A Greater Manchester transport chief has apologised to passengers who were reportedly left stranded at the weekend following a series of high-profile events.
Vernon Everitt, who is Greater Manchester’s Transport Commissioner, also said that authorities are looking to re-extend the operating hours of the tram network, which were cut by the Covid-19 pandemic. He also urged Keolis-Amey, the firm which runs Metrolink, and trade unions to reach a deal to prevent scheduled strikes from going ahead this weekend.
Mr Everitt made his comments as he and Dame Sarah Storey, the city-region’s Active Travel Commissioner, launched an ambition to eliminate deaths and serious injuries on the the roads by 2040.
READ MORE: Join the FREE Manchester Evening News WhatsApp community
“I apologise to everybody that might have been affected by that [disruption this weekend just gone],” Mr Everitt told journalists at the event in Ashton-under-Lyne. “It does need to improve. TfGM runs one of the finest tram networks anywhere in the country, there were lots of events over the weekend, and we’ll get to the bottom of the complaints that have been received.
“The bigger point is that [this is] the point of the integration of the network, so we can bring the planning of Metrolink, of buses, of trains, and of active travel all together in one, single, coherent plan so we can avoid circumstances like the ones we received complaints about over the weekend.”
One complaint was that trams stopped at midnight, which meant the throngs of gig-goers at the Arctic Monkeys at Emirates Old Trafford, Elton John at the AO Arena, and Coldplay at the Etihad, couldn’t get home. Mr Everitt added that running trams into the early hours would be ‘looked at’.
He said: “Metrolink used to run later. It was cut back during Covid. We would love to bring Metrolink back an hour later in the evenings.
“We will look, towards the end of the year, to see if we can do that. We would like to improve late night services.”
However, as much as disruption plagued music fans last weekend, festival revellers face an even more difficult time moving around for Parklife this weekend. A two-day strike is scheduled on Saturday and Sunday (June 10 and 11), meaning no trams can run to and from Heaton Park.
That means transport chiefs face a headache in getting tens of thousands of party-goers to and from the city centre, which is usually handled in large part by special Metrolink services. Mr Everitt is keen to avoid the strike, however.
He said: “Clearly, what we would like is there to be an agreement between Keolis Amey and the workforce, because we don’t want our passengers inconvenienced. Let’s hope they can get around the table and reach an agreement soon.”
More broadly, transport chiefs are hoping the ‘Vision Zero’ concept — modelled on similar plans in London, Bristol, and Blackpool — will take Greater Manchester's total of deaths and serious injuries on the roads down from 858 in 2021, to zero in 2040.
Although final details have yet to be sketched out, Dame Sarah said the programme will examine speed limits, road design, human behaviour, and vehicle safety in order to cut figures. She added: “Any death or serious injury on our roads is one too many, and these collisions are already devastating people’s lives.
“It’s heart-breaking to learn of a fatal or life-changing collision and sadly there has been some horrendous incidents very recently right on our doorstep. These incidents are neither acceptable or inevitable, and we should all be doing everything we can to prevent them.
“Back in November I launched a refreshed mission for Greater Manchester's active travel programme and within that I recommended the region adopt Vision Zero. Today's announcement is the first step on making that a reality and I hope the work that now follows will pave the way in making everyone feel safe when they take to the roads, whether that be in a car, on foot or on a bike.”
Read more of today's top stories here
READ NEXT:
- Boy, 15, arrested for murder after man, 21, killed in Greater Manchester
- Man who posed as £300-a-time 'exam cheat for hire' to illegally sit driving theory tests JAILED
- Police storm Ryanair flight at Manchester Airport after man caught SMOKING in plane toilet
- 'People were climbing on top of cars' - sports club's beer festival plans scuppered by angry neighbours
- Driver who 'wasn't concentrating' killed boy, 6, in horror crash, trial hears
