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Metrolink bike ban will stay in place
Reporter: Alan Salter
Date online: 19 January 2010
OLDHAM’S cyclists will not be allowed to take their bikes on board Metrolink trams when the new service starts.
Transport chiefs hired consultants to help them decide whether to overturn the ban on cycles which has operated since the system opened in 1992.
But they have now decided that allowing bikes would be too dangerous to other passengers.
Although the original trams are not big enough, pressure from cycling groups and the building of 40 new trams for the new extensions, including the Oldham and Rochdale line, prompted bosses to consider changing the policy.
They hired Mott McDonald to investigate, but the experts warned that there was a risk to fellow passengers from sharp points — such as handlebars and pedals — and there would be a danger of minor injuries while bicycles are manoeuvred on and off a tram.
Standing passengers would be in particular danger as operating speed varies from 50mph to 25mph, coupled with the use of emergency braking. As a result, cycles could only be permitted within the space currently designated for wheelchairs and pushchairs — creating a possible source of conflict.
The consultants say no other tram system in the country allows bikes on normal services, though in Sheffield a “cycle special” tram is run on the last Sunday in the month.
Organised by a cycling group, it pays £150 for a round trip and ordinary passengers are not allowed on board.
Principal railway inspector David Keay insisted that if bikes were carried on trams they would have to be secured and stored to protect other passengers.
But officials concluded “the measures possible to mitigate the risks of injury, damage and operational problems are not guaranteed to reduce the risk significantly enough to warrant a change in policy”.
Councillors on Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority voted by seven votes to five to keep the ban, but green campaigners complained that they did not publish the consultants’ report until after the meeting — preventing them from lobbying against it.
Comments
What about dogs then??
We alawys took our dog on the train for free but Metro Link wont allow dogs on their trams.
What with a journey time twice a long as the train and all these restrictions what was the point of getting rid of the trains??
Can't say I'm surprised. Get rid of the train that only required a fraction of the cost of the Metro link to upgrade. Take the tram diversion to where you don't want to go and take longer to get there, don't allow cyclists on board stating 'elf an safety ( squeeze more passengers on more like ), less seats ( more passengers again ) and no doubt increase fares. Who cares as long as the "big boys" get their nose in the trough. Pathetic.
Trams on the Continent carry bikes without problems.
tough luck! when the first tram arrives in oldham i'll be taking my bike on in protest.
why do we seem to be going backwards not forwards?
years ago you could take a motorcyle on the trains in the goods section from oldham! whats next to be banned? pushchairs? some weigh as much as a bike especially with a child in! so if they're using the heath and safety rule they technically also should be banned too! but that would really cause uproar!
Have Your Say
Yet more bad news about the tram system which was forced on us, and they haven't mentioned that suitcases and prams are also banned.
There's been no mention of the performance in the snow either. While train services kept going the Metro cancelled all services along with the buses.
It really is a backwards step for Oldham it would have been far better to have kept the old track & improved & extended it.
If we needed to take a delivery of grit salt by rail, we could have done it,now we can't.
By Flake @ 19/01/2010 15:00:04