Late-night trams for party season

Clarissa Satchell

November 17, 2005

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A WELCOME present has been handed to late night revellers - Metrolink trams will run late on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve for the first time in over a decade.

A barrage of complaints greeted last year's decision by tram operator Serco Metrolink to stop running trams at 10pm on the two popular party nights.

Now the company has agreed to run until 12.30am on Christmas Day and New Year's Day and put on extra trams on Boxing Day to cater for sales shoppers and football fans.

Pleased

Coun Roger Jones,chairman of Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority, welcomed the decision and said it could pave the way for later running times throughout the year.

He said: "This is good news for the travelling public.

"The authority is always keen to hear passengers' views and I am pleased we have been able to respond."

The latest trams have ever run on New Year's Eve was 2am in 1993, in a one-off sponsorship deal with Bass.

Since then, the latest service has been at 11.30pm on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.

On Boxing Day, trams will run from 9am-9pm on all three lines, with extra and double trams on the Bury and Altrincham line from 12 noon to 6pm for the Manchester United match.

For the two Bank Holidays, the same service as last year will apply, from 7am until 10.30pm.

Graham Stringer, MP for Blackley, has been campaigning for later trams and said he would now like to see the services running later throughout the year.

Do you welcome the later trams decision? have your say below.

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Showing comments 1 to 12 and replies | View All

Dave Moores, Heaton Park (18/11/2005 at 12:58)

How nice of Metrolink to be so accommodating to drunks and football fans by providing double trams and extra services. How about getting their priorities right? Instead of rolling out the red carpet for occasional and one-off users pursuing leisure activities (many of whom do not even buy a ticket), why don't they try pleasing the thousands of customers using trams for essential reasons every day - ie. getting to and from work - who pay up to B#1,000 a year for constant delays and overcrowding?

Over to you, Metrolink.

Rudolph the tram driver, The north pole depot (18/11/2005 at 20:15)

absolutelty fantastic news that we will have to transport the non fare paying, dope smoking, drunken idiots home on new year and xmas morning, the only day of the year that we were told we would never have to work!! but then again, the trains and busses will all be playing their part in this seasonal shambolic decision by the GMPTE or do the trains and busses not belong to this group of pretend politicians???
but what i'm interested to know is... who exactly will the drivers actually be transporting around the system in the early hours of christmas morning and 2006 when the conditions of carriage ( rules if i'm not wrong were implemented by GMPTE!) state that people who are under the influence of alcohol are not permitteds to travel on metrolink trams??? so i take it that everyone on these 'PACKED' trams will be sober???? when really this is just a back door way to get the already over stretched, over used system that is falling apart, ready to accept its part in the fantastic idea that is 24hr opening for pubs and clubs. wonder how many of these drivers will suddenly feel ill leading up to these days? then how will the drunken, dope smoking, non fare paying members of the public get home then? oh i just remembered the buses and trains will still be running!!! (insert wink thing!!)

tram customer, bury (19/11/2005 at 00:13)

I think its about time those lazy drivers were made to do some work. Glad to see that that Strirnger Bloke has got it right this time. It makes a change from all the other times he was trying to get it closed down.
Well to get back to those lazy drivers , every time I see them, mostly at half one or two oclock in the morning on friday or saturday night they are always trying to get us off at victoria when we want to go to bury . When we tell them that they have to take us all they say is sorry but its the end of service. As if I care that they have worked a full day . Who cares about them, its a free service for us and we can do what we want on it .
I want to have a good drinking christmas and I intend having one so thanks Stringer you should make them work all the time. they have no rights and every thing that is wrong on the trams is because of them drivers. Make them work and dont even think that they have any rights to object about it .
JUST tell the bosses what to do , thats the way it should be in this land.

Tram Driver, Canteen (20/11/2005 at 00:05)

I think its about time those lazy drivers were made to do some work. Was this written by someone upstairs who drives a black 4X4? I think all drivers should post a comment to show Stringer The GMPTA and SERCO how we feel and that WE DONT WORK ON CHRISTMAS DAY. Last year we had 1 COMPLAINT.

TRAM DRIVER, QUEENS ROAD (20/11/2005 at 00:25)

1 WHY SHOULD I DRIVE AN LRV ON CHRISTMAS DAY? WHEN WE DON'T RUN A SERVICE ON CHRISTMAS DAY
2 WHO HAS AGREED TO THIS AND IS IT IN AGREEMENT WITH THE DRIVING STAFF?
3 IS THIS IN OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS?
4 IS IT VOLUNTEERS ONLY?
5 ANY EXTRA PAYMENT TO STAFF?
6 ARE WE HAVING GREATER MANCHESTER POLICE ON EVERY TRAM AFTER 2200?
7 WILL WE HAVE REVENUE INSPECTORS OUT ON THE LRV'S TO PREVENT THE FREE SERVICE?
8 WILL MANAGEMENT BE IN ON CHRISTMAS AT 0202 TO WISH THE LAST DRIVER HAPPY CHRISTMAS?

Get Your Facts Right, Manchester (20/11/2005 at 02:21)

1. There was only one to complain about last years service.
2. It has yet to be agreed with the union at metrolink who are in dissagreement with metrolink with running into this most sacred of days.
3. No one who as had an alcoholic drink may travel on the metrolink as its against the law.
4 Metrolink can't even run the service now so what makes anyone think they can do extra over christmas, if i wanted to be sure of getting to that party id take the bus to be on time, just ask all the commuters how many times they get to work or that appointment late. It's about time the companies who's workers are late because of the metrolink start to charge them for time lost by their employees due to metrolink.

Harry, Blackley (21/11/2005 at 08:06)

I see the operator is being blamed again. However, the truth is that the GMPTE is the body that makes the decisions. It appear that the GMPTE is abusing its power and deflecting blame on to the Operator Serco. Decoisons to run late are the GMPTE's as part of the contract I am sure. why has it taken so long to announce? Probably the GMPTE had several sommittees set up to decide! Why do we have the GMPTE and GMPTA and the different opeartors, seems like there are too many involved and too much money being wasted.

Tram Driver, Somewhereinmanchester (21/11/2005 at 23:36)

Why do the buses and trains finish at 8pm then its volunteers
and extra pay after 8pm so why does the flagship of Manchester Metrolink has to do what the PTE tell them with no extra payments to staff who Have to work over the christmas period. Can someone answer this for me please

Real Worker, Manchester (29/11/2005 at 13:15)

I think this is a great company to work for and yes I am one of those upstairs workers. Its about time those drivers got their facts right. We do very hard work , harder than you lot. Also you moan about the controllers, well it seems its only them who keep the system running and most of their time is spent sorting out problems caused by you drivers and you still moan...
So get out there and do the work your paid to do , we work hard its about time you do too.

tram driver, queens road (29/11/2005 at 15:32)

We are paid crap wages, that is why we do a crap job. the person upstairs must be on drugs or something.

Commuter with no other option, Manchester (29/11/2005 at 16:35)

Any member off the GMPTE or GMPTA who decides to let serco run any public transport system should be sectioned under the mental health act. just look at the state they have put metrolink in. They couldnt run water from a tap without something going wrong. Then again Serco do run a fast and effficient service, oops sorry back in pantomine mode and fairy stories.

tram driver lover, lapland (15/12/2005 at 21:52)

to the person " bury customer" i think the tram drivers do enough work they have lifes too!!!!!!!!! they are not there just to rally around after drunks and yobbo's, wake up and get in the real world!!!!!

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