A bad day for Metrolink

Wednesday 6th February turned out to be a bad day on Manchester Metrolink with both the Eccles and Oldham lines suffering. The Eccles line was affected from lunchtime due to a collision between a lorry and a tram whilst the more serious incident occurred at Failsworth during the evening when tragically a lady lost her life after being struck by a tram.

The first incident occurred just before 1200 when a lorry hit a tram at the junction of Sheader Drive and Eccles New Road. The tram involved was M5000 3013 which was hit as it was travelling from Eccles towards the City. Four passengers were on board at the time of the incident with one suffering minor injuries. They were taken to hospital for treatment and were later released. Two other trams were coupled to 3013 to take it back to Queens Road Depot so that a full assessment of the damage caused could be undertaken.

Services between Eccles and Weaste were suspended for three hours whilst the rescue operation was underway and delays on the rest of the network were also reported as a knock-on effect.

The second major incident of the day happened at approximately 2230 when an elderly woman was hit by a tram around 100 yards away from the Failsworth stop on the Oldham Mumps line. The incident happened on a former stretch of railway line and was not anywhere near a designated crossing. The emergency services attended the scene but the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

Peter Cushing, TfGM’s Metrolink Director, said: “Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with this lady’s family. A full investigation is, of course, under way to understand the details of what has happened and we are actively supporting the police. The tram driver, who was not injured, is being supported and will be offered counselling.”

Tram services on the Oldham line were suspended for the remainder of the day whilst investigations were ongoing into this incident. CCTV and witness statements will be used in the full investigation now underway to try and ascertain the reasons why the woman was on the tracks.

This turned out to be a tragic day for Manchester Metrolink but it would appear at first glance that neither of the incidents were the fault of the trams but just simple accidents, albeit the second one ended in tragic circumstances. Our thoughts go out to the family of the lady who sadly died anyone else affected by the incidents.

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11 Responses to A bad day for Metrolink

  1. Ralph Oakes-Garnett says:

    Today the 8th February was another not so good day. Bomb scare in the city centre in the morning. Then just after everything was sorted out a power cut at Cornbrook and the ensueing chaos. I was able to take some spectacular pictures of long lines of trams as a result of both events. The free service for Tameside and East Manchester was a big success though and took on a carnival atmosphere after schools finished with hordes of youngsters with parents taking a ride.

    • Ken Walker says:

      Yes, I picked a bad day to go into Manchester to look for T68/T68A’s. 45 minutes on Mosley Street from about 1.30pm-2.15pm, only M5000’s to be seen! Ah well, try again on Monday.

  2. GLYN R HILL says:

    i was Filming on the EML and saw a pair of T68’s come from piccadily under croft and go across Shefield St into Shefield St Sdg and turn back for Bury it was when they had a Power Cut at Cornbrook.

  3. John Stewart says:

    Distressing though fatal accidents are, a way will have to be found to restore services quickly where the evidence points to it being as a result of a straying pedestrian. Road closure may be acceptable for buses, which can usually just drive round the block, but with the trams it becomes a total lack of service to a large segment of the Greater Manchester area. This location was unusual but I am amazed that more people don’t go under a tram at Piccadilly Gardens, such is the carelessness displayed.

    • Ken Walker says:

      The railway has the same problem with suicides, unfortunately on occasions such as these the relevant transport authority is at the mercy of the police as far as the location itself is concerned, usually the driver has a hotline to contact the British Transport Police to advise them (if appropriate) that said person jumped out in front of the train, which prevents the location being declared a scene of crime and helps to get things back to normal sooner. The circumstances of this particular incident will have to be determined by the relevant authorities.
      As regards Piccadilly Gardens and similar locations, too many people are too engrossed in their MP3 players or their mobile phones these days, their own personal safety seems to be of comparatively little importance to them.

  4. Ralph Oakes-Garnett says:

    Yes I only saw T68 cars on the through service Altringham to Bury and no T68A cars either on the 8th or today the 9th. Things were running fairly well on the Droylsden line today but hopelessly overcrowded within 2 stops.

  5. roger woodhead says:

    Agree with John on this one. If youget ‘one under’ on London Underground the line is not closed for the rest of the day. If i recall correctly did not local police (not GMP) decide that a train crash was a crime scene and closed a mainline for a day a few years back now. Police were later told that investigations into rail incidents were for the Railway Inspectorate who would advise if they thought a crime had been commited. Do not Tramways come under the aforementioned inspectorate?
    Insofar as the incident on Eccles New Road is concerned it does make me wonder what would happen if this was repeated in the City Centre with a crush loaded M5000, the unsignalled road crossing of Mosley Street has long been the scene of such incidents.

    • Ken walker says:

      Although the report correctly states that the line was closed for the rest of the day, this incident didn’t happen until about 10.30pm to be fair, the last tram would have left Manchester about an hour after this. There was no mention of what if anything they did to help the stranded passengers, bearing in mind the bus services are very sparse at that time of night.

    • freel07 says:

      Rail accident investigations are the realm of the Rail Accident Investigation Branch not HMRI these days. Separate and parallel BTP investigations may be undertaken if deemed necessary.

      Given the time at which this tragic accident occurred (22:30) it is highly unlikely that services could have been resumed even if an extremely fast response was made. There would have been at the best only one and a half hours left.

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