Passengers using Manchester Metrolink had a day to forget on Thursday 20th October with major delays after points at Cornbrook were damaged overnight by a contractors vehicle. Services were able to run through Cornbrook throughout the day but with delays as the points were having to be manually operated before a revised timetable was put into place from 1430 which saw no trams run from Cornbrook to MediaCityUK.
Planned maintenance work was taking place at Cornbrook overnight but unfortunately outside contractors undertaking this work damage the points with one of their vehicles. The damage prevented the automatic changing of points and as a result controllers were despatched to the scene to change the points manually which led to delays to services. The delays continued throughout the morning before a revised service was introduced from 1430 to allow for further investigation and repairs to the points. This saw all trams from Eccles only running to MediaCityUK with a replacement bus service operated to Piccadilly via Cornbrook.
Metrolink did warn passengers that delays could be expected from the start of service on Friday 21st October but the day started with a full and normal service operating.
My my. Manual operation of points, not by the tram crew note, causes delays. Was a risk assessment necessary before each point movement?
Having given the situation further thought, I guess the trams aren’t equipped with an expensive point iron so point lads (sorry, controllers) would have to be utilised – after sufficient training, of course.