It is time again to take a look at the recent performance of Manchester Metrolink following the release on the TfGM Committee website of the latest statistics. The report gives details on the performance of the service, any major incidents, trams out of service and the number of complaints which have been received during period 4 (Monday 22nd July to Sunday 18th August 2013) and a summary of this is provided below.
Performance
Performance as measured by Operated Mileage decreased during this period having finished at 98.77% in period 3. By the end of period 4 it was down to 97.54%. The Moving Annual Average ended at 98.89%. Most miles lost in these periods was down to vehicle reliability (27%), driver issues (19%) and signaling faults (9%).
Major Incidents
These are incidents which caused delays of more than 30 minutes and impacted on performance.
31st July: The Rochdale line was suspended at 1705 after a suspected suicide at Freehold. Services resumed at 1921 after the Police had completed their investigations
1st August: The service was suspended between Victoria and Crumpsall at 1950 due to an overhead line fault. The fault was not rectified until 0330 with services resuming from the start of service on 2nd August.
2nd August: Services were suspended between Market Street and Victoria due to a Police incident on High Street at 1708. Services resumed from 1818 after the incident was cleared.
3rd August: The conflict monitor at Cornbrook activated at 1246 leading to services on the Altrincham, East Didsbury and Eccles lines to be suspended. Services were able to resume at low speed through Cornbrook from 1400 and at 1510 the conflict monitor was successfully reset and normal operations resumed.
3rd August: No sooner had the previous incident been solved then at 1515 a M5000 tram derailed at the entrance to Queens Road Depot. Services on the Bury line were suspended. The tram was re-railed by 2255 and moved into the depot. At 0041 points 1003 were clipped and scotched and normal operation in and out of the depot commenced.
7th August: A double M5000 tram failed at 1800 at Rochdale with a traction fault. The service was suspended between Oldham Mumps and Rochdale until the tram was rescued at 2048.
11th August: The conflict monitor at Newbold failed at 2100 with services being suspended between Oldham Mumps and Rochdale. The conflict monitor was reset at 2252 and services resumed.
12th August: The service between Weaste and Eccles was suspended at 0900 due to a broken down lorry across the track. The lorry was recovered and normal services resumed.
15th August: Irk Valley Junction failed at 1438 and services on the Bury line were suspended. Trams continued to Rochdale but with delays. The Rochdale line was then suspended at 1455 in order to clip and scotch in the normal position to run services on the Bury line. At this time services were running on neither line until 1515 when the points were successfully reset and services were able to run to Bury. Services ran between Rochdale and Central Park during this period. The Bury line was suspended again at 1554 to test the repair to the points and then normal services resumed at 1604.
15th August: The conflict monitor was activated at Newbold at 2146 due to suspected driver error. The Rochdale line was suspended between Oldham Mumps and Rochdale until 2247 when the points were operated mainly. The conflict monitor was reset at 2333 and normal services resumed.
17th August: Due to cable theft the start of service on the Bury line was delayed. Services resumed at 1110 with the points being powered by a generator.
Complaints
672 written complaints were received during this period (up from 354 in period 3). 48% of the complaints were because of service disruption.
Six commendations were received during this period.
Patronage
Patronage including estimated concessions in August was 2.3 million passenger journeys – 114,000 above budget and 318,000 ahead of August 2012.
* The full report can be downloaded from the TfGM Committees website at http://tinyurl.com/p4g3nef.