Metrolink - how does it cope with football/cricket/concert events?

[deltic]

Given Metrolink serves 2 premier league stadiums which also host concerts, Old Trafford cricket ground, and various concert venues including the new Co-Op live arena - how does it cope with the huge demand arising from these venues? Are extra services put on or do they just run double trams but at the same frequencies as normal?

 

[Starmill]

It depends on whether it's a working day or not and if it's a Sunday the basic timetable is different. In general the primary means is a queueing system. If you come out of the football or concert etc. and just go straight to the tram stop at a normal pace you'll have a wait. However in most circumstances there's some form of strengthening, either to one of the ordinary all day services from that stop, or alternatively with additional services specifically timed around the event. Etihad Campus was built with the facility to use a central siding for this purpose. If it's football at Old Trafford on a working day, the strengthening may just be running some of the double duties later into the evening and the pre-match is simply normal service.

Concerts on a stadium tour, or the Premier League in the rain are usually the worst. AO arena and Cricket are not quite as bad. When the weather is good more people walk to the football if they can.

 

[renegademaster]

When I went for United vs Crystal Palace, staff at the tram stop said trams weren't going to run for next hour or so, ended up walking. Lots of minicab drivers will try to offer you illegal unbooked rides. (Which I admit did do once in after a villa match)

 

[Thornaby 37]

From past experience they decimate the service elsewhere on the tram network
On more than one occasion I've had waits of more than 30 minutes at Bury for a tram on a late Saturday afternoon because of a football match taking place in Manchester

 

[Kite159]

Given Metrolink serves 2 premier league stadiums which also host concerts, Old Trafford cricket ground, and various concert venues including the new Co-Op live arena - how does it cope with the huge demand arising from these venues? Are extra services put on or do they just run double trams but at the same frequencies as normal?

For Man City they extend the Piccadilly terminators towards the kickball ground before the event. Not sure if they do similar after the event starting the Bury/Altrincham services at the stadium rather than at Piccadilly.

 

[Starmill]

For Man City they extend the Piccadilly terminators towards the kickball ground before the event. Not sure if they do similar after the event starting the Bury/Altrincham services at the stadium rather than at Piccadilly.

I've certainly seen that last Sunday for example. It's easier to do on Sundays because more vehicles are likely to be fit for service on the depot. May also happen other days.

 

[Jamesrob637]

There are more trams now so doubles can run on the busier lines without having to reduce stuff too much elsewhere. Plus there have been some minor timetable tweaks this year, such as Eccles services not serving MediaCityUK.

 

[deltic]

It seems that major venues get away with imposing huge burdens on the transport network without contributing much towards it. We end up with classic examples like Coventry stadium station which is closed when there are matches at the stadium because the railway wouldn't be able to cope with demand. Trying to move even a small proportion of the 50,000+ spectators from the Emirates or Old Trafford stadiums on a small tram network is never going to be achieved. Rather than making capital contributions to assets that get easily overwhelmed should there be an on-going revenue contribution to support the provision of additional services?

 

[Bald Rick]

It seems that major venues get away with imposing huge burdens on the transport network without contributing much towards it.

To be fair, both Old Traffords and the Etihad were there before the tram network came alongside them.

 

[TheSmiths82]

There are more trams now so doubles can run on the busier lines without having to reduce stuff too much elsewhere. Plus there have been some minor timetable tweaks this year, such as Eccles services not servicing MediaCityUK.

I am not sure if there is enough drivers though, so I wonder if other services to end up getting curtailed?

 

[rmt4ever]

Old Trafford has its own main line train station too

 

[Taunton]

It seems that major venues get away with imposing huge burdens on the transport network without contributing much towards it ... should there be an on-going revenue contribution to support the provision of additional services?

What happens to the substantial additional revenue from the additional passengers then?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Old Trafford has its own main line train station too

If you mean the Manchester United Football Ground railway station immediately adjacent to the stadium, it hasn't been in use for the last six years.

 

[185]

Whilst it does go spectacularly wrong occasionally, Metrolink generally is well used to packing and stacking high volumes of people after major events.

For example, a crush load tram is 200 pax, double set is 400 pax.

At the Etihad, the turnstiles are electronic plastic gates to get passengers through quite quick.

At Old Trafford, the turnstiles are the old 7ft high metal ones which noone can dodge through. Indeed, funny to watch a CSKA Moscow fan take a run up hoping it would spin. It was like the Road Runner cartoon where the Coyote runs head first into a brick wall... he was out cold for five minutes but too drunk to feel a thing.

At both stadiums, additional trams can be queued up by the Asda for Etihad or down at Timperley for Old Trafford. Trams can also be stacked at the war museum for Wharfside.

Generally footy fans are noisy but well behaved. Concert fans okay but less so. Cricket fans are often animals, sorry cricket fans.

Tickets are pre-printed ticket books, easy to issue at a fast speed, whilst contactless payments speeds things up nowadays.

Other locations like Bowker Vale (for Parklife) Trafford Bar & Wharfside (busy after MU matches) all have well used plans for event days.

One hidden secret is Firswood, for Old Trafford events... if theres a 1-hour queue, the short walk to Firswood gets you a mostly empty tram off the dids/airport lines.

 

[rmt4ever]

If you mean the Manchester United Football Ground railway station immediately adjacent to the stadium, it hasn't been in use for the last six years.

What???? Even on match days?
Why not ?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

What???? Even on match days?
Why not ?

Ostensibly due to its continued operation being considered by United to be a 'health and safety risk'. Currently suspended indefinitely.

Discussed previously here...

Is Manchester United FC Halt closed?

According to a thread on the r/Manchester subreddit, MUFC Halt is temporarily closed, and due to permanently close in a couple of years. Nobody has any sources, though. Does anybody know any more details? Sure the old Trafford station is now closed permanently. Might be wrong but I'm sure I read...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[rmt4ever]

Ostensibly due to its continued operation being considered by United to be a 'health and safety risk'. Currently suspended indefinitely.

Discussed previously here...

Is Manchester United FC Halt closed?

According to a thread on the r/Manchester subreddit, MUFC Halt is temporarily closed, and due to permanently close in a couple of years. Nobody has any sources, though. Does anybody know any more details? Sure the old Trafford station is now closed permanently. Might be wrong but I'm sure I read...

www.railforums.co.uk

Well well well.. words fail me!

 

[Chester1]

What???? Even on match days?
Why not ?

Ostensibly due to its continued operation being considered by United to be a 'health and safety risk'. Currently suspended indefinitely.

Discussed previously here...

Is Manchester United FC Halt closed?

According to a thread on the r/Manchester subreddit, MUFC Halt is temporarily closed, and due to permanently close in a couple of years. Nobody has any sources, though. Does anybody know any more details? Sure the old Trafford station is now closed permanently. Might be wrong but I'm sure I read...

www.railforums.co.uk

It could only run services to / from Piccadilly and Oxford Road. That significantly limited the services that could run, especially at peak times. The time when Castlefield is not congested is the most difficult to staff i.e. Sundays. Wharfside tram stop opened in 2020 and shifts far more football passengers than the railway station did.

The other issue with the station is that it blocks an extension to the South Stand and I suspect its a reason why the club isn't keen on it being used again.

Metrolink doesn’t need more crew on match and concert days. It stretches the fleet as much as it can to run as many double sets as possible and collects the additional revenue.

 

[deltic]

What happens to the substantial additional revenue from the additional passengers then?

What is the cost of collecting it - my only experience was travelling just before a game at Old Trafford finished and there were a lot of revenue protection staff out as well as people for crowd control.

A number of years ago there was a GLA report on managing sports crowds and public transport in London and South West Trains stated that the cost of additional resources outweighed the additional revenue in relation to rugby matches at Twickenham.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Old Trafford has its own main line train station too

Which main line station are you referring to? The Manchester United Football Ground station has not been served since 10th December 2017 due to health and safety concerns.

 

[Jamesrob637]

Which main line station are you referring to? The Manchester United Football Ground station has not been served since 10th December 2017 due to health and safety concerns.

Could be referring to Trafford Park, which isn't a million miles away.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Could be referring to Trafford Park, which isn't a million miles away.

Highly doubt it. It's the best part of a half hour walk away from the football stadium. Many trains don't even stop there. And Trafford Park station doesn't have any service whatsoever if it's been a Sunday match at Old Trafford.

 

[Starmill]

Metrolink doesn’t need more crew on match and concert days. It stretches the fleet as much as it can to run as many double sets as possible and collects the additional revenue.

They do need more drivers for some of the things they do for football. They almost always need more customer service staff.

 

[sprunt]

Highly doubt it. It's the best part of a half hour walk away from the football stadium. Many trains don't even stop there. And Trafford Park station doesn't have any service whatsoever if it's been a Sunday match at Old Trafford.

It's true that Trafford Park station is not somewhere used for going to matches, but if the service was better it could be useful. Before they were made permit parking only on match days, the streets around the station were well used for match day parking despite the longish walk to the ground.

And as for the sports venues overloading the transport system without giving anything back, it's worth noting that they bring thousands (or even tens of thousands) into the area who spend money there.

Regarding the stadium railway station, for those who aren't aware the entrance to one side of it is in a tunnel under the stadium's south stand, and the club's concern that led to services being discontinued was that people queuing for the trains (the entrance to the station is via turnstiles along the platform and access to the platforms was limited for safety reasons) were causing an obstruction in that tunnel. I want to say that this was a result of the stadium's capacity increasing but it was ten years after the last expansion so I'm not sure why it became an issue then.

 

[Chester1]

They do need more drivers for some of the things they do for football. They almost always need more customer service staff.

Is that a recent change? When I used to commute using Metrolink it was the normal frequency for Eccles and Media city services on match days but more double sets.

 

[ian1944]

From past experience they decimate the service elsewhere on the tram network
On more than one occasion I've had waits of more than 30 minutes at Bury for a tram on a late Saturday afternoon because of a football match taking place in Manchester

Wouldn't it be nice if, sometime in the future, the opposite happened?

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

And as for the sports venues overloading the transport system without giving anything back, it's worth noting that they bring thousands (or even tens of thousands) into the area who spend money there.

The sport venues are there to provide access to the general public to watch sports, which is their sole raison d'etre. How the general public travel to such venues is one for the general public to concern itself with, not the sports venues.

 

[sprunt]

The sport venues are there to provide access to the general public to watch sports, which is their sole raison d'etre. How the general public travel to such venues is one for the general public to concern itself with, not the sports venues.

Did I say anything to the contrary?

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Did I say anything to the contrary?

Not at all. I was just adding more power to your comment.

 

[sprunt]

Not at all. I was just adding more power to your comment.

Ah, got you.