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Speed limits on Metrolink.

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ClagLover

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I was just pondering what the slowest part of the network would be. Pomona turning towards Eccles seems like it would be up there? Is that the slowest or are there others I’m not remembering?
 
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hexagon789

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I was just pondering what the slowest part of the network would be. Pomona turning towards Eccles seems like it would be up there? Is that the slowest or are there others I’m not remembering?
I'm sure I've seen a '5' board somewhere in the city centre near Piccadilly.
 

Watershed

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I'm sure I've seen a '5' board somewhere in the city centre near Piccadilly.
I'm pretty sure that's the limit when emerging from the Piccadilly undercroft onto the street. The driver can't see whether pedestrians are approaching, and neither can pedestrians see the tram, literally right up until the tram has exited the undercroft - see Google Street View.
 

D6975

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When you go from Ashton into the centre, there's a really tight left hander a couple of mins before the Etihad that has a '5' sign.

edit It's where the line crosses the A662

53.4830778,-2.1885387
 
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Mcr Warrior

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What's the current speed limit crossing over the points and into platform 1 on the approach into Altrincham station? (Approaching the end of the line, so you wouldn't want to be going too fast, anyway!)

@507 001 is quite clued up on all things Metrolink (as a current driver?) so might possibly know the answer(s)!
 

Trackman

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I'm pretty sure that's the limit when emerging from the Piccadilly undercroft onto the street. The driver can't see whether pedestrians are approaching, and neither can pedestrians see the tram, literally right up until the tram has exited the undercroft - see Google Street View.
There are flashing amber lights though. If some pedestrians take any notice is a different matter.
 

507 001

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The slowest normal speed limit is 5mph, of which there are a few examples;

-The aforementioned exit from Piccadilly Undercroft (inbound only)
- Canal curve between Velopark and Clayton Hall (East Manchester Line)
-Pointwork at Ashton (East Manchester Line)
-Crossacres Curve (Airport Line)
-Curve between Rochdale Railway Station and Rochdale Town Centre (Outbound only)
-Approach to Rochdale Town Centre (Outbound only)
-Into and out of Millgate Siding
-Into and out of Crumpsall Stabling berth.
-Out of Timperley Siding.
-Out of Velopark Siding.
-Trafford Depot in its entirety (except for the wash plant which is 3mph but we won’t count that)

There’s probably one or two that I’ve missed but you get the idea.

There are also a number of Temporary 5s dotted about, it being standard for a cracked rail in street running areas.

The slowest speed limit out and about at present is the 4mph TSR on Pomona Junction. This is in both directions off both lines.

The Slowest line in general is the Eccles Line, it’s pretty much 10mph all the way from Pomona to Anchorage. The fastest line would be the Altrincham Line.
 

ClagLover

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The slowest normal speed limit is 5mph, of which there are a few examples;

-The aforementioned exit from Piccadilly Undercroft (inbound only)
- Canal curve between Velopark and Clayton Hall (East Manchester Line)
-Pointwork at Ashton (East Manchester Line)
-Crossacres Curve (Airport Line)
-Curve between Rochdale Railway Station and Rochdale Town Centre (Outbound only)
-Approach to Rochdale Town Centre (Outbound only)
-Into and out of Millgate Siding
-Into and out of Crumpsall Stabling berth.
-Out of Timperley Siding.
-Out of Velopark Siding.
-Trafford Depot in its entirety (except for the wash plant which is 3mph but we won’t count that)

There’s probably one or two that I’ve missed but you get the idea.

There are also a number of Temporary 5s dotted about, it being standard for a cracked rail in street running areas.

The slowest speed limit out and about at present is the 4mph TSR on Pomona Junction. This is in both directions off both lines.

The Slowest line in general is the Eccles Line, it’s pretty much 10mph all the way from Pomona to Anchorage. The fastest line would be the Altrincham Line.
Is one of those areas between picc gardens and picc station by any chance? Near the court? And TYVM for the inside knowledge
 

507 001

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Is one of those areas between picc gardens and picc station by any chance? Near the court? And TYVM for the inside knowledge

Yes, there are two 5mph Temporary speed restrictions on Aytoun Street, one in each direction.
 

tramfan208

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Approaching Altrincham from the outbound line, into platform 1 it is 15mph over the points. Into platform 2 it’s 25mph.

From the inbound line (which is bi - directional), the speed is 25mph into platform 1. I’m assuming it would be 15mph into platform 2 but I have never done that manoeuvre or seen it done.
 

voyagerdude220

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Sorry to go off topic, but what's the fastest section of the Manchester metrolink network?
 

Mcr Warrior

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Sorry to go off topic, but what's the fastest section of the Manchester metrolink network?
Can't imagine that any more than 50 mph is permitted, and if even that is still possible, maybe on sections of the former Altrincham and Bury heavy rail lines, it will be in full "roller coaster" (shake, rattle and roll) mode. o_O
 

setdown

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Maybe it was down to the trams being different, but “back in the day” on the T68s, it felt like the running speeds were higher. Were they? The Altrincham line doesn’t feel as fast nowadays…the bridge between Deansgate and Cornbrook feels slower now too. Is it my imagination?
 

Journeyman

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I could be wrong here, but initially there were 2 modes of operation, "street", with line of sight driving and 30mph max, and "segregated", on the ex-BR bits, 50mph max with traditional railway style signalling. I believe the latter mode no longer exists, and with only a couple of exceptions, it's all line of sight. Don't know if it's all 30mph max, though. Can anyone confirm?
 

tramfan208

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I could be wrong here, but initially there were 2 modes of operation, "street", with line of sight driving and 30mph max, and "segregated", on the ex-BR bits, 50mph max with traditional railway style signalling. I believe the latter mode no longer exists, and with only a couple of exceptions, it's all line of sight. Don't know if it's all 30mph max, though. Can anyone confirm?
50 mph is the absolute max speed, the vehicles will only accelerate that far. You can get them to coast up to about 56 but it would have to be on a long, downhill stretch (for example from Whitefield to Radcliffe)
Just because block signalling has gone doesn’t in itself necessitate a reduction in speed, but it’s true that line of sight operations have slowed things down to varying degrees.
The Bury line, being quite twisty, has been affected by lower speeds due to limited visibility than has the Altrincham line which has long, straight stretches which allow 50 mph to still generally be the norm.
 

507 001

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Maybe it was down to the trams being different, but “back in the day” on the T68s, it felt like the running speeds were higher. Were they? The Altrincham line doesn’t feel as fast nowadays…the bridge between Deansgate and Cornbrook feels slower now too. Is it my imagination?

A combination of having to fit more services through and line of sight has necessitated a reduction in speed on a lot of sections. The maximum line speed is still 50mph though, and we do reach it quite frequently

I could be wrong here, but initially there were 2 modes of operation, "street", with line of sight driving and 30mph max, and "segregated", on the ex-BR bits, 50mph max with traditional railway style signalling. I believe the latter mode no longer exists, and with only a couple of exceptions, it's all line of sight. Don't know if it's all 30mph max, though. Can anyone confirm?

That’s largely correct, however as I say above maximum line speed is still 50mph. We still have Track-Circuit block signalling between Timperley and Altrincham, most of which will be remaining for the foreseeable.
 

Gostav

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The slowest normal speed limit is 5mph, of which there are a few examples;

-The aforementioned exit from Piccadilly Undercroft (inbound only)
- Canal curve between Velopark and Clayton Hall (East Manchester Line)
-Pointwork at Ashton (East Manchester Line)
-Crossacres Curve (Airport Line)
-Curve between Rochdale Railway Station and Rochdale Town Centre (Outbound only)
-Approach to Rochdale Town Centre (Outbound only)
-Into and out of Millgate Siding
-Into and out of Crumpsall Stabling berth.
-Out of Timperley Siding.
-Out of Velopark Siding.
-Trafford Depot in its entirety (except for the wash plant which is 3mph but we won’t count that)

There’s probably one or two that I’ve missed but you get the idea.

There are also a number of Temporary 5s dotted about, it being standard for a cracked rail in street running areas.

The slowest speed limit out and about at present is the 4mph TSR on Pomona Junction. This is in both directions off both lines.

The Slowest line in general is the Eccles Line, it’s pretty much 10mph all the way from Pomona to Anchorage. The fastest line would be the Altrincham Line.
Is that would be a serious violation if do 5 mph on the 4 mph section? also there are have some 8 mph signs in the city center.
 

Jozhua

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Yeah that 4mph limit at Pamona is painful lmao.

My experience is that 50mph is reached pretty often on the ex-heavy rail lines. The Oldham/Rochdale line reaches these speeds quite a bit, Failsworth-Hollinwood is perticularly exciting! Derker-Oldham Mumps is a pretty fast couple of miles at 50mph.

The Eccles line is just painful. It was clearly done on a budget, primarily to hit development zones in the Quays/Mediacity. It carries quite a few passengers though, and is probably quite useful for people commuting from the likes of Chorlton, Altrincham, etc.

The Trafford Park line seems to be quite a bit more respectable. It's not lightning fast, but it's certainly no Eccles line. I'd say average speed limit is around 30mph, with some bits of 40mph in there.

Metrolink is wierd because you can go from basically metro/subway speeds to being slower than the bus in some cases. The route map doesn't nessacerily reflect what you can expect in terms of service quality. That said, it's usually an upgrade from the bus and on converted lines, often beats the heavy rail services that came before.
 

507 001

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Is that would be a serious violation if do 5 mph on the 4 mph section? also there are have some 8 mph signs in the city center.

I suspect a DTM would want to have a few words with you if you were found to have done 5.

Yeah that 4mph limit at Pamona is painful lmao.

My experience is that 50mph is reached pretty often on the ex-heavy rail lines. The Oldham/Rochdale line reaches these speeds quite a bit, Failsworth-Hollinwood is perticularly exciting! Derker-Oldham Mumps is a pretty fast couple of miles at 50mph.

The Eccles line is just painful. It was clearly done on a budget, primarily to hit development zones in the Quays/Mediacity. It carries quite a few passengers though, and is probably quite useful for people commuting from the likes of Chorlton, Altrincham, etc.

The Trafford Park line seems to be quite a bit more respectable. It's not lightning fast, but it's certainly no Eccles line. I'd say average speed limit is around 30mph, with some bits of 40mph in there.

Metrolink is wierd because you can go from basically metro/subway speeds to being slower than the bus in some cases. The route map doesn't nessacerily reflect what you can expect in terms of service quality. That said, it's usually an upgrade from the bus and on converted lines, often beats the heavy rail services that came before.

You have to remember that the Eccles line was originally intended to serve Salford quays. It wasn’t intended to go any further than Broadway. The route had already been agreed by the time the decision was made to take it out to Eccles.
 
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