Transport in Manchester: Buses trams trains trucks and… Jetpods?
Public transport is a theme important to Eye On Manchester, and this week there have been some interesting news stories: There are proposals by Hyde-based Translink UK to reinstate the disused Woodhead railway line and tunnel under the Pennines between Hattersley east of Manchester, and Tinsley near Sheffield. The line would be used to carry trucks on Channel Tunnel-style trains. The Woodhead route, electified in 1954 was Britain’s first electric main line, but was later closed. EOM says it would be great to see disused railways around Manchester reinstated, ideally also for passengers, who are using the railways in increasing numbers.
Buses on Oxford Rd Manchester | Download Large
Metrolink trams have also been in the news. The MEN reports that 26 out of 32 trams are in operation (MEN 24.4.06 p28). Six are out of action due to collisions with cars, which happen roughly once a month. There is still uncertainty about whether the system will be expanded, with a new line though east Manchester to Ashton, conversion of existing rail lines to Oldham and Rochdale, and re-use of the disused line via Chorlton to Didsbury. Meanwhile bus operators have been meeting in Warrington to discuss how services can be improved, and on the streets of Manchester, bike campaigners have been encouraging commuters to pedal to work.
EOM would like to make the following points:
1) Manchester’s public transport system in the 1930s was faster and more efficient, possibly cheaper, and with far more choice than today: There was an extensive tram network, trolleybuses, a large two-man bus fleet with cross town buses, all rail lines were in use, with a choice of routes to many destinations. Instead of short term ‘make do and mend’, the future should be all about getting back to how it was - using today’s technology.
2) Buses are the mainstay of Manchester’s transport system today, but they are often crowded, unpunctual, polluting, badly-designed and expensive. There are some exceptions, but generally, the current system leads EOM to assert that Manchester will never be a world-class city without a world-class transport system.
3) EOM advocates an imaginative approach to public transport. Let’s start afresh, be imaginative and ask ‘What if…?’, How about monorails in Manchester, water taxis in Worsley and along the Ship Canal, restored or replica two man rear platform buses operating daily routes, an extension of the East Lancashire Railway with steam engines running on commuter lines. How about a mini-air terminal in The Quays with jetpod taxis serving regional destinations, and how about a maglev high speed rail line to London?
Fanciful, maybe, but that’s how the Channel Tunnel and Manchester Ship Canal were first conceived . More in future updates of Eye On Manchester.