MANCHESTER 1

[inOban]

Traffic

Perhaps the regular users of Manchester could explain why they don't use the public transport options which have been provided at great expense.

[rkenyon]

Perhaps the regular users of Manchester could explain why they don't use the public transport options which have been provided at great expense.

For me, I'd need to get a bus to Trafford Bar (20 minutes), and then a tram to the airport (maybe 40 minutes). Plus a 10 minute walk to T3. So, lets say 1.5 hours door to door.

Or a 10 minute taxi ride.

[Dobbo_Dobbo]

Originally Posted by rkenyon

For me, I'd need to get a bus to Trafford Bar (20 minutes), and then a tram to the airport (maybe 40 minutes). Plus a 10 minute walk to T3. So, lets say 1.5 hours door to door.

Or a 10 minute taxi ride.

Agreed. The road networks around the airport should be upgraded in advance of the expanded terminal 2.

[rutankrd]

inOban.

Actually there is One overiding problem just about anywhere north of Watford/Amersham/Epping and South of Orpington , West of Harmonsworth and East of Thurrock (Commonly known as Zone 6/7/8 and 9 of Oyster) in the UK.

And its at its worse in the major conurbations - Thatchers legacy of deregulation.

Within the conurbations transport modes and fare structures DEMAND integration rather than competition PERIOD STOP.

Look at The ridership in London (ignore the HUGE and unfair subsidies for now) and SINGLE cross mode payment card - It just works.

When a single payment card on ALL and i mean ALL modes is offered people choose to ride and connect from one mode to another without question.

To put it into perceptive just this morning i rode a Metropolitan line train from Northwood to Euston Square , got the 134 to the bottom of Tottenham Court Road . Went to a Radisson Hotel, got on a Bakerloo Train to Marylebone and then a Chiltern Train to Harrow on the Hill.

One card a daily travel limit several differing modes LUL , franchise buses and a National Train operator !

This should be the norm not the exception in every City Region.

Sorry for going off on a tangent , however its relevant to regional public transport including Manchester

[ZOOKER]

Plenty of roads around EGCC, Dobbo. Curious what you mean by "should be upgraded" though?

[Dairyground]

Originally posted by inOban

Perhaps the regular users of Manchester could explain why they don't use the public transport options which have been provided at great expense.

If you start from the right part of manchester, public transport can work quite well. But from my part of Stockport the public transport options are two busses, one of which meanders through a very large council estate, or a train into central Manchester (15-20 minutes once an hour) and another one out again (a further 20 minutes) plus connection time. Against that is a taxi taking around 10 minutes and costing less than a day's parking.

If there were a direct train to Stockport and points north and east, then some of us might take to the rails rather than the roads.

[Council Van]

The train service from the South is appalling, could some cross county services from Birmingham or South Wales via Crewe be diverted on the way to Manchester Piccadilly? At the moment only the local Crewe Manchester stopper calls once an hour.

Of little use for passengers and totally impractical for employees.

[ZOOKER]

The station at EGCC is, unfortunately, situated at the end of a 'siding'.

[johnnychips]

If there were a direct train to Stockport and points north and east, then some of us might take to the rails rather than the roads.

There is a 'direct' train to Stockport every hour. It leaves at xx55 and arrives at about xx26, but it goes via Piccadilly.

There are also 199 High Peak Airlink buses every 30 minutes during the day from the airport to Stockport, taking 15 minutes.

If I lived in the local area, I'd probably take a taxi too. I would think the public transport links are more useful for people travelling some distance - like me. However, if I've got a flight about 0830, I get off my first train at Stockport and get a taxi directly to the terminal, and this strategy has also been used to good effect if the train is late at any time of day, rather than staying on the train through Piccadilly and having a nail-biting run from the airport station.

[MANFOD]

I missed this on Friday so thanks to a poster on another forum for the prompt.

New direct flight from Manchester Airport to San Francisco launched - Manchester Evening News

Obviously positive news already reported but some interesting comments by TCX about transfer facilities at MAN.

Touching on Manchester’s Airports planned £1bn transformation, he said it couldn’t come soon enough.
He said: “The transfer facilities at Manchester are not up to date compared with other important airports. We know the airport is on it.
"It really needs to improve if we want to further develop Manchester.”

[Council Van]

The station at EGCC is, unfortunately, situated at the end of a 'siding'.

Indeed, it is an another example of doing things on the cheap without looking at the long term view.

However with the use of multiple units it is not a major issue. The driver can walk from one end to the other in a couple of minutes.

If the waist of money that is HS2 does ever materialize hopefully they will enable inter regional trains to also use it between Crewe and Manchester airport and also provide a connection from the Chester line into the airport at the same time.

[Logohu]

Thanks for posting the M.E.N. link MANFOD.
Unfortunately in para 3 they forgot to mention Chicago. Unless of course they know something we don't yet ??

[Dobbo_Dobbo]

Originally Posted by ZOOKER

Plenty of roads around EGCC, Dobbo. Curious what you mean by "should be upgraded" though?

I'm probably being greedy.

In the immediate vicinity, the MARR, SEMMMS, and M6 link road.

On a wider scale, an alternative route across the Pennines would clearly be a massive undertaking but one which could have a transformative effect.

[ZOOKER]

MARR and the M56-M6 link are coming on and I believe both are scheduled to open in 2017.

[chaps1954]

SEMMS is due to be finished winter 2017 and will make life a lot easier
Yes a road to Sheffield is long needed and last night traffic was very heavy over
Woodhead pass

[MANFOD]

Unfortunately in para 3 they forgot to mention Chicago. Unless of course they know something we don't yet ??

Good spot Logohu. Let's hope it's just a reporting error or the journalist was fed incomplete information. But .........?

[FQTLSteve]

Originally Posted by rutankrd

inOban.

Actually there is One overiding problem just about anywhere north of Watford/Amersham/Epping and South of Orpington , West of Harmonsworth and East of Thurrock (Commonly known as Zone 6/7/8 and 9 of Oyster) in the UK.

And its at its worse in the major conurbations - Thatchers legacy of deregulation.

Within the conurbations transport modes and fare structures DEMAND integration rather than competition PERIOD STOP.

Look at The ridership in London (ignore the HUGE and unfair subsidies for now) and SINGLE cross mode payment card - It just works.

When a single payment card on ALL and i mean ALL modes is offered people choose to ride and connect from one mode to another without question.

To put it into perceptive just this morning i rode a Metropolitan line train from Northwood to Euston Square , got the 134 to the bottom of Tottenham Court Road . Went to a Radisson Hotel, got on a Bakerloo Train to Marylebone and then a Chiltern Train to Harrow on the Hill.

One card a daily travel limit several differing modes LUL , franchise buses and a National Train operator !

This should be the norm not the exception in every City Region.

Sorry for going off on a tangent , however its relevant to regional public transport including Manchester

So spot on! Does UK have the will and ability to do it?

[inOban]

public transport

I see to have started quite an interesting topic. I wonder how many people, taking up employment at MAN, have chosen where to live on the basis of presence or otherwise of bus, tram or train routes?

[pwalhx]

I cannot answer for those who plan to take up employment, however when I was working a the airport and resident in Sale Moor I would definitely have taken the option of using the tram rather than driving.

Also should be noted that the proximity of Metrolink has raised house prices where available.

[GavinC]

It's clear as a regular user of trains from Picc that a decent number of hostees and some pilots have flats in town and use the train to get to the airport.