Criticism
Metrolink has been criticised for its concessionary fares policy, in particular for the student fare which does not extend to students over 19 years old. (A National Railcard for 16-25s and full-time students over 25 is on sale for rail journeys but is not valid on non-National-Rail journeys outside London such as airport express branded services, Eurostar, or other light-rail networks including Metrolink apart from through journeys from the National Rail network.) Metrolink is also unpopular with cyclists as bicycles are prohibited, unlike on heavy rail, and even folding bicycles must be fully covered. Metrolink provides secure storage for cycles at every stop, and a review into risks, costs and attitudes to carrying cycles on trams found against any change in policy beyond rewording the description to allow soft cases for folding bicycles.
GMPTE has invested a lot of money converting popular heavy-rail lines to light rail, which has attracted criticism.
In its response to the criticism, GMPTE (now TfGM) claimed that by 2006 the phase 1 lines were carrying 15 million passengers per year compared to 7 million per annum before conversion. However, the 15 million quoted includes passengers travelling within the city centre, in particular providing a well-utilised link between Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Victoria stations (one of the main reasons for the introduction of Metrolink), which is an additional service that Metrolink provides compared to the previous heavy-rail service. In addition, rail passenger figures for PTE areas are usually underestimated and there have never been accurate figures since the Government began annually collecting them post-privatisation due to the introduction of multi-modal, ranger/wayfarer unlimited day tickets and zonal tickets which do not collect point-to-point data.
The conversion of the Altrincham line has meant that trains from Knutsford, Northwich and Chester must take a longer route to Manchester via Stockport. In December 2008, some peak-time services had to be cut back further by terminating at Stockport, due to a shortage of paths through Stockport needed for high-speed services to London, which brought renewed criticism of the conversion of the Altrincham line.
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