Services have now resumed between Woodlands Road and Victoria on the Bury line of Manchester Metrolink having been suspended for engineering works between 31st July and 6th August. This work linked the existing line with the new Oldham and Rochdale route – ready for phase one of the line to Central Park to open in spring 2011. Work was also undertaken on the crossover at Victoria, which was almost 20 years old.
Philip Purdy, GMPTE’s Metrolink Director, said: “This work represents a significant milestone in the expansion of the Metrolink network, with the existing Bury line being connected to the new Oldham and Rochdale line an important step towards the opening of the first phase of the new line to Central Park next year. This new route, which will also open to Oldham Mumps in 2011 and to Rochdale Railway Station in 2012, will be a real benefit for the area, providing passengers with frequent services to and across Manchester city centre as well as onward connections with tram, bus and rail networks across the UK. We do appreciate the closure of a section of the Bury line for the engineering works will cause some disruption; however the work is essential to the network's expansion and simply cannot be done any other way. Rather than dragging the closure out over many weekends, we have opted to condense the closure into a week-long period during the summer to limit inconvenience for passengers. During the closure we will, of course, be providing alternative means for passengers to travel between Woodlands Road stop and Victoria, and a full service will be restored when the work is complete."
Throughout the disruption Bury line trams only ran between Bury and Woodlands Road with replacement buses provided by Stagecoach Manchester in operation. Passengers on the tram were around 50% of the previous week. Trams noted in use on the Bury-Woodlands Road section included 1002, 1007, 1008, 1009, 1012, 1016, 1018, 1019, 1023 and 1026. Most of the rest of the operational fleet was in operation on the Altrincham and Eccles lines. Latterly the M5000 trams have only been used on the Eccles services, but this week quite a few were noted on the Altrincham service.
* The leaflet handed out to passengers about the closure can be downloaded here.
Source: GMPTE & Gordon Ferguson