Passengers on the Manchester Metrolink Eccles line woke up on Monday (3rd December) morning to discover that the engineering works which had necessitated the closure of the line over the weekend had not been completed and that replacement bus services were continuing to operate. The works had due to be completed by 0500 to allow trams to run from the beginning of service but in the end the first trams weren’t able to run until 1500 – a full 10 hours late.
Although Metrolink apologised for the inconvenience this caused they gave no reason for
why the works had not been completed in time with Chris Coleman, the Managing Director of MRDL – operators of the system, quoted in the Manchester Evening News: “The planned essential track maintenance we were carrying out over the weekend on the Eccles line has taken longer than we anticipated, and we’re very sorry for any inconvenience this has caused to our passengers.”
The replacement bus service which had been in operation throughout the weekend continued to run between Eccles and Trafford Bar calling at all stops with the exception of Pomona and arrangements were also made for Metrolink tickets to be accepted on the33 and 50 buses.