‘Trams could be forced off track in days’ warns mayor
METROLINK could be shut down unless the government provides extra funding within ‘days rather than weeks,’ Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has warned.
If trams did stop running to and from Rochdale, key workers in a variety of sectors would face major challenges in getting to work, with alternative transport options potentially incurring huge costs and far longer travelling times.
Regional leaders are considering ‘mothballing’ the network until it receives a government bail out similar to what has been offered to rail and bus operators, as passenger numbers have plummeted since the coronavirus lockdown, with monthly income dropping from £6m to ‘well below £1m.’
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), which runs the network, could also be forced to ‘pare down’ services depending on the level of government funding.
Speaking at a joint press briefing with Steve Rotheram, mayor of the Liverpool city region, Mr Burnham said: “We are losing millions of pounds every month trying to run a public transport service in these circumstances.
“If there is no deal from the government in the way they’ve bailed out the bus and rail sectors, we are going to face the difficult decision of whether or not we need to mothball the Metrolink.
“It’s not something we have any wish to do because we want to support those crucial workers, those minimum wage heroes, because they still need to get to work for us.
“In absence of that [government] support, we are forced into a corner.”
Between March 2 and April 20, the number of people using the Metrolink fell by 95 pc, with tram frequency dropping to one every 20 minutes.
Key workers from the Rochdale area have told how a complete closure of Metrolink lines would seriously impact their ability to get to work.
Margaret Young, a senior nurse who usually works for Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust but has recently volunteered to work at the NHS Nightingale Hospital North West in the Manchester Central Convention Complex, says she would have to rely on a combination of trains and travelling on foot to get to work from her home in
Wardle. She said: “It’s getting harder and harder to travel with key worker public transport few and far between.
“As it is I’ve asked to be changed to the night shift so I can at least get in on time.
“I may have to stay in hotel accommodation which is not ideal.”
Melanie Brocklehurst, who lives on Kingsway in Rochdale and works as a care assistant at a care home in Oldham, emphasised that she loved her job, but that the potential of the Metrolink stopping was the latest in a series of challenges her workplace has faced.
She said: “It is hard enough as it is with all this going on and I will struggle to get to work if the trams stop.
“Staff are self isolating due to being pregnant or health conditions, so it would not be good if they lose more staff due to the tram stopping.”
When asked about how the shutting down of Metrolink would affect frontline workers using it to get to and from work, Mr Burnham admitted that the withdrawal of services would be challenging for workers, saying: “They would find it difficult, and we don’t want that to happen.”
NHS and social care staff were given free travel on the Metrolink earlier this month and the halting of services would have significant financial implications for some.
Senior support worker Kirsty-Lee Lumb, who normally uses the tram to travel from her home in
Milnrow to her workplace near Tandle Hill, said: “I won’t be able to get to to the children’s home where I work without spending lots of money on taxis every day!”
Mr Burnham stressed that post-pandemic economic recovery would require functioning public transport systems and urged the government to step in and help ‘get our cities back to life as quickly as possible’ once that the measures are lifted.
But he suggested that social distancing on buses, trains and trams could last for the rest of the year.
He said: “We’re still weeks into this now and we don’t have an answer.
“Metrolink, in normal times, would bring in around £6 million a month and that is now down to well below £1 million.
“We cannot continue to face losses of this kind without any way of understanding how we will make that income up.
“Public transport would probably have to run with social distancing for some time, possibly months rather than weeks - the rest of this year.
“We’re going to need support to get public transport running to levels we would want to run again.
“I’m talking about a [government] deal within days rather than weeks.”
The Department for Transport has been contacted for comment.