A tram passenger says fellow commuters are now facing "havoc" journeys after changes to services on the Bury line.
In December, the Bee Network announced a number of changes to services across the tram network beginning from the start of January, including an increased number of services and the continuation of late night trams.
It also announced that the Bury to Piccadilly and Piccadilly to Altrincham lines had seen “encouraging signs of passenger growth.”
However, passengers say that fewer double trams running between Bury and Altrincham is causing “havoc” for those who use the line to travel beyond Manchester city centre.
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Office manager Joanne Smullen, 51, says she uses the Bury to Altrincham line to travel to Manchester for work but now finds the carriages are often too full to allow passengers on.
She said: “Metrolink announced that they were increasing the capacity and frequency of trams and his has been widely reported by the media that the number of double trams running between Bury and Manchester have increased.
"I was really impressed when I saw the headline – thinking it was about time the busiest route on the Metrolink system was improved."
But Joanne says the network has increased double trams on the Bury to Piccadilly line by taking them from the Bury to Altrincham route.
She added that all the trams on the Bury to Altrincham lines are now single trams, which is "causing havoc for anyone who travels on this line".
Joanne says she got in touch with the Bee Network who told her that just five per cent of passengers made from Bury to Altrincham continue on from the city centre, and suggested she could catch the Piccadilly tram and change at Piccadilly Gardens instead.
She added: “Why should I have 10-15 minutes added on my already long journey?
"The journey into work isn't so bad for me personally as I get on at Bury but once the tram has reached Whitefield it’s at full capacity making it impossible for anyone else to get the Altrincham tram.
“Those passengers needing to travel further than Market Street have no option other than to get the Piccadilly service to the gardens and wait for the Altrincham tram that goes from there.
“The return journey home is horrific. The tram is already full when it gets to Deansgate Castlefield, my stop, so clearly people are using this line outside of the city centre.
"I've gone from being able to get a seat to being squashed like sardines. We urgently need the double trams back on the Bury - Altrincham line.”
When contacted for comment, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) referred the Bury Times to an earlier press release announcing its changes to timetable changes.
It said that the number of passengers on the Bury and Altrincham lines had reached pre-pandemic levels and that timetable changes had been introduced “to meet increased demand".
In the press release, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said: “I am delighted that Metrolink will be introducing extra capacity and frequency onto the Altrincham and Bury Metrolink lines, which provides a vital connection for people travelling between the north and south of our region.
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“These changes, combined with the late-night trams, will provide a real boost to regular passengers while also presenting a compelling case for those who perhaps don’t travel on trams as frequently to use Metrolink, which plays a central role in our integrated Bee Network public transport system.”
At the time, TfGM’s head of Metrolink Danny Vaughan added: “With demand for services on the Altrincham and Bury lines increasing, this new timetable will provide the frequency and capacity needed to meet, sustain and continue to grow patronage on these routes.
“This shows that TfGM and the Metrolink operator are committed to enhancing the service for the benefit of our customers.”
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