i167.photobucket.com/albums/u141/amazingtrade/P1050978.jpg
From tomorrow there is going to be a regular passenger service on rails for the first time since 1967 (Ted will correct me if I got the year wrong). Although passangers won't be able to use it until the 21st of June and even that is if all the testing goes to plan.
In 1907 it took 10 minutes to get to the city centre from my town, in 2010 it took over 35 minutes by public transport in peak times. Now it will take 12 minutes.
You can see a fence on this picture and you can see behind it they are building yet another tram line, this time to Didsbury.
My mates all think I am a geek for being interested and excited about this, but if people can get to work much quicker they have more spare time and that makes cities richer.
I was speaking to some civil engineers who have been working on the project for the past two years and some of the level of engineering that has gone into make just 1.8 miles (it joins the existing network at that point) of tram line is staggering.
I don't think it will save me much car journeys as I tend to get the tram into the city centre anyway (but involves a mile drive to get there) but I guess it will save me about 50 miles a year.
I am hoping once the extensions are all built it will mean a few people decide to ditch their cars, if they are not running expensive cars they have more money to spend on technology :D which means more money for me.
I am also hoping it might mean less traffic, so I can get to jobs quicker and save petrol in the process.
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>> From tomorrow there is going to be a regular passenger service on rails ...
>> for the first time since 1967 .... passangers won't be able to use it until the 21st of June
Not a passenger service. Good progress though. Still don't see the benefit of the East Didsbury link as they have a faster train link to the city centre. Lots of Didsbury property owners will be unhappy I guess. But have no one to blame apart from the surveyor.
For my local trains station to Manchester... about 10 minutes. Same for East Didsbury. The tram is slower. as it goes further (Iffy should that be farther? Ta).
Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 8 Jun 11 at 00:56
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As I said before the East Didsbury line isn't really about the city centre, it is about other connections, it will terminate in East Manchester.
It means they can get to Chorlton, Old Trafford, Salford Quays etc much quicker. At the moment places in around Salford Quays and Trafford Park must be a nightmare to get to from Didsbury via public transport. The tram will change all that.
Same as the airport line, there is already a trains service to the city centre, but the idea of tram is will connect all the areas in-between to it.
I agree that the Didsbury line is less beneficial than the Chorlton one. The Chorlton one will make a massive difference in travel time to the city centre, but the Didsbury one won't be quite so good as it has a much longer distance to travel.
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Good article in this week's Private Eye on how the classic design values are being wrecked at St Peter's Square in Manchester to accommodate a tram station. Progress I suppose.
Last edited by: Pugugly on Wed 8 Jun 11 at 00:04
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There was a lot of comment 20 yrs ago about how the Cenotaph station would demean the memory of those lads who died in the trenches and how they would be turning in their graves.
I never thought that way, we had a Great Uncle killed on the Somme and I believe the majority of those lads would have been interested in the technical advances of the time they lived in....and later ones had they lived to see them.
The tram will be a godsend in my little job I will be able to walk 150 yds, hop a trm, free, and get into the City and back instead of using the car or the bus, which goes a tortuous route.
The Didsbury line will serve a huge residential catchment area some distance from heavy rail. Even Northendon and North Wythenshawe will benefit from the station at West Didsbury, not far from Alfa Floor's palace. The trams will be much more frequent than trains from East Didsbury as well.
Of course, this terminus will become the springboard for the extension to Stockport in the future.
Ted
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Photobucket is usually fine, not sure why it is picking it up.
Further to comments about East Didsbury just think of it as the terminus.
St Peters Square is a bit of a dump at the moment, it needs a lot of work. The buses have already been diverted because of the works there.
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We have trams, they're ancient and slow but very cheap - $2 (so 16p) any distance. we have a fabulous air-conditioned underground (the MTR), I think the most you can pay is around GBP 1.50 for a journey and Taxis are about 1/3rd of the price of London (first 2Km is $18 so about GBP 1.45 then it's 60p a Km thereafter). Integrated public transport renders private cars unnecessary, if only the UK would wake up to this possibly (and pricing) in more of its cities.
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Norton has its knickers in a twist.
You using Norton H? Nasty product, I though most here had accpeted the words of wisom from various posters and moved to Avast or MSE
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>> Norton has its knickers in a twist.
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That was my thoughts
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>> You using Norton H? Nasty product, I though most here had accpeted the words of
>> wisdom from various posters and moved to Avast or MSE
>>
Thanks. I will certainly consider a new product at renewal time.
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Reminds me of the Docklands Light Railway in E. London - ideal for commuting to the City and avoiding the murderous (as I recall) traffic heading into London along the East India Dock Rd / Commercial Rd. etc.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Docklands_Light_Railway
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I like the DLR. I remember taking the train into Canary Wharf when it was completed, It was like something out of thunderbirds,- arriving on a high level automated railway into a huge tower block.
I was working in docklands when they opened the extension from mudshoot to greenwich. - Before you had to walk under the foot tunnel. .
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They're still building it about 10 feet from my bedroom window. You can all bleedin' walk.
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. CRUNCH. SCRAPE. BANG. SHUDDER. RATTLE. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. RUMBLE. SHOUT. MUSICAL BEEP. MUSICAL BEEP. MUSICAL BEEP. BANG. SHATTER. WHINE. ROAR. CLATTER. KNOCK. SMASH. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. SHAKE. SHUDDER. JAR. BANG. BOOM. CLANG. SLAM. THUMP. SHOUT. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
Rearrange and repeat as desired from 8am to 6pm. I haven't been able to transpose the most unique sound into text, which sounds like a giant vacuum cleaner spooling up and deafens everyone in the surrounding county.
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Add a bass line to that, Alf - chuck in a few vocals, stick it on Youtube, and you may be able to retire early (literally!).
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I recall a forum member posting news about the proposed opening of the Cambridge Guided Busway a while back:
www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/transport/around/thebusway/
However, it has encountered serious setbacks and is still not open, as well as being over budget:
www.noguidedbus.com/
tinyurl.com/6gc9fg4
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And don't mention the traps in Edinburgh....
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I'm not falling for that one.
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The main reason the Manchester one has gone ahead is all the councils within Greater Manchester all agreed from the start what they wanted. In Merseyside that didn't happen and when they pitched their ideas to the government they soon realised nobody could agree so it was canned.
The Edinburgh scheme has been a bit of a disaster from the start caused by a combination of bad planning and things which could never be planned for. I feel sorry for residents there.
The DLR testing actually started in Manchester, here is a picture
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DLR_train_at_Debdale_Park_Manchester.jpg
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I'm generally in favour of the trams, which are coming to Oldham and Rochdale as part of the same deal, but why is the overhead wiring so dense and complicated? Compare it with the Debdale photograph.
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The wiring is not just for powering the trams there is a lot of TOS equipment on there too. It all works from line of sight and it is a very complicated system but the fact some parts of the line will have a tram every two minutes it needs to be very complicated.
The debale line now just apart of the cylce path which was the Fallowfield loop and sadly no longer in use.
I still must do the Debdale cycle ride one day.
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If I remember, the Debdale line had already been abandoned and the overheads partially dismantled.
The electric section only went a mile to serve Reddish loco depot, where some of the Woodhead locos were based. The line cotinued by steam/diesel past the end of our garden here into Manchester Central........became GMex later.
Last train ran in late '87....while Rats was still using his potty !
The photo is actually taken at the site of the former Hyde Road station.....probably closed in 1958, along with the others on the line.
This clip shows the new equipment but the camera makes the posts look closer together and, being brand new, they stand out more.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=34WgQR4EKoc
The ramp on the right has been opened to the public this week and I'm going to have a walk round and have a look tomorrow if it's not raining.
Ted
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My first reaction to Rattle's photo in the OP was what a mess the overhead wiring was.
I think most of that is due to foreshortening in the photo due to using a telephoto lens.
Compare it with this Google Streetview of the city centre. tinyurl.com/3oukgtk
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Hey! What a coincidence! Is that the Midland Hotel? Quite a distinctive building.
I once had to pick a visitor up from there and take her to Heathrow Airport.
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That is the Midland Hotel.
Behind it is what was once called GMEX and now Manchester Central Convention Complex. Or Manchester Central for short. Gone back to its original name as as station.
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The tram was some distance away, I zoomed right in using the full 12x which is why the over head cables look such a mess.
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Edinburgh trams... over 80% of the budget has been spent, and they have a whopping 28% of the infrastructure built...
...some of which is now due for repair without ever having seen a tram.
Utter waste of money - I reckon at least 50% chance it'll just be scrapped.
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Not sure about the Manchester tram, but so far it is on schedule and within budget as far as I know. I will see what I can find now.
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From what I recall, the Manchester tram system has been built pretty well on schedule for each new section.
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That is the impression I have got. It gets a lot of stick by the MEN but of course they never report the fact that 95% of the time it is running without problems.
Many of the problems we have today are caused by the fact when first opened everything was very low budget and we now have a legacy of problems because of that.
This time everything is being done properly although the most basic trams were specified it isall that is needed, what is the point on air conditioning in Manchester when the average journey will be less than 10 minutes?
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>> what is the point on air conditioning in Manchester when the average journey will be less than 10 minutes?
Because BO smells linger?
Last edited by: rtj70 on Wed 8 Jun 11 at 23:16
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The lads and I travelled on one of these in Nancy when we wanted to get from the Ibis to town for a meal without using the bikes.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt1sYCTuEfk
Brilliant bit of kit...rubber tyres, either driver steered or guided by a centre rail like a Scalextric although not a slot.
Very quiet and went round corners in the city streets like a mini. Loops at the ends of the run meant it just went back facing the same way, the driver didn't change ends.
A few French towns use the same system...Clermont-Ferrand's are particularly attractive...look on YouTube.
Ted
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A video I managed to capture by accident before on the way back from Withington :)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGOGRF15uJE
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Fri 10 Jun 11 at 00:04
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Choo choo - beep - The tram is coming... - rtj70
