Saturday 13th December certainly seemed to be unlucky for Manchester Metrolink and any potential passengers after almost the entire network was suspended as a result of a \u201csudden drop in temperatures\u201d which lead to failed LRVs and frozen overhead. For a time during the morning the only services running were between Bury and Piccadilly with all other routes suspended and passengers guided towards local bus services.<\/p>\n
The day started off as normal for Metrolink with services running on all lines as Metrolink had been running ice breaker vehicles throughout the night as a result of the weather forecast. But it was at this point that a severe drop in temperatures and a freezing fog arrived in Greater Manchester which caused problems. Several LRVs failed at key points on the network and the decision was taken to suspend services on all but the route between Bury and Piccadilly.<\/p>\n
In a statement Peter Cushing, Metrolink Director at TfGM, explained the situation: \u201cFirst of all I\u2019d like to apologise for any inconvenience passengers may have faced as a result of the icy overnight conditions. This is not the first frost of the winter and we were aware it was going to freeze overnight, as a result we have had icebreaker trams out across the network throughout the night in an attempt to keep the overhead lines clear and the system operational. But, a combination of unusual and extreme conditions and a sudden worsening of those conditions early this morning has led to a number of failed trams. Services were launched first thing, but because of the conditions several vehicles failed at key points on the network and as a result the decision was taken to suspend services on all lines, with the exception of Bury to Piccadilly.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the day continued more lines started to resume services starting with the Rochdale to East Didsbury line then the Bury to Altrincham direct, Manchester Airport to Cornbrook and between Ashton-under-Lyne and Eccles. By the early afternoon all lines were seeing trams although delays were still experienced compounded on the Eccles line by a fire by the side of the line which meant all journeys beyond MediaCityUK were suspended.<\/p>\n
This news did not go down particularly well with would be passengers (search Twitter if you want to really see what people thought!) with many complaints about not being able to run with the first major frost of the winter period. Although Metrolink did run ice-breakers during the night what must be of concern is that this seemed to make very little difference. Hopefully this will the worst disruption of the winter and we don\u2019t have more similar stories in the coming months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Saturday 13th December certainly seemed to be unlucky for Manchester Metrolink and any potential passengers after almost the entire network was suspended as a result of a \u201csudden drop in temperatures\u201d which lead to failed LRVs and frozen overhead. For … Continue reading