Peter Cushing, TfGM\u2019s Metrolink Director, has publically apologised to passengers affected by a catalogue of unrelated delays and service suspensions which caused major delays at a time when large crowds were in the town attending the Ashes Test Match at Old
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As reported on British Trams Online the problems started on Wednesday 31st July when a pensioner was hit and killed by a tram at Freehold on the Rochdale line and continued the following day when there was a RTC at a notorious spot on Mosley Street and problems with the overhead on the Bury line. Friday 2nd August saw services through Manchester Peter Cushing said: \u201cI would like to apologise unreservedly for the level of service that has been provided on the Metrolink network in recent days. I can fully appreciate how frustrating it must have been for passengers who have had to face disruption over several days, and how angry people are about it \u2013 feelings that I wholeheartedly share. People expect a high level of service when they use the network and in recent days they have had nowhere near that standard. We planned carefully for what was always going to be a very busy and very challenging period for the network. Several thousand cricket fans were expected to use Metrolink to attend The Ashes at the times of day when it is already at its busiest. The challenge was to deliver a service that kept regular passengers moving just as much as visitors attending the match.”<\/p>\n He continues: \u201cWe provided extra double trams between Piccadilly and Altrincham and from East Didsbury to specifically cater for this additional demand, but several events affected the operational plan. In short, the whole spectrum of events that can affect the Metrolink network all came to pass in the space of four days. Each was a separate, unconnected incident during the busiest period of the day and each one had considerable\u00a0 knock-on effects for passengers across the network. It has been an incredibly challenging period and, at times, we failed to rise to that challenge. We failed to keep passengers informed and support them fully through the disruption, which is unacceptable. Together with the operator, MRDL, we will be reviewing every aspect of the past week and will be taking action to improve. We are incredibly proud of the Metrolink network and will be working tirelessly to ensure our passengers can be as well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Peter Cushing, TfGM\u2019s Metrolink Director, has publically apologised to passengers affected by a catalogue of unrelated delays and service suspensions which caused major delays at a time when large crowds were in the town attending the Ashes Test Match at … Continue reading
\ncity centre suspended after a woman threatened to jump from the roof of the Arndale Centre. Then on Saturday 3rd August there was a signal failure at Cornbrook and a tram derailed heading into Queen\u2019s Road depot. This last incident saw 3056<\/strong> partly come off the tracks as it was returning to depot and again saw services suspended on the Bury line just as the crowds were starting to leave Old Trafford. Unfortunately repairs to the track on the Bury line affected services on Monday morning.<\/p>\n