Manchester Metrolink Tram System

Feature New Promise of LRT Systems

William Tyson

Introduction to Greater city that could be used by local rail into the city centre either in tunnel or on Manchester services—taking them into the central the street. area—to complete closure and I carried out an appraisal of these options The City of Manchester (pop. 500,000) is replacement of the services by buses. Two and showed that closure of the lines had at the heart of the Greater Manchester options were to convert some heavy rail a negative benefit-to-cost ratio, and that— conurbation comprised of 10 lines to light rail (tram) and extend them at the very least—they should be kept municipalities that is home to 2.5 million people. The municipalities appoint a Passenger Transport Authority (PTA) for the Figure 1 Metrolink Future Network

whole area to set policies and the Greater 1 Victoria Manchester Passenger Transport Executive 2 Shudehill 3 Market Street Rochdale Town Centre 4 Mosley Street (GMPTE) to implement them. Buses Newbold Manchester 5 Piccadilly Gardens Drake Street Piccadilly Kingsway Business Park 6 Rochdale provide most public transport. They are 7 St Peter's Square Railway Milnrow Station deregulated and can compete with each 8 G-Max (for Castlefield) Newhey London 9 Cornbrook other and with other modes. There is a 0 Pomona Bury - Exchange Quay local rail network serving Manchester, and = Salford Quays Buckley Wells ~ Anchorage ! Harbour City linking it with the surrounding areas and @ Broadway Shaw and Crompton # Langworthy also other regions of the country. Street $ Tradfford Bar trams vanished from Greater Manchester % Old Trafford Radcliffe ^ Wharfside* & Manchester United* in 1951, but returned in a very different * Imperial War Museum for the North* ( Lowry Centre form in 1992. This article outlines the Whitefield Derker Oldham Besses o' th'Barn Central development of the new system and Westwood Oldham Mumps OldhamOldham Manchester King Street Street explores the reasons for choosing trams. Freehold Prestwich It then goes on to analyze the factors that Heaton Park Bowker Vale South Chadderton have made the system successful. Finally, Hollinwood expansion of the system is discussed. Crumpsall Abraham Moss Failsworth Woodlands Road Monsall Dean Lane Queens Road North Why Manchester ManchesterManchesterBusiness Business Park Park Ashton WWestest Chose Trams? 1 New East 2 Holt Town (for Velodrome)Edge Ashton Moss Ashton-underAshton-under-- Weaste 3 LLyneyne 4 Sportcity Lane Droylsden Eccles Ladywell Pollard Clayton # 8 5 In the mid-1980s, the local rail network ! ~ 7 Street Cemetery Audenshaw @ 6 Road Giants = Field* ( was in need of major investment in new Parkway - 0 9 Trafford Centre Village rolling stock, power supply and * & ^ Mosley Road $

signalling. It also suffered because the % Firswood stations in central Manchester were at Stretford Chorlton-cum-Hardy least 1 km from most passengers’ St Werburgh's Road Chester Road Hough End destinations in the Central Business Hardy Farm Barlow Withington Dane Road Moor Burton Road Road District and the main shopping and Sale Water Sale Park* entertainment areas. As a result, the West Didsbury Brooklands Didsbury Village Northern Moor East Didsbury subsidy bill was increasing as the quality Kings Stockport Town Centre Wythenshawe Park Reach* Timperley Craig Road of service was getting worse because of Moor Road Gorsey Bank* the old infrastructure and rolling stock. Baguley Roundthorn Martinscroft The PTA was paying more and more and Navigation Road Haveley Phase 1 & 2 operations Altrincham Wythenshawe Hospital Benchill Phase 3 contract getting less and less so it initiated a Newall Green Crossacres Powers obtained Wythenshawe TTownown Centre Robinswood Road Subject to Transport & comprehensive study of options for the Davenport Green Peel Hall Works Act approval Woodhouse Subject to private sector funding future of the local rail network in 1982. Park Shadowmoss Manchester Airport Wharfside* Subject to further consultation A wide range of options for the future of Possible future Metrolink stop the network was examined, ranging from Source: GMPTE, 2003 building a tunnel under the centre of the

22 Japan Railway & Transport Review 38 • March 2004 Copyright © 2004 EJRCF. All rights reserved. open in some form. If they were to be construction cost was £160 million (£1 = high-floor trams. In the city centre, most extended into the city centre, light rail US$ 1.80) and £5 million was offered for stops have high platforms although two conversion with a surface tram line in the the operating concession. have low platforms with a high section at city would have the highest benefit-to-cost The main terms of the operating concession one end. This makes the system fully ratio because it was the lowest-cost way are that GMPTE sets the minimum accessible to the mobility impaired, to provide access to the city centre. frequency of the services and periods of including passengers in wheelchairs and These two options were taken forward into operation and specifies the levels of those with heavy luggage, shopping or further appraisals that showed that the reliability that have to be achieved. The children in pushchairs. tram option was the better of the two in operator can set fares but is in competition This first phase of the system is 31-km long cost-benefit terms. The PTA adopted the with commercial bus services and pays all with 25 stops, five of which are in the city tram option as policy and in 1988, the the system operating costs. centre; a sixth stop in the city centre was GMPTE obtained the statutory powers to Construction took place between 1990 and opened in 2003. Of the 20 former railway build and operate it, followed in 1988 by 1992. Two local heavy rail lines were stations, 16 are now entirely tram stops, agreement from central government of a selected for conversion to the tram two are shared between tram and local grant towards the construction costs. network—one to the north of the city and trains on separate platforms, and two are one to the south. They were connected by parts of larger city-centre rail stations. The 2.5 km of on-street track in the city centre, average distance between stops is 1.3 km. Delivering the System most of which is segregated from other Twenty-six trams that can each carry up traffic. Both local rail lines terminated at to 206 passengers provide the services. Besides being the first modern light-rail purpose-built bus–rail interchanges (Fig. 1) Up to 23 trams are in service during the street system in the UK, Manchester also in the centres of the towns they served Monday–Friday peaks and 25 are developed a new form of business concept (Altrincham in the south and Bury in the sometimes in service. by involving the private sector in north). Passengers from the north were operation of the system. The government given direct access to the main national and of the day insisted that the private sector inter-regional rail station at Piccadilly for Impacts should play a role in operating the new the first time and passengers on both lines system. This was consistent with get direct access to the city centre. The tram system opened in sections government deregulation and between April and November 1992 and privatization of most bus services outside was an instant success. The local railway London and later privatization of the rail Services lines had been carrying about 7.6 million network between 1993 and 1997. passenger journeys each year when they A new form of contract was devised for Services on the local rail lines before were closed for conversion to trams. In the tram—Design, Build, Operate, and they were converted to trams ran every the year to 31 March 1994, the trams Maintain (DBOM). As the name suggests 10 minutes during the Monday–Friday carried 11 million passenger journeys— it combines a conventional design and peak hours, every 15 minutes between the 20% of whom would otherwise have used build contract with a concession to peaks and all day on Saturdays, and every the car. I estimated that patronage would operate and maintain the system for a 30 minutes in evenings on the Altrincham settle at 12 million passenger journeys per period of 15 years. Financial estimates line on Sundays. (The Bury line had no year after 2 years of operation of the full by GMPTE showed that passenger trains on Sundays.) By contrast, the trams service. This level was achieved by the revenue on the tram system would exceed provide a 6-minute service from 07:00 to end of 1994, just over 2 years from the operating costs but would not cover the 18:00 on Mondays to Saturdays and a start of the full service in November 1992. initial construction costs. 12-minute service at most other times These initial patronage levels have Bids from consortia for the DBOM (a 15-minute service runs on Sunday continued to grow. By 1997–98, contract comprised two elements: the evenings). The trams also run for longer patronage had risen to 13.8 million cost of building the system, and the each day than the rail services did. passenger journeys, reaching 15 million amount that they were prepared to pay When the system was built, Europe had passenger journeys in 2002–03, or more for the right to operate the system no low-floor trams in mass production and than double the patronage on the old local accepting both the cost and revenue risks all the stations on the former railway lines railway services. for the 15-year period. In the event, the had high platforms, so the system uses The tram increased its market share for

Metrolink at St Peter’s Square in the business district. The system is fully accessible A busy Metrolink in central Manchester (GMPTE) to the mobility impaired. (GMPTE)

journeys to central Manchester from the it is fully supervised by closed circuit immediate catchment areas of the stops Reasons for Success television (CCTV) with automatic to 58% from the former 17% achieved recording and is viewed as safe. Despite by the trains. The car’s share for these The system has been a success by every a few incidents, it still has a good record trips has fallen from 55% to 33% while measure and is widely recognized as such. relative to other modes of public transport. the bus’ share has fallen from 28% to 9%. There are several reasons. First, it offers This support has even extended to the As a result, traffic levels on roads running high-quality services that are frequent, mass media; the local Manchester Evening parallel to the tram services have fallen fast, clean, safe and reliable. At peak News has been a staunch supporter of by up to 10%, reducing both congestion times, it offers faster overall journey times Metrolink and supported the PTA’s bid to and pollution. The tram uses less primary than either cars or buses. And journey extend the system. energy per passenger-km than any other times are equal to those of the car even The only problem is that the trams are now mode and the environmental impact is outside peak times. Second, it has opened full to capacity during peak hours so part created at power stations where it can up new markets for evening- and late- of the extension programme described be controlled. night travel (services now run until 01:30 below includes provision of more trams. Accident rates per passenger-km have also on Friday and Saturday nights), journeys been reduced as a result of the transfer of across the city centre (now 5% of total trips from cars to trams because trams travel but negligible before), and journeys Extending System have much fewer accidents than cars. generated by the system’s full accessibility. Although the trams run through very busy Third, the system has three major traffic The PTA and GMPTE were actively working pedestrian areas, there have been few generators and attractors—Manchester at to extend Metrolink even before the system accidents involving pedestrians. After the the centre of the network, and the towns was completed. In the UK, the process of initial period of new operations in mixed of Bury and Altrincham at the ends of the getting statutory powers to build and traffic passed, in over 10 years of lines. This has resulted in a highly operate a tram system is very protracted operations in a busy city centre, there have successful commercial operation, because and can take at least 3 years to plan and been few collisions between trams and there is a good balance of travel in both get powers for a new line. The PTA policy other vehicles with only one serious directions even at peak times. Outside has always been to obtain powers so that accident (that was not the fault of the tram). the peak times, there is a fairly even work can proceed as soon as funding is Since the tram system took over two balance of traffic with passengers available. Consequently, the necessary railways that served established suburban boarding and alighting at most stops. This powers were obtained well in advance for areas, it has not had a major impact on contrasts with the classic model of a city the system extensions shown in Figure 1. regeneration. However, it does link a centre to suburb railway line, which is The first extension is the 6.4-km line to regeneration area west of central usually dominated by single-direction Eccles branching from the Altrincham line Manchester with the city centre. peak traffic. Finally, the system has about 2 km from the city centre. Unlike generated a high level of public support; the first lines described above, this is an

24 Japan Railway & Transport Review 38 • March 2004 Copyright © 2004 EJRCF. All rights reserved. entirely new line on a route that has never Prime Minister Tony Blair opened the first Manchester Airport linking it with major had a rail service. It serves a major section in December 1999 and the line residential areas to recruit staff for the regeneration area in Manchester’s old to Eccles was completed in July 2000. expanding workforce. The line will also docklands now known as Salford Quays. Patronage grew slowly as expected for an contribute to regeneration of a suburban (Manchester was an inland port served by entirely new line but growth has been area of Wythenshawe that includes some the Manchester Ship Canal.) This section steady and now runs at about 3.25 million of the most socially deprived areas in the of the line was planned alongside the passenger journeys per year. The long- UK. Most of this line will be on development and although much of term estimate is for an annual patronage segregated tracks at the side or middle of development area was already occupied of 5.5 million people. Six new trams of a roads but some 3 km runs on an before the line opened, the route had been similar design to the original trams were abandoned railway line. At writing left clear. The line then runs west to Eccles purchased to provide 12-minute services (January 2004), funding for these three in the municipality of Salford. The section throughout the day. The line also includes new extensions is still being finalized. through Salford Quays has its own right a large Park & Ride car park just outside of way while the last 3 km to Eccles runs Eccles that is less than 1 km from an exit entirely on the street. on the M602 motorway to Manchester. Conclusions Funding for this line came from a The line completion has already seen combination of sources, including the more new developments both in Salford When these extension lines have been PTA, central government, the European Quays and Eccles. completed the Manchester Metrolink will Union, contributions from private The next priorities for extensions be over 93-km long with more than 80 developers in cash or as land gifts, and comprised three other lines shown on trams carrying about 45 million the proceeds of re-letting the concession Figure 1. The first is a 24-km line to passengers each year. At that time, it is for the Bury and Altrincham lines. The Oldham and Rochdale that will take over likely to account for about 20% of all total cost of the line was £150 million with another local railway line. However, the public transport trips in Greater some 65% coming from the private sector. old route will be partly diverted to run on- Manchester. The Metrolink is one public The concession for the Bury and street through the centre of Oldham and transport mode that has enjoyed almost Altrincham lines could be re-let because serve a new bus interchange east of continuous passenger growth since it the first agreement contained a clause Oldham. It will also be extended from opened and the factors contributing to the dealing with system expansion. In Rochdale railway station into the centre of success of the first three lines have been summary, this stated that if GMPTE got Rochdale and terminate at the bus station. taken into account in planning the new powers and funding for an extension, the The second extension is a 10-km line to lines. The three new lines will not be the consortium holding the concession Ashton-under-Lyne east of Manchester. end of the tram story—more lines are in would be invited to bid for construction Two-thirds of this entirely new line will planning and some are shown in Figure 1. and operation of the extension. If this be on segregated tracks over a new route Our experience in Manchester shows that bid did not represent good value for with the remaining one-third running on the modern light-rail incarnation of the money in the view of GMPTE, the an existing road. It will serve a major new tram has enormous potential to help concession could then be terminated regeneration area close to the site of the reduce the adverse impact of the car on with the concession holder receiving 2002 Commonwealth Games, and a large cities and to help achieve wider compensation based on the amount major Park & Ride car park, as well as the economic regeneration and social originally paid for the concession. town of Ashton. inclusion objectives. I This did happen and a new concessionaire The third 21-km line will serve took over on 1 May 1997 with a contract to design and build the Eccles extension William Tyson and to operate and maintain the whole system. This concession is for 17 years, Mr Tyson, OBE, is Managing Director of the GMPTE Transport Management Group. He obtained a comprised of a 2-year construction period Master’s degree in economics from Manchester University in 1970 while on the the staff of the university and then left to form his own consultancy business in 1980, becoming involved in the economic and 15 years of operation. The private appraisal of Metrolink. Until recently, he was a member of the UITP Transport Economics Commission sector, including the concessionaire, paid and was part of a team that advised the British government on new transport policy. £95 million toward the £160 million cost of the extension.