Tram passengers have been told to prepare for a week of disruption because of work to extend the Metrolink network.
Part of the Bury line will shut from next weekend (July 31) so that it can be connected to the new line to Oldham and Rochdale.
Bosses say the work – revealed by the MEN in March – is being done in a week between July 31 and August 6 to avoid more disruption by spreading it over eight weekends.
A report by Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive says the week-long shutdown will save £100,000 on the cost of replacement buses.
It means passengers including shoppers travelling to the £350m new shopping complex at The Rock in Bury will have to board replacement buses for part of their journey.
Thousands of people are expected to head into Manchester on August 1 for the mass-participation cycling event, Sky Ride.
Philip Purdy, GMPTE's Metrolink director, said the 'essential' work cannot be done without closing part of the Bury line.
He said: “We do appreciate the closure of a section of the Bury line for the engineering works will cause some disruption.
Essential
“However, the work is essential to the network's expansion and simply cannot be done any other way.
“Rather than dragging out the closure over many weekends, we have opted to condense the closure into a week-long period over the summer to limit inconvenience for passengers.”
A tram 'shuttle' will run between Bury and Woodlands Road and replacement buses will run between Woodlands Road and Piccadilly.
Work will also take place to renew the track crossover at Victoria, which is now almost 20 years old.
It means trams will not run between Victoria and Piccadilly on July 31 and August 1.
Trams on the Altrincham line will terminate at Piccadilly during the weekend, but trams will start running between Piccadilly and Victoria again on August 2.
The Eccles line will be unaffected.
Customer service staff will be at key stops to assist passengers and direct them to replacement buses.
The first section of the Oldham and Rochdale line, from Manchester to Central Park in Newton Heath, will open in spring next year.
It will be extended to Oldham Mumps next autumn and then to Rochdale railway station in spring 2012.
Milestone
Mr Purdy said: “This work represents a significant milestone in the expansion of the Metrolink network.”
He said connecting the Bury line to the new Oldham and Rochdale line was an 'important step' towards opening the first phase of the new route to Central Park next year.
The new line is part of a £600m Metrolink expansion that will see new routes open to Chorlton, MediaCityUK and Droylsden.
The government has also given the green-light for a £170m plan to extend the network to Ashton and Didsbury.
For information on replacement bus services call Metrolink on 0161 244 1555 or visit
www.gmpte.com/futuremetrolink
.
Commuters set for a week of Metrolink distruption
July 19, 2010
Comments
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I've just been handed the pamphlet as I travelled home. Well done Metrolink! You manage to explain in great detail how travellers on the South side of the network will be effected. Those of us on the North side (you know, the ones who will be most put out by this schedule of work?) have to somehow apply the information in reverse?
No Crystal Marks for you!
Why can't this work be done at night, it's not in a residential area. If this was the London tube, all but emergency work would be done in the five hours overnight that the tube isn't running. Why is it that a simple job such as replacing points couldn't be done overnight when it's not a residential area.
"Thousands of people are expected to head into Manchester on August 1 for the mass-participation cycling event, Sky Ride"
Not the tram, as bikes are forbidden, so they, at least, will not be affected.
"Bosses say the work – revealed by the MEN in March"
You make it sound like it was a secret until you revealed a great scoop to the world, when in fact you were just republishing a press release that was giving everyone 4 months notice to make alternative arangements.
Well said Andrew.
Most of the workers ive seen working on the metro extension in clayton east manchester seem to have school hours? most give up working around 4pm ? why are they not working 24/7 with arc lights like they do in other countries.in america a few years ago miles of freeways were destroyed because of a earthquake but within months the roads were repaired and rebuilt.
""Northridge earthquake destroyed the I-10 freeway in West Los Angeles, it was rebuilt in just a few months ""
[quote name=Zingo, Manchester]Most of the workers ive seen working on the metro extension in clayton east manchester seem to have school hours? most give up working around 4pm ? why are they not working 24/7 with arc lights like they do in other countries.in america a few years ago miles of freeways were destroyed because of a earthquake but within months the roads were repaired and rebuilt.
""Northridge earthquake destroyed the I-10 freeway in West Los Angeles, it was rebuilt in just a few months ""[/quote]
Do you know what the cost would be if they had to employ people to work on a 24hr basis? it would be astronomical and it was hard enough to get this funding in the first place, also i'm not sure the people who live along there would be best pleased at all the noise and disuption constantly. It's disingenous to compare the rebuilding of a freeway after an earthquake to the construction of a rail line.
[quote name=Zingo, Manchester]Most of the workers ive seen working on the metro extension in clayton east manchester seem to have school hours? most give up working around 4pm? [/quote]
I think your confusing yourself, they don't give up, their shift ends. Thats what happens at the end of the day.
Can you tell me one positive thing you have witnessed in your entire life (And dont tell me about the time you saw a naughy child get run over, that doesn't count)
Zingo, Manchester
They are being sensitive to the needs of local residents. Although work seems to continue after 4pm on the section I pass by, also they have been working Saturdays and Sundays recently.
Why was the Victoria - Piccadilly crossover work not done during the aeons that city centre tramservices were offline? Or is that a question too stupid even for Metrolink?
They are being sensitive to the needs of local residents
Just wait until the first tram starts going past some of the houses on ashton new road? then say that they care for the residents.
Most of the workers ive seen working on the metro extension in clayton east manchester seem to have school hours? most give up working around 4pm ?
Where on earth do Schools finish at 4pm? - certainly not in Tameside! If schools still had sensible hours like they did 25 years ago ie. 9 till 3.30, our traffic problems would be much reduced, - as I suspect would be anti-social behaviour by bored kids killing 3 hours before their parents get home from work.
I suspect the work is a little more complicated than simply replacing points. (Which is what they are doing at Victoria, which only takes two days - whilst the points themselves won't take very long, there is also all the signalling and detection equipment that go with them to first remove and then replace).
The work at connect the 'new' Oldham line will be a little more complicated. This will be a brand new set of points and crossing. If I remember that bit of line correctly, there are regular overhead line poles where the new line will leave the old. This will mean removing the overhead wires, erecting new poles, installing the new points and new signalling equipment, and making sure it is all safe for trams to travel over.
This is an extremely simplified explanation.
[quote name=squirrelito]Why was the Victoria - Piccadilly crossover work not done during the aeons that city centre tramservices were offline? Or is that a question too stupid even for Metrolink?[/quote]
Because services continued between bury and victoria for the period the city centre was closed for track renewal.
OH BRITISH RAIL, YOU WERE BRILLIANT YOU COULD DO THIS WITH OVERNIGHT CLOSURES ONLY