Commuters have called on transport bosses for more Metrolink services after they say single carriage trams are 'packed to the rafters' at weekends.
Pictures taken by one city centre traveller on Sunday afternoon (December 11) show crowded cars, with many passengers being forced to wait for the next tram to be able to board. Now, Metrolink customers have criticised the city's transport bosses for failing to put on enough trams, and equip each tram with multiple carriages, saying using the tram is an 'unpleasant experience'.
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) apologised for any journeys that were 'a little later or busier than expected', but say they ran services with space for almost 70,000 more passengers across the network than on the Sunday before.
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Edward, who tweeted about his packed tram after trying to travel home from the city centre on Sunday, said he took the pictures at 15:49 as the tram pulled into Cornbrook. He added that 'even more people tried to get on' once the service reached the stop.
"It was crammed full right up to Chorlton, where it eased off a bit," he told the Manchester Evening News . "However, it was still uncomfortably busy up to Burton Road, which was where my stop was."
As a frequent tram user, Edward said single carriage services are 'always packed to the rafters', and asked how councils can encourage people to use public transport when overcrowding is so common.
"It isn’t just a one off. This happens most days at rush hour," he said. "Same happens when there are football matches or big stadium or arena concerts taking place, or just a normal busy Saturday afternoon.
"It is crazy at a time when councils are trying to encourage people to use the transport system, that they make it an uncomfortable, unpleasant experience for people."
TfGM’s Head of Metrolink, Danny Vaughan, said the service had been coping with 'steady increases in patronage' and admitted there had been some delays. However, he insisted TfGM ran 'more services across the weekend' than on previous Saturdays and Sundays.
He said: “We’ve seen steady increases in patronage recently, with particular growth in the leisure market due to various major events.
“Last weekend was no different, with the Christmas markets, parade and Manchester derby, which is why we ran more services across the weekend. This meant we had trams departing Cornbrook roughly every couple of minutes and space for almost 70,000 more passengers across the network compared with the previous Sunday.
“Unfortunately there were some minor delays to a small number of services due to driver availability and I’d like to apologise if anyone’s tram journey was a little later or busier than expected – but overall it is really positive to see so many people back travelling with us and enjoying the festive season.”
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