TRANSPORT | Metrolink ‎Extension

[Freel07]

Originally Posted by Johnny de Rivative

Cheers Freel. Behind the substation is the one house in all that demolition area that has refused to move! A misguided plan by New East Mcr in my opinion, having demolished all those terraced streets with nothing much wrong with them, they found the land is contaminated, preventing rebuilding homes for a lot of potential passengers. Not quite the Kelvin flats fiasco in Sheffield, but getting on that way!

Anyway, Rob and I had a good day out and about yesterday, looking at a few things Past, Present, Future - and No Future!

Nevertheless a brighter day is at hand. A modern banana passes the remnant of an old platform – was this the EMU Bury line prior to1991? Actually I think it may have been through the underbridges further back towards Corporation Street :-



Happy days!

From memory that platform which was No 6 was used by the Ashton line trains and the Bury line was as you say the other side of the platform (No 5) in latter years with an emergency platform at what used to be platform 4.

[Freel07]

Originally Posted by r02bapurdie

Hi

Good pictures to everyone who took them, Nice to see Mumps getting on well Haven't been down they for a while I should go down sometime, also I think that Engineering works they had today wasn't anything do with Oldham line special as it finish at 11am, do anyone know what they where doing today?.

The work was at Irk Valley junction doing preparatory civil engineering works for the temporary signalling. I think it involved cable route and signal bases etc.

[LNGCats]

Has the Future Metrolink website been updated with the most recent predictions for opening (the ones where things were put back a few months in the autumn).

The currently state...

Mumps - 2012
Rochdale Railway station - 2012
Droylsden - 2012
East Dids - summer 2013
Ashton - Winter 2013/14
Oldham town centre - 2014
Rochdale town centre - 2014
Airport - 2016

Has anyone got the 'original' predictions? To me although the 2012 are now very vague, overall it seems to be very similar to the original dates and the TMS does not seem to me to have made that much difference (yet).

[CHAPS2034]

Here's the News Manc take on it.

No mention of the architectural merits (or otherwise.....)

http://newsmanc.co.uk/2012/02/24/news-wythenshawe/

CW

[Freel07]

Originally Posted by LNGCats

Has the Future Metrolink website been updated with the most recent predictions for opening (the ones where things were put back a few months in the autumn).

The currently state...



Has anyone got the 'original' predictions? To me although the 2012 are now very vague, overall it seems to be very similar to the original dates and the TMS does not seem to me to have made that much difference (yet).

I think it was changed about a month ago when the seasons were removed.

[Motortownman]

Originally Posted by Freel07

The work was at Irk Valley junction doing preparatory civil engineering works for the temporary signalling. I think it involved cable route and signal bases etc.

Whatever it was , it was over by 11am this morning. Replacement buses were called up at 11 , told to finish the trip and return to their garages, so obviously the trams had started earlier.

[Freel07]

Originally Posted by Motortownman

Whatever it was , it was over by 11am this morning. Replacement buses were called up at 11 , told to finish the trip and return to their garages, so obviously the trams had started earlier.

Eleven was quoted as being the return to normal. I was in Piccadilly Gardens about 11 and the driver of the tram I was on from MCUK was still announcing the replacement bus to Abraham Moss so I guess the return must have just been starting then. I did see a Bury on Aytoun Street about 10 minutes later.

[Chorlton Bloke]

Originally Posted by Motortownman

Whatever it was , it was over by 11am this morning. Replacement buses were called up at 11 , told to finish the trip and return to their garages, so obviously the trams had started earlier.

All the signs,which have been up for over a fortnight, have said that the work would finish today at 11am so they got it right this time.

[Johnny de Rivative]

Originally Posted by Freel07

I think it was changed about a month ago when the seasons were removed.

Cheers Freel - after looking at the Victoria layout again I thought that was where the Bury lines must have been. I am also guessing that the new arrangement will take over part of that area - two island platforms with only one bi-directional tram road between them (allowing for the possibility of walking between the platforms via the vehicle if both doors are open!).

But we were speculating as to whether it will have merged back to two tracks before it passes under Ducie Street bridge?

# The original opening predictions were :-

MediaCity Summer 2010 (just made it on 20 Sep 2010 here - Mr Purdy is behind Kate Adie (sorry, that's Felicity Goodey, not Kate Adie!) :-



St Werburgh Spring 2011 (Opened 7.7.11, couple of weeks late)
Central Park Spring 2011
Mumps Autumn 2011
Rochdale RS Spring 2012
Droylsden Spring 2012

. . and the rest as now indicated.

So Central Park is coming up to 12m behind, and a 'concertina' effect is developing whereby the later ones are coming ready for TMS along with the earlier ones. E.G. Central Park will now be absorbed with Mumps, and when the running wires have gone through to Droylsden (due to happen w/c 6th March 2012), in 'hardware completed' terms Droylsden will have caught up with Velopark, which has been ready since last August.

But the time lag is still nowhere near as bad as happened on other previous new systems, such as Croydon, DLR SI, and in their day the Glasgow Blue Trains.

The TMS will also have to come on stream sometime - hopefully before E Didsbury and Ashton catch up as well!!

[Motortownman]

Originally Posted by Chorlton Bloke

All the signs,which have been up for over a fortnight, have said that the work would finish today at 11am so they got it right this time.

Was it? I never knew what it said, I don't use the tram anymore

[loweskid]

800 pages and counting.....

How long to 1000 do you reckon?

[Backwater]

Hello all, I have been lurking with great interest - especially for East manchester and Oldham developments. I've especially enjoyed the regular photo updates.

I'm not an engineer but it strikes me that this all looks over-engineered for what is supposed to be a light railway. Any thoughts?

[loweskid]

Originally Posted by Backwater

Hello all, I have been lurking with great interest - especially for East manchester and Oldham developments. I've especially enjoyed the regular photo updates.

I'm not an engineer but it strikes me that this all looks over-engineered for what is supposed to be a light railway. Any thoughts?

I'm not an engineer so I don't know whether it's over-engineered or not but I was an electronics service engineer and know from personal experience what happens when a company tries to produce a product on the cheap. Frequent breakdowns, then the company gets a bad reputation which eventually leads to the company's demise and a lot of employees redundant. Just one ill-judged decision on someone's part ruined a thriving company which formerly had a good reputation.

So, I'm all for over-engineering - may cost more initially but I believe it saves money in the long run. Do it once and do it right (need I mention Edinburgh?).

PS - forgot to say - welcome to the forum...!

[martin2345uk]

Originally Posted by Backwater

Hello all, I have been lurking with great interest - especially for East manchester and Oldham developments. I've especially enjoyed the regular photo updates.

I'm not an engineer but it strikes me that this all looks over-engineered for what is supposed to be a light railway. Any thoughts?

Welcome indeed!
What is it exactly that you think looks over engineered? I'm curious!

[Backwater]

Originally Posted by martin2345uk

Welcome indeed!
What is it exactly that you think looks over engineered? I'm curious!

Well I've been looking at the line going up to Oldham and as far as I can see it has been relaid to mainline standards. For example, the bridges have been rebuilt as they were before presumably to take the weight of a loco and coaches.

What I don't get about the street sections is why so much work is involved. When they had trams in the old days they just seemed to get it all up in a matter of weeks.

The central reservation through Ashton Moss is a case in point. This road was built in anticipation of the tram coming down the middle but still there are months and months of work which look to me like building the 'big' railway.

[LNGCats]

Look at how poor the ride on the Alty line was when it was slightly substandard.

I suspect that there will be hundreds of minor issues that accumulated adds up to the requirements that MPT are working to.

Be it moving utilities, smooth ride, DDA etc etc.

[Chorlton Bloke]

Originally Posted by Backwater

When they had trams in the old days they just seemed to get it all up in a matter of weeks.

One big difference is speed, another weight. And of course weight increases with speed.

Oh, and welcome Backwater.

[conn1231]

Originally Posted by Joseph_Locke

Yes you possibly could, but that would defeat the long-term plan that put platform 1 on that alignment in the first place. If you stand on platform 1 and look south west (past the buffer stop) you'll see that if it were extended it would miss the station building by a significant margin; this margin is big enough to accomodate another track, effectively allowing a two-track railway to be extended south west under the roundabout, apron, etc and out of the west side of the airport.

Whilst not a fully fledged scheme, it was felt that building the capability in now for the Western Link was a good idea while there was a hole in the ground. Now, who says the railway business doesn't plan ahead?

Secondly, a four-car platform does not meet the long term plan for six car electric units ...

I didn't know any of that, it's very interesting, where exactly would the Western Link be going, back to the Styal line or elsewhere?

[loweskid]

What I don't get about the street sections is why so much work is involved. When they had trams in the old days they just seemed to get it all up in a matter of weeks

Also the old trams didn't need platforms as they never ran on former heavy rail line. Then there's all the utilities that had to be moved so they won't have to dig the track up when repairs or renewals are needed. I don't know what they did in the old days but there were certainly no fibre optic cables and the like to worry about..!

[Futurelink]

Originally Posted by Johnny de Rivative

Cheers Freel - after looking at the Victoria layout again I thought that was where the Bury lines must have been. I am also guessing that the new arrangement will take over part of that area - two island platforms with only one bi-directional tram road between them (allowing for the possibility of walking between the platforms via the vehicle if both doors are open!).

But we were speculating as to whether it will have merged back to two tracks before it passes under Ducie Street bridge?

# The original opening predictions were :-

MediaCity Summer 2010 (just made it on 20 Sep 2010 here - Mr Purdy is behind Kate Adie!) :-

Is it just me, or does the tram on the right look much shorter and fatter than the one on the left?