It is silly season in Manchester with four cars driving onto Metrolink tracks on various parts of the network in the past week causing disruption and leading to the almost unprecedented step of Transport for Greater Manchester releasing a statement urging motorists to be careful when driving.<\/p>\n
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Three of the four incidents have been at Holt Town on the Ashton-under-Lyne line \u2013 a location which has also seen previous \u201ccar on track\u201d incidents \u2013 and has led TfGM to confirm that they are holding an assessment into this location to see if there is anything else which can be done to prevent cars from accessing the tram tracks. All areas on Metrolink where motorists could possibly get \u201cconfused\u201d at the road layout and end up where they shouldn\u2019t be have signs and road markings which are \u201cbased on industry standard principles and best practice, meet all legislative guidelines and follow a thorough process of hazard and risk assessment\u201d. Despite this it seems some motorists in Greater Manchester are unable to work out where they should go and so RATP Dev are looking at any improvements they could make.<\/p>\n
The three incidents at Holt Town occurred on Saturday 9th (at approximately 0800), Tuesday 12th January (a car was spotted on the tracks at 0630) and Wednesday 13th January (causing a two and half hour period of disruption just ahead of a Manchester City home fixture at a time when there was also heavy road traffic).<\/p>\n
And to just add a bit of variety on Friday 15th January a car got stuck on the Airport line at the Benchill stop with trams being disrupted between 1000 and 1040 whilst it was removed.<\/p>\n
Speaking ahead of this latest incident Peter Cushing, Transport for Greater Manchester\u2019s Metrolink Director, commented: \u201cIt\u2019s incredibly frustrating when things like this happen, not least for those passengers whose journey was delayed and who arrived home late, to the match or elsewhere. Considering how busy the roads on the network are, and how many cars use them on any given day, it is obvious that the vast majority of motorists are able to navigate these junctions without incident. That said, it would be remiss not to acknowledge that this is an issue for some drivers and regardless of how small that percentage is, each time a car drives onto the tracks there is a ripple effect that impacts other motorists, passengers and staff. As a belt and braces approach the operator is in the process of doing a thorough assessment at the location.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It is silly season in Manchester with four cars driving onto Metrolink tracks on various parts of the network in the past week causing disruption and leading to the almost unprecedented step of Transport for Greater Manchester releasing a statement … Continue reading