Free internet access was suspended ‘indefinitely’ in June as bosses grappled with funding uncertainties and plummeting passenger numbers caused by the first Covid-19 lockdown.
By withdrawing WiFi, Metrolink is saving £300,000 a year to provide the service as well as avoiding a £1m bill to upgrade the system.Tram usage, which had been increasing week-on-week between the first and second national lockdowns, is beginning to fall to around a third of pre-coronavirus levels.Patronage figures for November have yet to be released, but Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is expecting it to be ‘significantly reduced’.Meanwhile reports of crime and antisocial behaviour on the network rose to 238 between September 20 and October 17 - the highest.
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