on our roads each year.

jomov, Manchester (30/06/2008 at 16:56)

Kiwi-blue - and you are bothered because....?

Audenshaw Bob (30/06/2008 at 17:13)

John, on the roads of Manchester? Are you sure?

Percentage wise these trams seem dangerous. We are warned of the dangers of walking on railway lines but what you have here is a train going through a city on open tracks.

Thankfully this accident happened late on a Sunday evening and not on a Satrday afternoon. I dread to think of the body bags needed if it had happened then.

Andy2, Manchester (30/06/2008 at 17:32)

Bluelight, I stand by my comments. A rail system like the trams means that a breakdown blocks the line for ages and nothing can get past. That's why it should be scrapped. And I recall an incident just last year which blocked the system - certainly not 18 years ago.

Dom, Manchester (30/06/2008 at 17:35)

Metrolink are now stating that 'Tram Services returning to normal'. They also explain that:
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch has completed its on-site investigation, near the St Peter’s Square Metrolink stop, and the tram was removed earlier this afternoon.
Engineers have been able to put temporary measures in place to support the overhead power cables so that trams can safely run through St Peter’s Square.
This appears to have been handled relatively well considering the complexities of rescuing the stranded tram.

jj openminded (30/06/2008 at 17:56)

I agree with Trevor Thomas if he is saying that sir dick less and co want us to give up cars for this!

I'll stick to my 20mins car journey each way rather than 90 mins each way (incl walking to station/work vice versa)

PW, Manchester (30/06/2008 at 19:03)

Jomov, I don't think a lot happens near where kiwi lives

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