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Deansgate station out-of-use this Sunday

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pemma

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The Conservative Party conference plus two protests - 1 x anti-austerity and 1 x anti-Brexit have resulted in the police deciding Deansgate station is be closed to passengers this Sunday.
 
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Chester1

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Don't think it affects trams though?

Deansgate-Castlefield and St Peters Square stops are open as normal. Deansgate railway station only has two platforms and a limited service making its capacity significantly lower than the tram stop. I think closing Deansgate will divert people into Oxford Road Station, encourage them to walk and take the tram from Piccadilly. It should also make the timeable more robust. Hopefully that will make DfT and TfGM think about closing it permanently...
 

Bletchleyite

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While I understand the operational benefits of closing it permanently, I don't support that from a passenger's point of view. It'd be better to gain the capacity "Tube style" by stopping everything there, as it's the nearest station for huge swathes of the city centre.
 

Chester1

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While I understand the operational benefits of closing it permanently, I don't support that from a passenger's point of view. It'd be better to gain the capacity "Tube style" by stopping everything there, as it's the nearest station for huge swathes of the city centre.

I argued that view a few weeks back but realised I was wong. The distance from the end of Oxford Road platforms and start of Deansgate is about 350m which will be reduced further if the plans for Oxford Road station rebuild go ahead. If a walk way was built alongside the viaduct, into Deansgate station (with exits on both sides) and across to Deansgate-Castlefield tram stop it would be an adequate replacement. The station building (and neighbouring empty land) could be redeveloped as retail, bar or cafe units to retain the historic building. The station only has a half hourly service and is a bottleneck right next to the worst bottle neck on the line (low speed Castlefield Junction). Every train (or even just a few more) cannot stop there without it being rebuilt with 4 platforms which would be a waste of money.
 

thenorthern

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TfGM say on twitter that Deansgate-Castlefield is closed today but I think they meant Deansgate National Rail not Deansgate-Castlefield Metrolink.

The Metrolink was severely disrupted today because of people not realising that the time for deciding the Government for the next 5 years was on June 8th and their candidate/party didn't win.
 

edwin_m

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The Metrolink was severely disrupted today because of people not realising that the time for deciding the Government for the next 5 years was on June 8th and their candidate/party didn't win.
Yes, the Conservatives must be pretty miffed.

(apologies for political joke, couldn't resist it!)
 

Chester1

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I will avoid weighing into the party politics directly. However, I think people have underestimated the importance of likely delaying the next election until June 2022. The Tories were damaged but probably still obtained an extra 25 months to complete brexit before needing to call a general election.

What was the actual cause of the delays? Any marches could be routed to go around and under Metrolink.
 

thenorthern

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3 wheelchair users blocking the tracks


There were protests blocking the tracks on the tramway today which caused severe disruption.

Back in 2015 when the conference was also in Manchester there were also protests or attempted protests at Manchester Piccadilly station and again Deansgate had to be closed causing massive disruption to people who have no interest in politics.

This may sound authoritarian but if it was up to me I would make it a specific criminal offence with a mandatory prison sentence to protest in any transport location (Train station, airport, bus station, seaport ect). This kind of protest causes massive amounts of and the safety aspects of it such as rowdy people shuffling around in a place with a live 3rd rail causes issues meaning stations have to be closed and its just too much disruption.
 

takno

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This may sound authoritarian but if it was up to me I would make it a specific criminal offence with a mandatory prison sentence to protest in any transport location (Train station, airport, bus station, seaport ect). This kind of protest causes massive amounts of and the safety aspects of it such as rowdy people shuffling around in a place with a live 3rd rail causes issues meaning stations have to be closed and its just too much disruption.

I'd make it a specific criminal offence to hold a conference for a desperately unpopular farce of a party in the middle of major city. Horses for courses I guess
 

Hornet

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I'd make it a specific criminal offence to hold a conference for a desperately unpopular farce of a party in the middle of major city. Horses for courses I guess

I thought the Lib Dems had had their party conference.
 

Harbouring

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This is why it's better to hold conferences in seaside resorts out of season.
 

takno

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I thought the Lib Dems had had their party conference.

They did. In Bournemouth. They're really more not-popular rather than unpopular though. Could probably have safely fitted the entire conference and any associated protesters into the Midland hotel without disturbing the other guests.
 

Hornet

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They did. In Bournemouth. They're really more not-popular rather than unpopular though. Could probably have safely fitted the entire conference and any associated protesters into the Midland hotel without disturbing the other guests.

Aha. You must have meant the Shinners then.;)
 

Altfish

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To be fair, Manchester is prepared for the conferences (whichever colour) and they seem to run pretty smoothly despite the lock-down areas.
There is even a Food & Drink Festival in Albert Square that appears unaffected.
 

pemma

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The Metrolink was severely disrupted today because of people not realising that the time for deciding the Government for the next 5 years was on June 8th and their candidate/party didn't win.

100% of the population can say they didn't vote for a Conservative government which is propped up by the DUP, which is what we currently have. The Conservatives and DUP didn't even get 50% of the public vote between them.

It was interesting to hear on a BBC program recently that many Northern Irish voters who voted for the DUP actually hate the party and only voted for them because they hate Sinn Fein even more.
 

pemma

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This may sound authoritarian but if it was up to me I would make it a specific criminal offence with a mandatory prison sentence to protest in any transport location (Train station, airport, bus station, seaport ect). This kind of protest causes massive amounts of and the safety aspects of it such as rowdy people shuffling around in a place with a live 3rd rail causes issues meaning stations have to be closed and its just too much disruption.

So that doesn't have any relevance to yesterday's protests in Manchester, which were not near Deansgate station - the police closed it due it being a small station and a very high number of people expected to arrive in Manchester. While Metrolink runs along the streets in central Manchester just like a bus, the street is not exclusively for Metrolink it's for other road users to share with Metrolink. There's also no third rail in Manchester.
 
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rebmcr

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100% of the population can say they didn't vote for a Conservative government which is propped up by the DUP, which is what we currently have. The Conservatives and DUP didn't even get 50% of the public vote between them.

It was interesting to hear on a BBC program recently that many Northern Irish voters who voted for the DUP actually hate the party and only voted for them because they hate Sinn Fein even more.

My friend, a Conservative councillor candidate and an Irish Catholic, was particularly unsettled by the arrangement.
 

thenorthern

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Regarding the DUP from my understanding most people in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) have a negative view of the party given its history. I am told though people are more likely to have a negative view of Sinn Fein than the DUP in Great Britain because many people still associate Sinn Fein with the IRA. People in England and Wales also have a negative view of the SNP which is partially why Ed Milliband didn't win in 2015 because of claims he would form a Labour SNP coalition. I am going on a bit now though.

So that doesn't have an relevance to yesterday's protests in Manchester, which were not near Deansgate station - the police closed it due it being a small station and a very high number of people expected to arrive in Manchester. While Metrolink runs along the streets in central Manchester just like a bus, the street is not exclusively for Metrolink it's for other road users to share with Metrolink. There's also no third rail in Manchester.

The 3rd rail was just an example of something in some stations, but in all stations there are moving trains and a platform edge.

Luckily protests in stations are quite rare but they do sometimes happen.
 

DarloRich

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Anyone would think the Conservatives were unpopular ;)

There were protests blocking the tracks on the tramway today which caused severe disruption.

Back in 2015 when the conference was also in Manchester there were also protests or attempted protests at Manchester Piccadilly station and again Deansgate had to be closed causing massive disruption to people who have no interest in politics.


more fool them. This is why we end up in this situation.

This may sound authoritarian but if it was up to me I would make it a specific criminal offence with a mandatory prison sentence to protest in any transport location (Train station, airport, bus station, seaport ect). This kind of protest causes massive amounts of and the safety aspects of it such as rowdy people shuffling around in a place with a live 3rd rail causes issues meaning stations have to be closed and its just too much disruption.

yes it does sound authoritarian. One great way to silence any protest. A road is "a transport location" as is the footpath. :roll:

btw not much third rail in Manchester......................
 

Altfish

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Deansgate Station is often closed when large crowds are expected in Manchester.
IIRC it was closed on some weekend evenings last year when the largest Christmas Market crowds were expected.
 

edwin_m

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3 wheelchair users blocking the tracks

By so doing they closed down the most accessible form of transport in Manchester, so any other wheelchair users travelling would have had to use something less convenient or more expensive.
 
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