Customers invited to have their say on Metrolink fares

Metrolink customers are being invited to have their say on how fares will change from January 2018.

Starting today (Monday 26 June), the Metrolink Fare Survey will ask customers to choose between two options for increasing fares, before a final decision is made by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) this autumn.

The increase in Metrolink fares comes at the end of a transformational £1.5 billion programme of construction that has seen the network treble in size, with new lines now running to MediaCityUK, East Didsbury, Rochdale via Oldham, Ashton and Manchester Airport.

This year saw the final piece of the programme fall into place when Second City Crossing opened offering new links and more frequent trams through Manchester city centre.

Completion of Second City Crossing means that the network now comprises a fleet of 120 trams, 93 stops across seven lines and more than 60 miles of track spanning a system that is now the largest of its kind in the UK. Last year saw more than 37 million passenger journeys made by Metrolink.

Second City Crossing was a major construction programme that took three years to complete and during that time fares have been held at 2014 prices in recognition of the impact of the programme on Metrolink passengers.

Stephen Rhodes, Customer Director for Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), said: “The money we get from fares goes back into the network – it also pays back the money we borrowed to expand the system. It also pays for day-to-day costs like drivers, maintenance and security.

“We recognised that the work to create a new line through the city would be felt by passengers and so we held off increasing fares while it was carried out.

“However, Metrolink covers its day-to-day operating costs without any public financial support. Having held fares for three years we now need to return them to the level they need to be at to ensure that Metrolink can continue to operate on a financially sustainable basis into the future.

“Metrolink fares continue to offer good value for money, particularly for season ticket holders, as well as providing an environmentally friendly way of getting around Greater Manchester.”

To keep up with inflation, fares would normally have been expected to increase each year. That’s why, as well as returning to an annual fare increase of 1% above inflation starting in January 2018, we now need to apply a one-off rise to return fares to the level they need to be at. That’s why we are offering customers two options to choose from.

The first option would return fares to the level they need to be at in one go in January 2018 while the second would see that rise spread out over the next three years.

Under both options, fares will rise every year by inflation (RPI) + 1% from January 2018, as happened before 2014.

Customers can take part in the eight-week Metrolink Fare Survey by visiting www.metrolink.co.uk/fares-survey. It’s open from Monday 26 June through to Friday 18 August.

For more information on Metrolink services visit www.metrolink.co.uk, call Metrolink Customer Services on 0161 205 2000 or follow @MCRMetrolink for live travel updates.

24/25 June: Changes to weekend Metrolink services during improvement works

If you’re travelling with us this weekend please be aware that there will be some changes to services during improvement works.

Saturday 24 June

The following tram services will run:

• Altrincham to Piccadilly
• Altrincham to Etihad Campus
• Bury to Abraham Moss
• East Didsbury to Exchange Square
• Eccles to Ashton-under-Lyne
• Manchester Airport to Deansgate-Castlefield
• MediaCityUK to Piccadilly
• Rochdale to Monsall
• Shaw and Crompton to Monsall

The following replacement bus services will run, calling at all stops except Market Street.

• Crumpsall to Piccadilly
• Central Park to Deansgate-Castlefield

Sunday 25 June

 The following tram services will run:

• Altrincham to Etihad Campus
• East Didsbury to Exchange Square
• Eccles (via MediaCityUK) to Ashton-under-Lyne
• Manchester Airport to Deansgate-Castlefield
• Rochdale to Monsall

The following replacement bus services will also run, calling at all stops for most of the day*.

• Bury to Piccadilly
• Central Park to Deansgate-Castlefield

*PLEASE NOTE: Bus services will follow local road diversions for the Prestwich Carnival parade between 12-3pm, meaning that there will be no bus service at Besses o’th Barn, Prestwich and Heaton Park stops during this time.

Our staff will be at these stops during this time to advise customers. We apologise for any inconvenience during this essential work, which is part of a £44 million improvement package. Find out more here.

Please buy a ticket from the machines on stop or via the get me there app before boarding replacement buses.

Follow @MCRMetrolink for live travel updates on Twitter.

Young people to benefit from half price bus tickets

Almost 100,000 young people aged between 16 and 18 are set to benefit from half price bus tickets following a new offer agreed between the Mayor of Greater Manchester and bus operators.

The deal will see the cost of a day ticket for young people cut in half – reducing the cost of journeys and enabling young people to more easily access work opportunities, training, education and skills.

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said: “Throughout the mayoral campaign, I promised to help our young people get on in life, and this is the first step in delivering on that. We will only build a strong and prosperous Greater Manchester by giving every young person hope at the end of school and help to take up new opportunities.

“The cost of travel is a major barrier to young people’s progress and I am determined to remove it. I look forward to working together with bus operators in the future to improve the transport offer in Greater Manchester.”

The scheme will see Greater Manchester Travelcards Ltd (GMTL), which represents all bus companies in Greater Manchester, extending its multi-operator 50% discounted 16 and under ticket and introducing a Junior Day Ticket to cover 16 to 18 year olds. Eligibility to use the ticket would run up to the 31 August after the user’s 18th birthday.

As with the existing igo card scheme for under-16s, ongoing eligibility will be linked to behaviour – with poor or anti-social behaviour resulting in the card being withdrawn.

Trevor Roberts, Chairman of GMTL, said: “GMTL, on behalf of public transport operators, is pleased to be able to assist in realising the Mayor's aspiration, by introducing a new smart travelcard product for 16 to 18 year olds, building on the already successful range of its travelcards offered across Greater Manchester.”

Phil Medlicott, Managing Director at First Manchester, adds: “As one of the major bus operators in Greater Manchester we’re pleased to support today’s announcement as we continue to work in partnership to deliver reliable and value for money bus services across the region.

“This news supports our continued aim to ensure that buses are accessible to everyone, which is why we’ve recently launched new initiatives such as allowing parents to purchase mTickets and transfer these onto their child’s mobile phone. We look forward to continuing to work with Transport for Greater Manchester and the Mayor on new initiatives to improve bus travel in the region.”

Stagecoach Manchester Managing Director, Elisabeth Tasker, said: “We already offer the best value bus fares in Britain and we are delighted to work with the mayor to deliver this significant cut in the cost of travel for young people in Manchester.

“This is one element of a wider package of comprehensive partnership proposals which would deliver an improved transport offer for Greater Manchester.

“Critical to making these improvements a reality are urgent measures to tackle rising congestion. Reducing congestion would lead to more reliable bus services and faster journey times, helping boost the local economy and improve air quality for the citizens of Greater Manchester."

Phil Cummins, Area Managing Director of Arriva North West, said: “We look forward to working with the newly elected Mayor and combined authority to provide the very best transport services to support residents and businesses in Greater Manchester.

“We recognise the need to work in partnership to make bus travel an even more attractive choice, and we are already working with stakeholders and partners on plans to further enhance services.”

Lisa O’Loughlin, Principal of The Manchester College where the scheme was officially launched, said: “We welcome the proposal to make travel cheaper for our thousands of students. Typically, over 85% of our students travel an average of more than three miles to get to our campuses for study, the majority using public transport.

“Minimising the burden of travel costs to young people can only be good in the long term, to encourage students to access the available opportunities in training and apprenticeships.

“This will benefit the future of the city, our training providers and the businesses which will be able to grow with a highly skilled and motivated workforce.”

To benefit from the discount users would be required to apply for a personalised 16-18 get me there smartcard (issued by TfGM). The new ticket and smartcard will be available from September 2017 with applications being accepted from August onwards. More details are set to be shared with schools and colleges ahead of the summer holidays.

Transport network prepared for Manchester Day and Take That

The annual Manchester Day event will feature a parade through the heart of the city beginning at 1pm, whilst the city centre squares will feature an array of performances, decorations and food and drink stalls from 12pm.

Up to 50,000 music fans are expected at the Etihad stadium on Sunday evening to watch Take That perform their re-scheduled tour date.

A number of measures have been put in place to help those travelling make their journeys as easy and as stress free as possible. The size and locations of the events mean that they’ll be some changes to public transport and local roads will be subject to closure and route diversions.

Travel information and advice is now available here.

TfGM’s Events and Operational Coordination Manager, Ryan Carter, said: “We are confident in our ability to manage these large scale events when presented with the challenge. We want everyone travelling into our city to have a great time, whether that’s attending these events or simply visiting the city

“We have extensive experience and have developed robust transport plans, technology and event knowledge to keep everyone moving.

“There will be extra capacity, additional staff and dedicated monitoring throughout the weekend.

“Of course we are expecting large numbers of customers to travel and our advice is to plan ahead, think about your travel options and allow extra time for journeys.”

For information on public transport across Greater Manchester visit www.tfgm.com, call 0161 244 1000 (7am-8pm, Monday to Friday, and 8am-8pm at weekends and bank holidays) or follow @OfficialTfGM on Twitter.

Passengers stepping on to Metrolink have been greeted by a special announcer today

As part of BBC Music Day, local lad and Black Grape and Happy Monday’s frontman Shaun Ryder is providing stop information on services running between Piccadilly and MediaCityUK.

The announcements have proven extremely popular with commuters, with many taking to social media to talk about them. One user said: “Shaun Ryder tram announcements too funny” while another said “Shaun Ryder's voice this morning on the @MediaCityUK tram made me giggle! Well done @MCRMetrolink” – while others are even eagerly anticipating their journey home, with one person saying “Pure excited to get my @MCRMetrolink home with Shaun Ryder doing the announcements.”

You can listen to one of the announcements here.

A TfGM spokesperson, said: "We're delighted that Shaun Ryder has brought his indelible style to Metrolink as part of BBC Music Day.

"The reaction this morning has been absolutely great. And while we've had other famous announcers in the past, none have twisted our melons quite like this."

Other BBC Music Day ambassadors include Ozzy Osbourne, Miles Kane and Alfie Boe, who are all providing their own unique passenger announcements on the transport networks of their home towns.

Greater Manchester ready to celebrate UK’s first Clean Air Day

People across Greater Manchester are being asked to help clean up the air we all breathe and join in the UK’s first ever Clean Air Day (Thursday 15 June).

A series of events take place across Greater Manchester on the day to raise awareness of air pollution as one of the most important challenges currently facing us all.

It is estimated that up to 2,000 people die prematurely in Greater Manchester each year due to air pollution.

The Mayor of Greater Manchester and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) are calling on people to make their own Clean Air Day pledge and play their part in protecting and improving residents’ health.

Mayor Andy Burnham has pledged to do his bit by making a simple everyday life change – leaving the car at home and taking public transport to work at least once a week.

People can make their pledge now and there’s lots of opportunities to get involved on the day, with events across Greater Manchester.

A Clean Air Dome in Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester city centre (7.30am-5.30pm) will host health professionals offering people a free ‘lung MOT’ with a special monitor check.   

People can also try out a special ‘rolling road’ test on an eBike to see how it can help you cycle up even the most daunting hill – and check out the latest fully-electric cars.

TfGM’s Active Travel team will be in the Orient area at intu Trafford Centre (10am-6pm) to give advice on air pollution and how to improve your health, with health professionals offering a lung health check.

People can also drop by the Manchester Royal Infirmary Atrium (10am-2pm) and Wythenshawe Hospital (10am-2pm) to speak with health professionals, get advice and information on air quality, and find out more about sustainable travel options.

Primary schools across Greater Manchester are joining in Clean Air Day by taking part in a special competition to create viral social media adverts highlighting what people can do to improve air quality – with workshops taking place on the day.

TfGM is also working with more than 500 businesses and other organisations to help them work more sustainably and take practical steps to reduce their company and staff’s contribution to air pollution.

Mayor Andy Burnham said: “You might not be able to see it, but air pollution is one of the greatest challenges to Greater Manchester’s health.

“It’s not something that any one person or organisation can tackle alone – we all have to play our part. Just a simple change to your everyday life can make a difference for the whole community if we all join in.

“I encourage everyone to make their pledge now. Can you use public transport or walk or cycle more often?

“Perhaps walking the kids to school is an option, or you could introduce home-working or a car sharing scheme for your employees. And if you already do all those things, encourage your family and friends to play their part too.

“I’ve made my pledge and I call on everybody else to think about what they can do to help improve the air our children breathe.”

Helen Smith, TfGM’s Head of Logistics, Environment and Active Travel, added: “We’re very excited to participate in the UK’s first Clean Air Day and there’s plenty going on across the region for everyone to join in and find out more about how air quality affects us all.

“Both short and long-term exposure to air pollutants can affect people’s health, with poor air quality contributing to respiratory illness, heart disease and some cancers.

“We’re working with schools, businesses, local authorities and the NHS across Greater Manchester to raise awareness of this and offer practical advice and help on how to take action.

“I encourage people to visit the TfGM website to see what’s happening on Clean Air Day, get involved and – most importantly – make your pledge to help clean up Greater Manchester’s air.”

While air quality is improving, and TfGM and local councils are busy implementing the policies and measures in Greater Manchester’s Low Emission Strategy and Air Quality Action Plan, much more can still be done by residents and businesses to address air pollution in the region.

To join the Mayor and make a Clean Air Day pledge visit www.tfgm.com/pledge.

For further information on Greater Manchester Clean Air Day visit www.tfgm.com/clean-air-day.

People can follow the day and share their pledge and activities on social media using #GMCleanAirDay.