Tram jam as buses queue up

Alan Salter

June 15, 2006

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BUSY: Piccadilly Gardens.

THE METROLINK system is being paralysed as trams are forced to queue among buses in Manchester centre.

Congestion in Piccadilly Gardens forces buses into ever-increasing delays along Mosley Street, trapping trams which share the road.
On one evening rush-hour recently, nine trams were trapped between G-Mex and Piccadilly and on another occasion, a tram took 61 minutes to get less than a mile from the exhibition centre to the Gardens.

Many of the buses which use Mosley Street arrive from the popular Oxford Road routes from the south. Because there are only 28 trams during peak times the city centre delays are causing serious problems for Metrolink's six-minute scheduled daytime frequency.

David Godley, managing director of tram operators Serco, said: "At worst, a third of my fleet can be at a standstill and the whole network just ceases to function.

"Passengers get frustrated because drivers are forbidden by health and safety laws to open the doors to let them out.

'Re-route'

"We could really do with some of the buses being re-routed but I realise that that is difficult."

Metrolink bosses have had talks with the Passenger Transport Executive, which owns the system and also runs Piccadilly Gardens and the bus operators.

Mark Threapleton, managing director of Stagecoach and chairman of the Greater Manchester Bus Operators Association, said: "It is a question of trying to fit a quart into a pint pot. Piccadilly really is not big enough for the demands placed upon it at certain times of the day. I believe that what we need is a Shudehill-type bus station for the southern services but there just isn't the spare land.

Michael Renshaw, from the PTE, said: "Increased supervision has gone some way to tackling the problem, but in the longer term we are working to deliver a transport routing strategy which will resolve these problems."

DO you think this problem can ever be solved? Have your say.

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Showing comments 1 to 25 and replies | View All

pauline, greater manchester (15/06/2006 at 11:05)

I have already sent letter to complain about the re routing of the buses from cross st,this increasing the log jam in Piccadilly still awaiting reply.Took an hour to get from m/c to Eccles trams were held up there.

emily, manchester (15/06/2006 at 11:22)

Would it not make more sense for the traffic coming from Oxford road to divert this down Portland Street and enter Piccadilly Gardens this way as the Trams would not be affected during Rush Hour. Or maybe swap around so the route that the Southern buses use for leaving the gardens down Princess street now becomes the way they enter into Manchester. Whatever way they do decide something has to be done and quickly as this cannot carry on.

doug, manchester (15/06/2006 at 11:34)

The problem is that there are far too many buses using Oxford Road. I know that this is one of the busiest bus routes in Europe, but what angers me is that you will often see 3 or 4 buses all travelling in convoy with hardly enough passengers on them to fill one bus not only is this putting a strain on the road surface (it is full of pot-holes) it is also adding to the problem of pollution. The council needs to restrict the nmber of buses each of the numerous companies competing for passengers has on this route. Another idea would be to create services that go no further than the university as in term times most of the buses are empty by the time they reach the BBC.

louise, manchester (15/06/2006 at 11:35)

why have buses coming right into the centre? It's bonkers. I thought we were trying to stop congestion and pollution. Buses could stop on the outskirts and people can walk etc.

Paul, Manchester (15/06/2006 at 12:11)

Why not raise the trams off the road, like a monorail, so they aren't impeded by the road-bound traffic? Or lets have an underground. Mind you, with so many screw-ups on building projects of late (Wembley, whistling Beetham etc) I wouldn't be surprised if the whole of Manchester sunk into a hole if they started doing that...

Ron, manchester (15/06/2006 at 12:12)

Can anyone shed light onto why most of the buses blocking the trams on mosley st are empty?

Dan, Manchester (15/06/2006 at 12:18)

Did no-body see this coming?

Surely there must have been planning for this situation as Piccadilly Bus Station simply isn't big enough to cope with the demand. I work at the university and the problems exist on Portland Street also with too many buses in the station at peak times.

All parties involved need to get to the bottom of this in order to keep passengers flowing at all times.

It's not just trams that are delayed, it is also buses trying to get into Piccadilly via Portland Street.

Rich, man. (15/06/2006 at 12:37)

The problem is exiting the station, no busses can get onto Portland Street due ot the roadworks and therefore none can get into the station. This has been going on for weeks.

Annette, Manchester (15/06/2006 at 12:39)

Louise - why not have the trams stopping outside the City Centre and let the passengers walk? As a regular bus passenger, I am getting fed up of having to walk further and further from where the bus stops to where I work. Fortunately, I will be moving out of this area in the not too distant future and will no longer have to put up with the disastrous traffic management of Manchester City Council and GMPTE

Darren, Manchester (15/06/2006 at 12:55)

The buses are to blame. As the bus companies are in competition with each other and operate the same routes they attempt to get whatever advantage they can on other buses. This does just happen on Mosely St but on Oldham St, Lever St and any other bus stops in the City. They block roads which in turn means queues of buses, taxi, metros or whatever happens to be on the road at the time. GMPTE and the council need to get a grip of the bus companies.

Jamie, Salford (15/06/2006 at 12:57)

What starts it is when a so called PROFESSIONAL bus drivers blocks the YELLOW BOX as they enter Piccadilly bus station off Mosley Street because the STAGECOACH 142,143 and UK NORTH fight it out for passengers. If you made the bus drivers read the HIGHWAY CODE this would help. Box junctions. These have criss-cross yellow lines painted on the road (see Other road markings section). You MUST NOT enter the box until your exit road or lane is clear. However, you may enter the box and wait when you want to turn right, and are only stopped from doing so by oncoming traffic, or by other vehicles waiting to turn right. At signalled roundabouts you MUST NOT enter the box unless you can cross over it completely without

Jen, Salford (15/06/2006 at 13:09)

What the people who comment about having buses stop outside the city centre dont think of is that there are people who need to travel as close to their destination as possible due to a disability or as they have young children with them
not having buses come into the city centre is ridiculous , they should ban all traffic apart from Public transport from the city centre freeing up the roads for the people who actually care about the environment enough to commute on a bus even tho the car would be easier for them

Manc, city centre (15/06/2006 at 13:16)

I catch the tram from eccles to the centre everyday and it is a complete nightmare!
The other week we were stuck on mosley street for 20 mins, and then the passengers started getting aggro with the driver and eventually broke the safety button to open all the doors, immobilising the tram. there must have been 5 trams and god knows how many buses backed up down the road yet when you go o cross street nowadays it's like the marie celeste.
mcc and gmpte need to do something and quickly.

AC, Manchester (15/06/2006 at 13:20)

The whole concept of intergrated transport is a myth in Manchester. By nature bus companies in competition with each other can not be intergrated in terms of service, why would they want to be? Manchester urgently needs a regulatory system as they have in London. The area under supposed control of the GPMTE is large enough for it to be possible. A city wanting to compete on an international stage should be able to organise a bus system. GMPTE must be relieved that all the old tram ways were dug up, how would they cope managing a large tram system AND a bus system together.

Jane, G Manchester (15/06/2006 at 13:23)

As a Metrolink season ticket holder I am regularly disgraced that I have to wait over 20 minutes for a tram due to buses blocking the road. I find it hard to believe that GMPTE have no control over how many buses are entering Piccadilly gardens. Surely this is their problem and they should be regulating how many services are entering the area. The buses should be penalised for blocking the trams path as they are disrupting tram users at no fault of Metrolink.

Law Abider, Manchester (15/06/2006 at 13:45)

It is the ignorant "we rule the road" bus drivers at fault, jockeying for position and flouting the Highway Code. Been going on for years, road rage rules amongst GM Buses and damn the passengers and other transport. They should be fined.

Susan, City centre/train conmuter (15/06/2006 at 14:02)

I don't use the buses or the trams - but as a pedestrian I am fed up with not being able to cross Mosley Street at the lights by the tram stop because the buses are stuck there bumper to bumper, obstructing the crossing and not leaving enough room for people to cross the road in between them.
This is not the only crossing that gets obstructed in this way. I don't think the drivers realise how much room they're taking up (or more likely don't care).

Caroline, Manchester (15/06/2006 at 14:20)

Ron - most of the buses on Moseley Street are empty as the passengers have already asked if they can get off! We don't like being stuck either!

Closing Cross Street to traffic was a ridiculous idea and has aggrevated the congestion problem at Piccadilly no end.

Mark, South Manchester (15/06/2006 at 14:44)

What an utter joke! The redevelopment of Piccadilly Gardens has been a disaster - the city council have tried to "get a quart into a pint pot"!
Over developed, fume ridden & dangerous!
The people told the city council at the time, that the proposed scheme just wasn't "good enough" for Manchester! Bizarrely though, they castigated anybody who complained about their daft plans, as a "Middle-class t****r"!!!

TrueManc, Chorlton (15/06/2006 at 14:57)

Simple solution.... replace the buses with Trams down Oxford Road!

JD, Manchester (15/06/2006 at 15:03)

Other than the other points raised here it would also be nice to have the busses turn up on time, rather than wait ages and see 3 turn up at once. I'm looking at YOU princess parkway route!!

Alan, Denton (15/06/2006 at 17:56)

If they extended the metro link this could replace some busses and cut the amount of busses, oh I forgot the government banned that idea by not giving their funding, I think we need to give this government a kick to give the funding needed to invest in public transport, also I think cars should be banned from the city center to cut the congestion more, this would also give more space for the trams and busses. I would like to hear your opinions on my view.

Ken, Virginia (15/06/2006 at 19:23)

Living in Virginia Beach, the problem here is lack of buses; there is no mass transportation of buses, so using your car is the only way to get around. I miss Manchester's bus system.

Jamie, Salford (15/06/2006 at 22:16)

Caroline I take it that you are a bus driver. please please please remember this Box junctions. These have criss-cross yellow lines painted on the road You MUST NOT enter the box until your exit road or lane is clear. However, you may enter the box and wait when you want to turn right, and are only stopped from doing so by oncoming traffic.

Roy Oldham, London / Ontario / Canada (16/06/2006 at 00:51)

As an expat, who is interested in public transportation - particularly Manchester's and how it has changed over the years -I have read with interest the comments from those currently experiencing the frustrations. It appears to me that the ultimate solution if discovered would take time to implement and still wouldn't please everyone. It is obvious that Piccadilly Gardens has surpassed its capacity and an immediate even if only short term solution is needed.
It's not that long ago that services from the north terminated at Stevenson Sq / Lever Street. People had to walk into Piccadilly. Those arriving today at the new Shudehill do likewise [I know metroshuttles/metrolink are options].Therefore some services from the south/Oxford Rd could terminate at Princess St.- eg St Peter Sq/Moseley St then right onto Princess St OR via Mount Street / Albert Sq & Princess Street.
This would free up the top part of Moseley Street for the metrolink trams.
If any Buses need to get nearer to the Gardens then these routes should go via Mount St /Albert Sq/Cross and King Streets ending on York street behind Piccadilly. If parking is currently allowed on York then this would need to change to allow buses to stop along the full section. In addition Buses MUST obey all road "signs" and if found blocking intersections etc should be reported with both the driver and company receiving fines.

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