The big advantage of Metrolink is the speed it gets up to outside the city centre, where it uses repurposed railway routes with grade separation. It combines the speed with the convenience of dropping you off right in the middle of town close to your final destination
I reckon us Mancunians have a love-hate relationship with the Metrolink. Can't do without it but it infuriates the hell out of us (it's painfully slow when in "street running" mode). Love the video, by the way....
The Metrolink is probably the best tram system in the UK - largely because of its multiple routes and extensive coverage. I do think it shouldn't be viewed purely as a 'tram' though. I think Manchester should take inspiration from German cities like Hannover, Frankfurt & Cologne and build dedicated tunnels through Manchester City centre. This would allow lines like Bury / Rochdale - East Didsbury / Altrincham to have a higher capacity, grade separated route through the city centre whilst other services can still operate more like pure trams, running over the existing on-street portions. Basically making 'Metrolink' a bit more 'Metro'
I've always hoped they'd do that! I also think it would be nice if the remaining local railways and the busway got converted to metrolink tech and also plugged straight into the underground core of the network. A tunnel under Oxford Road and another line on the central reservation of Princess Road would also be nice.
They should just build the Picc-Vic link at last, with a direct link to the airport. Ruairidh MacVeigh's channel has a very good video on the Picc-Vic currently up.
The Greater Manchester Transport Plan for 2040 is considering a possible tunnel to increase capacity. The UK model to follow on this point is the Tyne and Wear Metro.
@1258-Eckhart the airport is served by a 15 minute train rise from Piccadilly (a significant proportion of these trains also running through Victoria and the Orsdall curve). But there is also the tram which has the added benefit of serving a good proportion of South Manchester as well.
The one thing that annoyed me much more than the on-street cirg centre running was that I was staying on the Bury line and to get anywhere else (even if technical it was further out of the centre I the same direction - like Oldham/Rochdale - I had to get a ticket including zone 1 even though the only station I used there was Victoria. If I had picked somewhere on the Salford/Trafford side to stay I could have changed at Cornbrook in zone 2 with no problem.
I have never been to Manchester before and I do like going there to ride on those M5000 trams. And there are plans to extend the Metrolink to Port Salford. And possible extension to Stockport.
Stockport may get the tram-trains down existing rail lines. Previous ideas included re-using the line through the Heatons area of Stockport into the town centre beyond the current terminus at East Didsbury. I used to live in Heaton Mersey until very recently and the East Didsbury stop is yards from the Manchester-Stockport boundary, but that's as good as it gets.
This seriously looks a lot like the ones we have in the US. In my video where I ride all 3 types of rail here in Phoenix, AZ, we even have the same card readers!
I would say Metrolink has its good and bad points Biggest positive is that with the amount of routes it serves, it covers most areas of Manchester Biggest negative is the the sections of street running (Eccles, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Airport lines for example) can be painfully slow
Hey Nathan, so it's not the "worst" system by the sound of it. My tip for another review: the Newcastle Metro, and should there be more stations in the city centre? Or is it well served already?
Yes, hence the Stretford End at Old Trafford. There are also two Chorltons in Manchester (Cum Hardy and -on-Medlock, the respective birthplaces of Dangermouse and David Lloyd George) but no Charltons, except Bobby.
Metrolink is great, but nothing will ever compare to the Croydon tramlink for me! On the topic of tramlink, I would love to see you do a video about it and any extensions that have been proposed!
Definitely a better system than Nottingham and Sheffield (and to be honest grandaddy Blackpool regarding size of network and frequency of trams) Haven't travelled on any other networks.
I did a 9 to 5 in Manchester City centre for several years . I would get on the tram at 8am in Whitefield every morning. Never once did I get a seat . All the seats were gone before it left bury. Metrolink never put a double tram on until 8.30 am which I didn't understand. People when on the tram would leave their brains behind and behave like sheeple. Crowds would stand in front of the doors and block others further down the line from getting on . The aisles would have plenty of room and if you was forceful you would push your way through the crowd and get space in the aisles or if you was weak you would plead with the customers to move aside and let you on who always just stand there and stare at you and won't move until told to by someone in uniform. The metrolink staff are always angry and unfriendly. There's no barriers or conductors on metrolink so you can travel without a ticket and a monthly ticket is very expensive especially for no seat . The metrolink inspectors would occasionally get on and catch people without a ticket. They always go around in gangs of at least 8 and are always angry and aggressive. They even killed one guy buy doing a George Floyd on him . I've seen them attacking children in school uniform and elderly people.
Not a fan of Metrolink at all. Expensive, slow, uncomfortable, cramped. Serco ran the heavy goods rail into manchester into the ground through poor maintenance then had to rip it up for lower grade track. Took years to introduce contactless. No timetable, or the frequency to make a timetable irrelevant. The lifts smell of p. They tore apart the old stations they inherited in favour of bus stop type shelters. Cant expect london type quality but Mersey rail is much better example of a non London system. It has proper trains. Liverpool has the only system comparable to London.
agree comopletely. I think though if Manchester Metrolink was put in tunnels in the city centre as they did in Liverpool it would be sooooo much better as journey times would be soooo much faster.
I think also more over bridges at stops particularly on the heavy rail sections should be built to allow trams to accelerate out of stops at full speed. And signalling should also be brought back for much of the ex - heavy rail sections to allow higher running speeds. This signalling should be full in cab signalling like ETCS. This combined with a city centre tunnel would make the tram network run more like an underground train service however with the flexibility to run on street and on tight turning radii.
Metrolink is only expensive because it is expected to make a profit. It’s not part of national rail like Merseyrail or subsidised by the tube like Croydon. The advantage of metrolink is that it is very cheap to build new lines compared to heavy rail. Merseyrail has not expanded since the 1970’s and metrolink opened its last new line in 2020. It is hard to imagine that we would have lines to the destinations we do now if Metrolink was a heavy rail system.
@@extrude22 yes, connecting the airport in Cheshire to the city centre via a tram was real clever. I honestly wish it would stop growing if thats the reason it costs so much It's also possible to have a tram system that isn't so expensive. They manage it elsewhere in the world. If the city had got a grip and not involved serco and those that followed.
@@liamo8932 Expanding the system is good actually. In other countries trams are cheap because they receive subsidies from either local or national governments. Metrolink does not receive any day to day subsidy so it must cover it's costs with fares. Also Serco were simply the operator, the operator takes instructions from TFGM who are the owners
The big advantage of Metrolink is the speed it gets up to outside the city centre, where it uses repurposed railway routes with grade separation. It combines the speed with the convenience of dropping you off right in the middle of town close to your final destination
Had the city centre part been underground it wouldve made the system even better and Foster
Manchester is lucky to have a wonderful tram service, plus great sounding trams!
Great video, yes you should visit all the uk tram systems and light rail as well as the Glasgow Subway!!!!
I love the Metrolink. I sure we all watch the same rail enthusiast related content on RUclips. 😀
Enjoyed that. Surprised I've never encountered your channel before. Definitely dubbing.
I reckon us Mancunians have a love-hate relationship with the Metrolink. Can't do without it but it infuriates the hell out of us (it's painfully slow when in "street running" mode). Love the video, by the way....
Tameside buses - they will pull up late or not pull up at all - but they will get u there
I have a similar feeling towards the tram 😂
The Metrolink is probably the best tram system in the UK - largely because of its multiple routes and extensive coverage. I do think it shouldn't be viewed purely as a 'tram' though. I think Manchester should take inspiration from German cities like Hannover, Frankfurt & Cologne and build dedicated tunnels through Manchester City centre. This would allow lines like Bury / Rochdale - East Didsbury / Altrincham to have a higher capacity, grade separated route through the city centre whilst other services can still operate more like pure trams, running over the existing on-street portions.
Basically making 'Metrolink' a bit more 'Metro'
I've always hoped they'd do that! I also think it would be nice if the remaining local railways and the busway got converted to metrolink tech and also plugged straight into the underground core of the network. A tunnel under Oxford Road and another line on the central reservation of Princess Road would also be nice.
They should just build the Picc-Vic link at last, with a direct link to the airport. Ruairidh MacVeigh's channel has a very good video on the Picc-Vic currently up.
The Greater Manchester Transport Plan for 2040 is considering a possible tunnel to increase capacity. The UK model to follow on this point is the Tyne and Wear Metro.
@1258-Eckhart the airport is served by a 15 minute train rise from Piccadilly (a significant proportion of these trains also running through Victoria and the Orsdall curve).
But there is also the tram which has the added benefit of serving a good proportion of South Manchester as well.
The one thing that annoyed me much more than the on-street cirg centre running was that I was staying on the Bury line and to get anywhere else (even if technical it was further out of the centre I the same direction - like Oldham/Rochdale - I had to get a ticket including zone 1 even though the only station I used there was Victoria.
If I had picked somewhere on the Salford/Trafford side to stay I could have changed at Cornbrook in zone 2 with no problem.
do a west midlands metrolink video that will be good
I have never been to Manchester before and I do like going there to ride on those M5000 trams. And there are plans to extend the Metrolink to Port Salford. And possible extension to Stockport.
Stockport may get the tram-trains down existing rail lines. Previous ideas included re-using the line through the Heatons area of Stockport into the town centre beyond the current terminus at East Didsbury. I used to live in Heaton Mersey until very recently and the East Didsbury stop is yards from the Manchester-Stockport boundary, but that's as good as it gets.
This seriously looks a lot like the ones we have in the US. In my video where I ride all 3 types of rail here in Phoenix, AZ, we even have the same card readers!
The Manchester RUclips guy is Bee Here Now, speaking of bees
I would say Metrolink has its good and bad points
Biggest positive is that with the amount of routes it serves, it covers most areas of Manchester
Biggest negative is the the sections of street running (Eccles, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Airport lines for example) can be painfully slow
Big fan of your work 🔥.
In Cologne, they use those Bombardier 5000 series trams as tube trains:
ruclips.net/video/LjfTy-Qfx8o/видео.html
Hey Nathan, so it's not the "worst" system by the sound of it. My tip for another review: the Newcastle Metro, and should there be more stations in the city centre? Or is it well served already?
What a lovely video!
7.37 lol stretford; is that place!? Ive only come back home from Stratford! Your content is like a warm hug!
Yes, hence the Stretford End at Old Trafford. There are also two Chorltons in Manchester (Cum Hardy and -on-Medlock, the respective birthplaces of Dangermouse and David Lloyd George) but no Charltons, except Bobby.
Making me wanna go there & check it out 🤔
Good video of Manchester City metro link
Metrolink is great, but nothing will ever compare to the Croydon tramlink for me! On the topic of tramlink, I would love to see you do a video about it and any extensions that have been proposed!
Definitely a better system than Nottingham and Sheffield (and to be honest grandaddy Blackpool regarding size of network and frequency of trams)
Haven't travelled on any other networks.
“Yellow”
- def Network Nathan
Cool
BRO i almost had a heart attack! I walked past you at Stratford last monday; I wanted to holla but you seemed angry so next time im hollering!
what about sheffield and birmingham
At least the seats are better than in cologne
The k5000 wich is basically the same train with minor differences (you just sit on plastic seats)
I did a 9 to 5 in Manchester City centre for several years . I would get on the tram at 8am in Whitefield every morning. Never once did I get a seat . All the seats were gone before it left bury. Metrolink never put a double tram on until 8.30 am which I didn't understand. People when on the tram would leave their brains behind and behave like sheeple. Crowds would stand in front of the doors and block others further down the line from getting on . The aisles would have plenty of room and if you was forceful you would push your way through the crowd and get space in the aisles or if you was weak you would plead with the customers to move aside and let you on who always just stand there and stare at you and won't move until told to by someone in uniform. The metrolink staff are always angry and unfriendly. There's no barriers or conductors on metrolink so you can travel without a ticket and a monthly ticket is very expensive especially for no seat . The metrolink inspectors would occasionally get on and catch people without a ticket. They always go around in gangs of at least 8 and are always angry and aggressive. They even killed one guy buy doing a George Floyd on him . I've seen them attacking children in school uniform and elderly people.
Good video. Not sure what the French music was in aid of 😂
Nowhere near the best in Europe, it is slowwwwwwww.
Manchester
Everything in Manchester will soon be yellow.
Not a fan of Metrolink at all. Expensive, slow, uncomfortable, cramped. Serco ran the heavy goods rail into manchester into the ground through poor maintenance then had to rip it up for lower grade track. Took years to introduce contactless. No timetable, or the frequency to make a timetable irrelevant. The lifts smell of p. They tore apart the old stations they inherited in favour of bus stop type shelters. Cant expect london type quality but Mersey rail is much better example of a non London system. It has proper trains. Liverpool has the only system comparable to London.
agree comopletely. I think though if Manchester Metrolink was put in tunnels in the city centre as they did in Liverpool it would be sooooo much better as journey times would be soooo much faster.
I think also more over bridges at stops particularly on the heavy rail sections should be built to allow trams to accelerate out of stops at full speed. And signalling should also be brought back for much of the ex - heavy rail sections to allow higher running speeds. This signalling should be full in cab signalling like ETCS. This combined with a city centre tunnel would make the tram network run more like an underground train service however with the flexibility to run on street and on tight turning radii.
Metrolink is only expensive because it is expected to make a profit. It’s not part of national rail like Merseyrail or subsidised by the tube like Croydon.
The advantage of metrolink is that it is very cheap to build new lines compared to heavy rail. Merseyrail has not expanded since the 1970’s and metrolink opened its last new line in 2020.
It is hard to imagine that we would have lines to the destinations we do now if Metrolink was a heavy rail system.
@@extrude22 yes, connecting the airport in Cheshire to the city centre via a tram was real clever. I honestly wish it would stop growing if thats the reason it costs so much It's also possible to have a tram system that isn't so expensive. They manage it elsewhere in the world. If the city had got a grip and not involved serco and those that followed.
@@liamo8932 Expanding the system is good actually.
In other countries trams are cheap because they receive subsidies from either local or national governments. Metrolink does not receive any day to day subsidy so it must cover it's costs with fares.
Also Serco were simply the operator, the operator takes instructions from TFGM who are the owners