Transport for Greater Manchester are holding an information event on proposals for a new Metrolink stop at Queens Road – next to the depot – on Wednesday 9 January so anyone interested can find out the benefits of the new stop and to see initial designs.
The stop would be served by trams on the Bury line and would be the first stop after leaving Victoria. It would become the second new stop to be built on the Bury line since opening following on from Abraham Moss and would be another reason why Woodlands Road stop needs to close as it would leave three stops in close proximity. Plans for a permanent stop at Queen’s Road have been long in the planning for TfGM and it is a surprise that in the recent debate surrounding the closure of Woodlands Road they have not used this as part of their argument to close the stop.
A planning application went in last month and it is expected a final decision on this new stop will be made in the early part of this year.
The information event takes place between 1500 and 1900 on Wednesday 9th January at the Irish World Heritage Centre, 10 Queens Road.
I think one reason why there wasn’t more made of the proposed Queens Road stop during the closure process for Woodlands Road was that TfGM weren’t sure they could obtain the funding.
Abraham Moss was always intended to replace Woodlands Road as of the small number of passengers at the latter most were students at the Abraham Moss Centre. Not many of the local residents actually used the stop.
To address the question of run times which was raised in the initial posting of this news item. The time allowances for Woodlands Road have been transferred to Abraham Moss. This is why having both Abraham Moss and Woodlands Road open incurs a time penalty. The timetable already has an allowance for stopping at Queens Road since many trams stop there for the staff halt for driver relief and other staff travel. Opening the proposed stop will not really impact on run times therefore.
Decided to take the bull by the horns and ‘do’ the entire current Metrolink system today (to celebrate the first day of my bus pass!) with the exception of the Piccadilly station branch which was closed today for trackwork. The most notable aspect was that the service was entirely in the hands of M5000’s, certainly between 11am and 3.30pm, the only T68/T68A seen out was 2004 heading for Bury displaying “Sorry Not in Service” so presumably on a driver training or test run. 3032 was noted on driver training runs to Shaw in the afternoon, 3043, 3044 and 3060 were all noted in service on the Bury / Altrincham run.
freel07 says “Abraham Moss was always intended to replace Woodlands Road as of the small number of passengers at the latter most were students at the Abraham Moss Centre. Not many of the local residents actually used the stop.”
Arrant nonsense on 3 counts.
1) The business case, appraisal report etc was for a package for stations at Abraham Moss and Queens Road and the closure of Woodlands Road.
2) Abraham Moss is not a substitute. It is 360 m walking distance from Woodlands Road very close to the 400m limit for light rail catchment zones
3) Many local residents including myself regularly used the stop. TfGM` own passenger survey showed that 957 people used Woodlands Road between 7am and 7pm on Thursday 26th Nov 2009. This equivalences to over a quarter of a million passengers per annum.
With its closure many elderly and disabled residents are marooned in their homes given the paucity of any adjacent bus services.
Stan Price
Despite the rather rude reply I comment on your points.
1 I accept your point about the whole package and acknowledge my mistake.
2 Abraham Moss and Queens Road combined are judged to represent alternatives for Woodlands Road as only a small proportion of Woodlands Road passengers are actually originating from the immediate vicinity. From personal observation a large proportion prior to the opening of Abraham Moss were travelling to or from the Abraham Moss site and therefore actually benefit from the change. I am not sure about the 400 metre catchment zone comment as presumably if the maximum walking distance to a light rail stop is intended to be 400 metres there would be so many stops that the trams would be slower than a bus.
3 As stated presumably only a minority of the passengers were local to the stop. Did the survey identify where the passengers were making journeys to or from the immediate area?
Having read Stan Price’s comments and Freel07’s response, can I add my two pennorth.
Stan comments that elderly and disabled residents are marooned in their homes as a result of the closure of Woodlands Road, primarily because Abraham Moss is a further 360 metres away. Whilst I am nor privy to information to the contrary I would guess that this assertion is “arrant nonsense” at best. Abraham Moss is blessed with level access and a fairly level approach route from most directions. Woodlands Road, also has a fairly level approach route. But it is perched at the top of very steep steps or a long, winding and fairly steep ramp. I consider myself reasonably able bodied, though a little aged. Some years ago, during the major track renewals, trams were “turned” at Woodlands Road. Getting up the hill to the station was an absolute pain for me. So I would guess that the “elderly and disabled residents” that Stan refers to will, in all probability, be glad to see the end of Woodlands Road.
I might as well have my say as well!
Even if Stan Price is right about 400 metres being the maximum for tram stop catchment zones, by his own definition Abraham Moss is within that arbitrary limit, so what is his point or complaint? I never heard anything of people in the Abraham Moss area complaining about having to walk 360 metres to Woodlands Road before the new stop was opened. He should think himself lucky about that distance – there are many people in the Greater Manchester area (who fund Metrolink through their taxes) who aren’t even within a mile of a tram stop! I suspect that, like the Mosley Street situation, people just don’t like anything being taken away, even if the resulting inconvenience is minimal. As (I think it was) Deckerman said regarding the Moseley Street closure, if Metrolink had closed between 20 and 30 stops as happened on the Blackpool system people might have something to complain about!
I have only lived in Bury for five years, so I would like to say I’m not sure if I’m qualified to make any constructive comments about Woodlands Road, as I don’t even live in Manchester. I still think it is sad if a tram or train station has a history which goes back over 100 years, it would be a shame to just have it demolished. If people couldn’t simply use this stop as a limited or request stop or both, then as it is so close to the transport museum then why can’t it become some sort of tourist attraction. Better still, if the GMPTE are so determined to get rid of the station physically, then I’m sure the East Lancashire Railway would be glad of the station, as I believe they wanted to build a station at Burrs Country Park in Bury. At least it won’t just go to the scrap yard. I hope someone of influence does read this and think seriously about it.