Not a rail in sight!

[RW]

Given that the 2 office blocks adjacent to Snow Hill are complete and the tram 'mall' between them and the station appears to be available thought there might now be some sign of preparatory work in that area for the realignment of the track from Snow Hill onto the 'mall' and beyond. So far no sign of any work. Any one know when any actual work on ballasting and track laying is due to start?

[windy miller]

I reckon the next fortnight will see some major changes... with all the trams laid off to the 15th of april apparently.

[mikestone]

That's only to modify the existing stations for the new trams AIUI.

[Kevin]

Something I've found curious, they've closed corporation st and bull st etc in the city centre, and in some places have dug up the road and relaid it, and yet still no tram lines, so they're gonna have to dig it all up again to do it later. Seems a massive waste of time and money to me

[Gareth]

All of the digging up that has been done in the city centre so far is the moving of utility pipes. This had to be done first ready for when work starts on laying down track.

There is still about two years before the extension opens, plenty of time.

[tank90]

All of the digging up that has been done in the city centre so far is the moving of utility pipes. This had to be done first ready for when work starts on laying down track.

There is still about two years before the extension opens, plenty of time.

I can see what Kevin means tho it does seem silly when you could have moved the utilities and then laid the track and re macced it putting rubber plugs between the mac and rails.

[RW]

Understood Gareth but at Snow Hill and the tram 'mall' no apparent utilities work taking place so why not get on with it? Why delay work?

[mikestone]

In Rochdale they appear to be moving the utilities and laying the track between the railway and bus stations in one go.

[Kevin]

In Rochdale they appear to be moving the utilities and laying the track between the railway and bus stations in one go.

That's because, in manchester, they actually seem to have their act together and really going for it with the trams

[RW]

Inevitable that the role of the West Midlands ITA would come up at some stage and yes like others, rightly or wrongly, I wonder why the ITA always appears to have difficulty in making progress with 'tram' related matters.

[nx4737]

FYI - http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1502849&page=46

[RW]

Just back from 3 weeks holiday and surprise, surprise still 'not a rail in sight'! Given that according to the project timeline some 'extension' work was scheduled to commence in May, which now looks unlikely, how long before there are 'whispers' about  the completion date being put back?
Any thoughts?

[midlandred2003]

I went on a tram to Oldham last week,rails being laid thru the town last tram back into manchester on fridays/saturdays 01:54!!extensions and new lines being built,and what have we got to look forward to snow hill to new street how exciting?

[The Real 4778]

All of the digging up that has been done in the city centre so far is the moving of utility pipes. This had to be done first ready for when work starts on laying down track.

There is still about two years before the extension opens, plenty of time.

Spot on. 

Also, the plant and expertise, techniques and so on for moving utilities are entirely different from those required for laying street-running track.

The actual detail design installation drawings for the street running section probably won't be ready yet, because they don't need to be.  The track systems, components etc will all be on long delivery lead times, so they aren't available anyway.  Likewise, why would you install the track now anyway just to incur two years damage before it's in use?  Not to mention why would you spend money on materials earlier than you need to, that would inflate the cost of the job.

[Kevin]

Not to mention why would you spend money on materials earlier than you need to, that would inflate the cost of the job.

But would it also inflate the cost of the job to have to dig up the road twice?