[Closed] Manchester Locals - City Centre Working/Commuting

drive to Milnrow and get on the Metrolink. 50 min duration, depart every 12.

The trams are rubbish IMO, though I'm in NW Manchester and I'm guessing you'd be coming in on the Oldham/rochdale line. Even getting on it just after 7 am it's absolutely mobbed, so much so that some people have to wait for another one. They're generally every 6-12 minutes so not too bad on that front, but it's quicker by about 10 mins for me to cycle to work. They're also frequently disrupted and mobbed on the way home too.

DBW - diesel/parking/tram will add up to at least £3k a year won't it?

https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/special-offers/commuter-club

National Rail reckons £2k for SB > MV for 12 months.

It was £70 for 4 weeks on the tram when i was still getting them (~2/3 years ago) from Prestwich to city centre, so probably more now and even more if further out. Still, it meant I could justify getting a nice shiny commuting bike!

A mate rides form near Hailfax on a pretty regular basis but it's a brutal commute, you'd be very hard pushed to do that every day.

I'd drive to somewhere like Rochdale, Oldham, Milnrow, Ashton-under-Lyne etc and get the tram from there, they're reaonsably regular and being at the end of the line means they won't be absolutely rammed at the time you board.

Northern Rail is generally crap but they have a very relaxed cycle policy so you might be able to work out some sort of bike - train - bike commute.

I come into Manchester from the SE so I don't have the tram option but the train one is very useful for me.

First part of my commute is by bike and to be honest, I don't really want to extend that. Riding Halifax > Manchester is definitely a no (except for maybe in mid summer it might be quite appealing once a week!).

So it sounds like the trams might be a bit crap and quite expensive (I stupidly thought they'd be dirt cheap) and whilst Northern Rail is crap on a quite unfathomably huge scale, I didn't realise I could get a season ticket! My google-fu must be weak this afternoon...

Ah well, maybe its time to write my resignation letter and work from home for the next 3 months 😀

As mentioned above i'd avoid the tram as well. i commute from macclesfield to salford quays every day. I've tried it on the train/tram, but the part getting from Piccadily station to salford quays takes longer than the train section and means what takes 35mins in the car become an hour and a half and the trams are rammed.
Its a shame the trams are not better value for money and more reliable and less crowded. Some of the folk i work with get the tram in the opposite direction they need and go to the end of the line so they can actually get on the trams in the morning. They can watch 4 go by before any has space on them.

A mate rides form near Hailfax on a pretty regular basis but it's a brutal commute, you'd be very hard pushed to do that every day.

Tpx are truly awful, i have done the manchester airport lancaster prebooked trip say 20 times now, i reckon i have been compensated for 50% no shows or delays. They have actually started compensating me for the whole return trip when only say 1 leg was a delay.

If i had to rely on them i d move. Clearly not a representative sample but crowded trains due to delays and cancellations, trains terminating early.when they run they are ok, but 50% is no exaggeration, i have several compensation cheques waiting to be spent.

There'll be widespread changes to train services around Manchester from next May, partly as a result of the new link between Piccadilly and Victoria.

These changes have not yet been well advertised, but you'd better attempt to find out if your journey will be affected.

Not strictly relevant but up in Manc for work a bit the last few weeks - bloody hell, you like a bit of traffic round here, innit?!? 🙂

Not strictly relevant but up in Manc for work a bit the last few weeks - bloody hell, you like a bit of traffic round here, innit?!?

Oh it's shit! You should have seen it when they were doing the tram extensions.
All it needs is a match at City or Old Trafford, a concert at MEN Arena or some sort of accident at a major junction and the entire thing grinds to a halt.

People driving onto the tram tracks and getting stuck is quite a common one. There are lots of sections of tram line which run along the road so when it veers off, dopey drivers just follow the tram tracks then get stuck as it turns back into railway line. That can close an entire tram branch for half a day.

I live in Huddersfield and commute to central Manchester. I've found a few options:

1) Drive - rubbish, particularly getting out of the city center in an evening.

2) Train from Hudds is pretty good. I often get off at Stalybridge and ride in which doesn't take much longer and gives me 9 miles riding.

3) I ride a motorbike over the tops in decent weather/relative daylight, which gets me through the traffic into and out of the city. I used to do this even in winter on the M62 which is fine, but a bit grim with the high level and lack of street lights.

Roads are broken at the moment, hour forty five to get from Eastlands to Rossendale tonight, that's 25 miles. I probably could have cycled it in the same time but would have been killed to death by some of the mouth breathers out driving tonight.

One of my production managers does a similar commute by car to yours but it's not great.

A friend used to drive over from Ripponden and catch the same train at Littleborough into the city every day. That should save a fare chunk of the train fare as the journey is all within Greater Manchester but you've got to find a parking spot unless you fancy climbing Blackstone edge on your bike every day. Also re: train fares if going over the border it used to be cheaper to break the journey into 2 tickets - one for the Yorkshire Leg (think Walsden last spot but can be an issue as some trains don't actually stop there) and the other for the Manchester side ...some conductors don't like it (not a problem if you get season tickets)

Northern Rail is generally crap but they have a very relaxed cycle policy so you might be able to work out some sort of bike - train - bike commute.

I got on one of the northern services from Victoria back to Bolton the other day and, despite going into the train through the door with the Cycle stickers on it, there was nowhere to put the bike.

Ended up blocking 3 of those drop down seats and getting evils of other people.

Manchester City Centre is sh1t for commuting - one broken back later. Car now, thinking of upgrading to a pick up with 'cyclists stay awesome' stickers on the back. Used to commute every day on a bike, until I was nearly in 4 wheels, wheel chair wheels.. (it was too close).

Roads are broken at the moment, hour forty five to get from Eastlands to Rossendale tonight, that's 25 miles.

Perfect storm of a Champions League match at Etihad, a concert at MEN, track league at the velodrome plus shit weather which somehow always seems to make traffic worse.

I left at 4pm and it took me 50 mins to drive the 15 miles home which is only fractionally quicker than riding. Although it was a lot drier than riding!

Ended up blocking 3 of those drop down seats and getting evils of other people.

Thats the bike storage 😀