Original Manchester Metrolink Trams starting to be withdrawn

May be interest to some but the first of the Manchester metrolink trams T68 1011 has now been withdrawn.

Others to follow as they are being replaced by new trams.

Duncan

 

T-68 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

I think it was both they were neither cheap or long lasting!

A number of assumptions were also made that were to prove very poor. For instance being light rail that the tyre profiles wouldn't wear very quickly. This asumption lead to the lack of a depot wheel lathe, in practise the tyre profiles needed reprofiling more often than on heavy rail.

 

Second manchester tram withdrawn:

1004 becomes second Metrolink T68 to be withdrawn | British Trams Online News

The next one if one takes the rumour mill seriously is 1007. (This was the first to run on the opening day in 1992)

Duncan

 

Ralph - Metrolink simply want to standardise on the Bombardier M5000s and have managed to fund an entire new fleet - so out go the old cars. Thats it. There is no will to do anything else.

 

Taking the opportunity to eliminate what will be an old and non-standard fleet of trams with a single fleet of M5000's seems like a pretty good call to me, no doubt they got a good price tagging it on the back of the current order.

Chris

 

With respect the main reason for the withdrawal is two fold:

Light rail assumption that wear would be light (even with heavy trams) has proved itself wrong. The 12 worst offenders are being removed as they account for a large part of the breakdowns on the network. This has resulted in some pretty damning criticism of the service and equally a lot of embarrassment to the city.

The article below covers the history (metrolink is 20 years old this year):

Manchester Metrolink 20 Years of Evolution

Duncan

 

They dont build them like they used to. Only need to think of Blackpool.

 

Aim wasnt to upset and my sincere apologies if this has. Getting back on topic it is good that things are starting to get better in manchester. Holy grail for metrolink for me would be real time display screens.... Hopefully one day.

 

Wasn't this the one on display in Bolton street at the ELR gala back in 1992 ?
there was also one stored in Buckley Wells for a while in 1991/2 during commissioning, which was used for spares until deliveries caught up and spares became easy to get.

 

Would of been about 3 at the time at that gala so I wouldn't know even if I was there.

Duncan

 

I'm curious will any of them be earmarked for preservation in for example MOSI, or at Crich?...

 

At the time of Metrolink conversion, it was decided not to renew the track, but to turn the bullhead inside out "to get a few more years" out of it..
The popular comment at the time was that the poor state of the track anyway at the end of the BR ownership was not good.. but putting new trams on it would make them suffer in the long term.. it was even mentioned in various media at the time.

Descending from Whitefield to Radcliffe was always a bouncy ride on a tram..

looks like this popular theory has been bourne out.

Talking of old trams.. how old are some of those soviet ere Eastern European trams... you know the ones chisled out of stone by pick axe.. seem to have no problem keeping on going...now how is it Manchesters trams are at Platform height.. making them a bespoke product not just for one.. but now two generations... \
I'm sure there's a price attached to that too..
Shouldnt they consider getting rid of the full height platforms like the rest of the world ?

 

I remember a very bumpy ride on the Altrincham section. The reason for the full height was metrolink uses old railway lines. It was the cheap option to build a tramline to connect the two former rail lines rather than the Man-Vic tunnel. Had the tunnel gone ahead there would also be no need for the chord currently proposed now...

I tend to consider the trams at Manchester as light rail rather than tramways in operation. Once out of the city centre it is more like the underground than a tramway.