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Manchester Metrolink - Trafford Centre Extension

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Gathursty

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I can't see a current thread on this so here we go.

A drive to the route last month let me see that work is well underway.

At Pomona, the down ramp to ground level is half-built and the route beside the river is clear and level.

Outside of the Imperial War Museum, the road is one-way towards Manchester as half of the road is dug up for conversion. In fact, I did spot some work where a tram stop is to be built but it is early days here.

There is work also at the roundabout for the A5081 where the tram line goes straight through the centre.

I didn't take any pictures unfortunately so these would be welcome if you are in the area.
 
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sprunt

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Track laying is now complete and testing has started.

THE first LRV has traversed Manchester Metrolink’s Trafford Park extension in preparation for opening the £350m line in the first half of 2020.

This follows the completion of track laying last week by contractors M-Pact Thales on the 5.5km branch which runs from Pomona through Trafford Park, Europe’s largest trading estate and home to more than 1300 businesses employing over 35,000 people, to the Traffic Centre shopping mall.

Testing is expected to last several months before driver training can start. The line will be operated by KeolisAmey Metrolink, which runs the exiting 93km network using a fleet of Bombardier Flexity Swift M5000 LRVs.

“When the line opens next year, it will provide a major boost to regional regeneration and economic growth by improving access to the large amount of retail, leisure, business and employment opportunities that exist in Trafford Park,” says Councillor Mark Aldred, chair of Greater Manchester Transport Committee. “It will also help towards reducing congestion and tackling air quality as we give people another, more environmentally-friendly alternative to the car.”

[Edited to add text after due reminder from admin!]
 
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edwin_m

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It is - Metrolink always seems to be very good with extension projects running to schedule.
They have had the political commitment and the funding to implement a rolling programme over more than a decade, and they found a contractor who could deliver and stuck with them. There have been a few hiccups over the years (delays to signaling, Oldham tunnels converted then closed a couple of years later) but in most ways Metrolink has been an example for others to follow in delivering rail projects.
 

Harpers Tate

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I wonder how the capital costs per mile compare with those charged by Network Rail, even after allowing for different physical standards (gradients, curves etc).
 

WatcherZero

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Its not cheap, 5.7km double track through an urban area has cost nearly identical to the Borders Railway (56.8km Non-electrified single track) though the borders was using an existing alignment and reconditioning structures.
 

Jozhua

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I wonder how the capital costs per mile compare with those charged by Network Rail, even after allowing for different physical standards (gradients, curves etc).

Probably slightly lower these days, the projects also seem to be delivered much faster as well!

Its not cheap, 5.7km double track through an urban area has cost nearly identical to the Borders Railway (56.8km Non-electrified single track) though the borders was using an existing alignment and reconditioning structures.

Was the £72m order for 27 new trams included in the price?

Yeah, that is kind of crazy, but then the Ordsall Chord cost £80m for a new bridge...

Pretty sure just electrification of Manchester - Leeds was £200m and continuing to rise.

I think there's a quoted half a billion for the Castlefield upgrades?

Then Crossrail is £18.25bn...
 

Ianno87

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They have had the political commitment and the funding to implement a rolling programme over more than a decade, and they found a contractor who could deliver and stuck with them. There have been a few hiccups over the years (delays to signaling, Oldham tunnels converted then closed a couple of years later) but in most ways Metrolink has been an example for others to follow in delivering rail projects.

Even more of an achievement given the Big Bang extensions so nearly fell victim to the Darling axe in 2004 and again the failed congestion charge referendum in 2008.

A good example of, with a common goal, getting collective acts together to come up with something deliverable and fundable. Although splitting into Phase 3a and 3b created some abortive stuff* like the Oldham Tumnels, it was a necessary evil otherwise there wouldn't be anything to show

*Actually not all that abortive, given the tunnels were there anyway, and I recall the overheads got re-used on the Airport line (the track may have ben just left over from Network Rail operation?)
 

edwin_m

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Yes, also another example of plans changing during construction was originally they were going to use the viaduct for 3A but they discovered after construction started that it was beyond saving so they had to demolish it entirely and do an at grade road crossing.
If you're referring to the "viaduct" (actually mostly retained embankment) across the erstwhile Mumps roundabout then I've not heard that story but I would think if that was the idea it would have been abandoned pretty quick once 3B got the go-ahead. They would have had to demolish it with a closure of several months before it could be linked to the at-grade 3B route. As it is they connected 3B to 3A with a point on the outbound track only, so trams could get on and off the central section for testing and training, then re-aligned the other track during a much shorter blockade at commissioning. At the Werneth end the divergence was on a slab that had fixings for both routes so they could remove one set of rails and install the other.
 

WatcherZero

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If you're referring to the "viaduct" (actually mostly retained embankment) across the erstwhile Mumps roundabout then I've not heard that story but I would think if that was the idea it would have been abandoned pretty quick once 3B got the go-ahead. They would have had to demolish it with a closure of several months before it could be linked to the at-grade 3B route. As it is they connected 3B to 3A with a point on the outbound track only, so trams could get on and off the central section for testing and training, then re-aligned the other track during a much shorter blockade at commissioning. At the Werneth end the divergence was on a slab that had fixings for both routes so they could remove one set of rails and install the other.

yeah they had to apply for an amendment to the TWAO as apparently you can vary an alignment by a reasonable amount horizontally (I think it was 10meters either way, might have been 6) without fresh permission but you do if the height changes by more than a meter.
 

Richard P

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Looks good! Can't believe how quickly it has been finished, definitely gonna give it a go when it opens!
Hmmm it has definitely not been completed quickly - 4 years and counting and for those of us who have spent literally thousands of hours queuing in traffic through the vastly invasive roadworks it has been an utter nightmare
 

WatcherZero

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Construction started in January 2017, so nearly 3 years. But most of it is onstreet which is more disruptive.
 

Jozhua

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Hmmm it has definitely not been completed quickly - 4 years and counting and for those of us who have spent literally thousands of hours queuing in traffic through the vastly invasive roadworks it has been an utter nightmare

Still a lot quicker than the timescales for most other similar projects...

If its rail you should probably triple the expected timescale and triple the expected cost lol, so considering that it doesn't seem too bad...
 

Xenophon PCDGS

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Construction started in January 2017, so nearly 3 years. But most of it is onstreet which is more disruptive.

Indeed this is true and it is worth bearing in mind the on-street areas of the very large industrial heartland of Trafford Park that the line passes through when considering the disruption caused to the commercial organisations there.
 

AndyB28

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Has any actual date for line opening been made?
Looking at the article quoted in sprunt's post, 'first half of 2020', I'm wondering if they're waiting until they've taken delivery of some of the new batch of trams? I think the first is due in February?
 

WatcherZero

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Looking at the article quoted in sprunt's post, 'first half of 2020', I'm wondering if they're waiting until they've taken delivery of some of the new batch of trams? I think the first is due in February?

Delivery has been delayed until second half of the year, Bombardier having problems sourcing parts. Training is supposed to start after Christmas so its possible there could be a limited Easter opening by running short/borrowing from other lines.
 

Richard P

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Construction may have started in January 2017 but there was a lot of preparatory activity in 2016 which caused significant disruption at the time. The work here has been phenomenally invasive and at times downright obstructive - including for example repeatedly leaving lanes closed on arterial routes when there is no-one working on the project. Only a few weeks ago delays of up to 90 minutes were caused by a lane being closed for 50 yards where someone had been working on a footpath earlier in the day and had gone home and left the area coned off

I acknowledge that I am bound to be "brassed off" by this work as I have to commute it every day but I can't agree about how efficient it has been - at times the construction area has been a shambles, main roads closed for years not months and everyone and anyone who travels through there has been severely inconvenienced. I just hope all the pain is worth it - as a guide to the effect this work has had on journeys typically it takes me an hour at present to do what would normally be a 30 minute journey solely due to these works

The work goes on, roads are still closed and gauge testing with trams is now taking at night time - my understanding is this continues until the end of February 2020 at which time they may then start to run ghost trams during the day. Expectation I believe is for the first service trams to run in May but I'll be hoping that they robustly test not just the line and the trams but the network overall - whilst the general service levels do seem to have improved there remain too many points and signalling problems (the latter of which there are an increasing number)

There are no new trams right now, as mentioned elsewhere in this thread they are delayed - no date is actually yet confirmed for their arrival
 

Ianno87

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Delivery has been delayed until second half of the year, Bombardier having problems sourcing parts. Training is supposed to start after Christmas so its possible there could be a limited Easter opening by running short/borrowing from other lines.

Cornbrook (or Deansgate-Castlefield) turnback could be an option to introduce an initial service pending a full fleet being being available.

How is the Crumpsall turnback coming along?
 

Richard P

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Cornbrook (or Deansgate-Castlefield) turnback could be an option to introduce an initial service pending a full fleet being being available.

How is the Crumpsall turnback coming along?
It could indeed be an option

I haven't been past Crumpsall stop in the recent past but there have been quite a few weekends over the last couple of months when there's been no service on the Bury line to facilitate work there so I suspect it must be close to completion - the trackwork was complete back in August for example. I don't believe there'll be any more blockades now before the New Year
 

yorkie

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Just a gentle reminder that this thread is to discuss the Trafford Centre Extension

If anyone wishes to post anything else, please create a new thread (especially if it is speculative), thanks :)
 

Jozhua

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-No chance of T68s coming back, surely

-I reckon (as I said upthread), as soon as there's bare minimum vehicles for a Cornbrook-Trafford Centre shuttle, it'll launch

-Your idea of releasing extra units at weekends for strengthening when TC demand is highest is far too sensible a contribution to this debate - you are hereby banished :) Sundays won't be a problem as reduced frequencies operate anyway.

A cornbrook shuttle would be even better! Probably only takes 30 minutes to do a round-trip, so two could get you a 15 minute service? That's not a huge amount off the network.

There’s about as much chance of Nigel Farage becoming an ardent remainer as T68s being used.
The remaining ones are a mixture of T68 and T68a, making maintenance difficult, Nobody signs them any more and the ones outside are little more than scrap metal on wheels.

As I’ve said upthread, the main business for the line will be the workers, so it’ll probably be busier through the week. It’ll actually provide a much better link to Media City for starters.

Ahh, I didn't realise the T68's were in such bad nick. Why do they keep them around?

The mediacity metrolink connection is super slow, I saw how close the Trafford Park Extension is to it and have wondered how much more convenient it would be! Any idea what the time savings might be like? The walk from the Imperial War Museum stop looks to be between 5-10 minutes to the other side of the Quays.

Looking at how much is around the line, including Old Trafford, this looks like it's going to be incredibly well used, from day one.

Anyone got any idea what service patterns will look like once all the new trams arrive?
 
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