My apologies, I forgot to mention that my experiences are predominantly of a Saturday and to a lesser extent a Sunday. Hence a lower frequency of service but at the same time the trams are shockingly overcrowded from the start. By that I mean just miss a tram by seconds at Bury then by the time the next one arrives (a single unit as always) the platform is nearly full and a battle ensues to get on let alone get a seat.
I do think that on Sundays levels of passengers have got to a point that the Altrincham - Bury service should be introduced between say 0800 and 1900 at the very least to try and combat the day time crowds.
While the final part of the butchering of Manchester Victoria has caused some disruption there was also the track renewal which had also taken place which is firmly in their control, not really sure what they expected to achieve with that given the ride quality is still as bad as ever - no wonder they don't allow drinks on board given they would be all over the floors, walls, ceilings and passengers
Ah you're gonna love it next year then! One single line through Victoria while the station is remodelled. Services will run Bury - Abraham Moss, Droylsden - Eccles, Rochdale - East Didsbury.
And ride quality on the ex-BR lines is poor which is partly due to the hammering the T68s do to the track hence why when you go from Trafford Bar onto the SML the difference is so severe!
My traffic light remark is mainly aimed at the section along the Eccles line, specifically between Langworthy and Ladywell where the lights go red for the side roads as a tram approaches (even if they were just about to switch to green from a normal cycle of red) then stay red - it can be rather unfortunate too if a tram happens to be going the other way shortly after and the whole process happens again.
I guess the same could be made about level crossings where there's the wait for the first train and then if there's another coming they'll stay down for even longer instead of letting a couple of the cars through but I guess if they did we'd have people saying 'what's the point in letting two cars through and then shutting it again' 
With regard to the Droylesden remark, I agree that there will indeed be a surge in traffic the issue is perhaps that they should sort their existing issues out before embarking on expansion. I agree about the Eccles line and have used it fairly regularly until recently, the main problem with that line is the need for so many services to run either via Media City or terminate there. While it was probably some service agreement wrote up it makes the service so slow that on 4 occasions I have raced a friend who has had a 10 minute head start and my 33 bus has beaten him & the tram to Eccles - so far the tram has yet to win.
Its supposed to be during the day a separate service with a dedicated media service and then combined at all other times + Sunday. However you quite often find trams being chopping and changed during delays resulting in irregularities.
What would be a novel idea is if they adjusted the route somewhat (not so much expansion but an enhancement) which would see the tram line run parralel to Regent Road from Manchester and therefore have a much faster route into Eccles, then again that is what is so good about the train service but that only runs an hourly service.
The thing about lines is they're not just for going ned - end its for the locals on route, just because there's a faster way to go end to end doesn't mean that the locals on the route will benefit.
I've been told by someone who is an S&T guy or similar title at Metrolink and a friend who is big on signalling about this new type of signalling and from what I understand (may just be my lack of comprehension of a new signalling idea) is that while it would allow more trams to run as they would use line of sight it would also be a problem in reduced viability. I'm open to a clearer explanation to that one as I surely can't be right.
In reduced visibility such as mist or fog you'd drive you car slower and be more aware of other vehicles, the same goes for trams they'll be driven differently so if there is bad fog they can stop in time
I must admit I don't pay much attention to the information signs any more as one more than one occasion it just seemed to be random services coming up, did seem ok at the weekend though. It's one of those nice things to have but at the same time it is not particularly important if there is a high enough frequency of service.
The PIDs are good but when there's disruption and changes to the TMS timetable are made they go to pot. Say if you're terminating an East Didsbury tram at Piccadilly the change won't be made to the TMS timetable so it will appear as Rochdale on the PID. Each route has a TMS code which is in putted to give correct destinations and announcements and this corresponds to the timetable. However during weekend engineering works when say Droylsden to Eccles is run there's no change made in the TMS timetable for that yet so PIDs get a bit messy.
I've got to agree with you on the main events remark, no idea what the poster is on about with that one. Main events are a big issue, perhaps the thing Metrolink need to do is put more effort into keeping the trams moving and more importantly keeping the people flowing. I hate having to go to Bury when there is something on at Heaton Park as I know it will be a nightmare journey.
They do their best by running extra doubles but not every event stop is blessed with a turnback like Etihad is with Velopark!
Which is logical, I think the poster is trying to suggest that the actual number of services are at random. I've stood at Deansgate for nearly 30 minutes on a weekday waiting for an Eccles Tram and got a parade of Altrincham trams, to the point where there were two together (as in one in the platform and one waiting to come in). Had the same problem trying to get to Bury from Victoria, just seems to be an endless flow of Rochdale bound ones...
It does create bunching but its better than having passengers stuck onboard waiting for a delayed Eccles tram to go across.
So in hindsight I may not have agreed with every point from the poster of the open letter however I still think some points are still quite fair. One thing to consider is that the Metrolink has been running for over 20 years now and issues are still cropping up on the original route, even the Eccles line has been open for over a decade and still has it's problems, these need addressing before expansion as things will only get worse.
Up until recently though metrolink has been under invested and their trams over used. There are a few hicks in the system however once everything's open it'll be so much better. RTC on Mosley street, no problem we can divert cross city trams over 2CC! TMS will help too it'll allow recovery on the busiest sections to happen quicker and of corse all the additional capacity. I'd much rather stand on a banana than a T68!!
Phil
