61653 HTAFC
Veteran Member
The critical factor for the average user isn't so much the regulatory regime, but things like through ticketing and continuity of said regulation for delay-repay etc.It's part of the Rail Settlement Plan (much, as you say, like London Overground, it pretends not to be), and its infrastructure is owned and maintained by Network Rail. However it is now a locally managed concession and not a National Rail franchise/contract. As such it's contractually very similar to Metrolink or London Overground.
Going outside the boundary isn't insurmountable of course, as you point out with the bits of Merseyrail that go to Cheshire and Lancashire. However TfGM presumably have little or no experience with this: IIRC the settlement between WYPTE and North Yorkshire for the extra Mcard zones to Harrogate and Skipton took a lot of sorting out.
What's the maximum frequency the current infrastructure can handle as heavy rail? Presumably not as high as Metrolink, but if the loop/wye* at the 'country' end is worked in one direction only (as used to be the case in the peaks, not sure if it still is), if you could maybe get a 15-min interval service, that's probably as much as the route needs for the foreseeable.I know, but it is (provided it's reliable) probably the single greatest selling point, outweighing less important things like whether you prefer ironing boards or Fainsa Sophias or whether trams (or 195s/331s) ride a bit badly.
As @A0wen points out, the distance of the Hadfield line is a fair bit longer than other Met routes. Rochdale being the exception but surely only tram-nerds would use Met all the way to Manchester rather than the direct trains.
For me the crux is what is gained by converting Hadfield as opposed to say Rose Hill Marple. With Rose Hill you're removing diesels, with Hadfield you're swapping one green (at the point of use) mode for another. Both would free up capacity into Piccadilly to around the same extent, although both use the low numbered platforms which aren't the greatest capacity pinch. Rose Hill is a bit shorter I think, so more suitable for conversion than Hadfield depending on route chosen.
*=I suppose one advantage to trams would be the possibility of removing the reversals at Glossop and Hadfield by running on or adjacent to roads to a replacement tram stop. This could even be single track, a bit like the Merseyrail loop. Not sure how good the M5000s are at climbing hills though!