Public transport woes

[blufive]

A couple of years back, having finally noticed that it wasn't stopping the rain getting in, the Powers That Be decided to repair the roof of Manchester Victoria railway station. Up went acres of scaffolding, and much work could be heard. After a few months, the scaffolding came down, revealing... that they'd repaired/replaced/repainted about a third of the roof. What?

Last night, the bits of the roof they DIDN'T fix started falling down. Not major structural stuff, just the glass and associated bits that actually form the majority of the roof.

Given that the Health And Safety people aren't big on the idea of huge bits of glass falling on the general public, they decided to shut half the station down, including all Metrolink trams entering Manchester City Center from the north. Until further notice.

So now, to get into the city, we have to either rely on the replacement bus service¹ or get the ever-reliable² normal 135 bus service instead, which is crowded even when the trams are running properly.

Since Cal and I both commute by tram, this is going to be a real drag if they don't sort it PDQ.

¹I'll give you one guess at how good the replacement buses are.
²Note: This is sarcasm.

Comments

[numbat.livejournal.com]

Anybody who has followed brisingamen's journal for any length of time as I have will be well aware of the general crapness of replacement buses. I shall hope for your sake the proper authorities tackle the problem asap.

[blufive.livejournal.com]

A few days later, and normal service is resumed (Hurrah!), courtesy of some rather disconcertingly flimsy-looking netting to protect passers-by.

[numbat.livejournal.com]

Oh no. Flimsy is good. If it falls rather than being cut in half you are merely draped. Sort of like fish caught in drift nets without the dying part.