From the new payment system to disruption on the Metrolink, here is all you need to know about transport in Greater Manchester this week.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome to Manchester World. My name is Theo Hewson-Betts and this is your
00:03transport update for this week in Greater Manchester. So let's dive straight into it.
00:06Firstly, there are tram improvement works on the lines between Market Street and the
00:10High Street and Church Street stations that are going on from March 25th right the way
00:13through to April 24th. This means there'll be no trams operating via Market Street or
00:18Shude Hill. Most routes will be going via Exchange Square instead. The traffic centre
00:22services will be running right through to the Etihad campus as well. On the topic of
00:26trams, this week has seen the implementation of a new payment system on the Metrolink trams
00:30and the B network buses and it's tap and go basically which means that on both you can
00:35just tap a card and it'll give you combined fare for the overall day which is very similar
00:40to the system that we've seen used in London before. It should mean that you pay as little
00:43as possible if you're using multiple services over the course of a day or week. You'll never
00:47pay more than £9.50 for a day or £41 for the week and obviously that does depend on
00:52the areas that you're travelling through. The cheapest for bus payments and a single
00:56tram zone journey comes to around £6 for a day so not bad value at all. If you've
01:01used the new payment system, get in contact and let us know how you're finding it.
01:05And sticking on trams for just a little bit longer, the Metrolink had its busiest ever
01:09month in November but with that success came complaints of crowded and infrequent trams
01:14and the greater the capacity the more those complaints have been coming in really.
01:18Mayor Andy Burnham did acknowledge it earlier this week stating that the B network isn't
01:21quite where they want it to be yet and the demand for more capacity is particularly based
01:25around match days at the Etihad and Old Trafford so interesting to see what's done there.
01:30It looks as though trains will be the next phase of B network growth with suggestions
01:33around the place that the following phase after that could be to create the capacity
01:37for an underground network for rail. That's all that we've got for you this week though,
01:41give us a follow at Manchester World and we'll see you again soon.