A normal Sunday service will run across the Manchester Metrolink network on Sunday 10th October with the planned strikes suspended again after a fresh pay offer was made during continued negotiations. The day had been set to see a severely reduced service on the Altrincham and Trafford Park lines only to support the Manchester Marathon but Metrolink will now be running a normal service on all lines.
Its not known what the new pay offer was but it follows two previous offers of 1% and 5% (over two years, split 2.4% and 2.6% per year) so will presumably be higher than either of these. Whereas the last pay offer was recommended for approval by Unite officials, of note is that this time their public statements make no commitment to whether they think their members should be accepting the offer.
While the strike due to take place on 10th October has been suspended to allow a ballot to take place the other strikes – 15th, 18th and 24th October – may yet still take place if the latest offer is rejected by members.
Dave Roberts, Unite regional officer, said: “Following lengthy negotiations with Unite, Keolis/Amey has tabled a fresh pay offer. “Members will now be balloted on the revised pay offer but should that offer be rejected then the remaining strikes will go ahead as scheduled.”
Guillaume Chanussot, Managing Director of KeolisAmey Metrolink, said: “The strike action planned for Sunday 10 October has been cancelled and Metrolink customers can once again travel with confidence. We will operate a regular Sunday service on this date, with some additional services to support the Manchester Marathon.”
And Danny Vaughan, Head of Metrolink at TfGM, said: “We’re delighted to now be able to support the marathon with a full Metrolink service on Sunday, although we would still advise planning ahead and allowing extra time for journeys as the trams will be busier than usual.”
Metrolink services are expected to be busy throughout the day, particularly on the Altrincham, East Didsbury and Trafford Park lines, and anyone travelling is advised to allow extra time for their journey.
Engineering works taking place at Deansgate-Castlefield on Saturday 9th October will still be happening which sees revised services running on Metrolink. It has also been announced that a limited number of late evening services on Friday 8th October will also be affected by these engineering works.
- Details of the service changes can be found on the TfGM website at https://tfgm.com/industrial-action