Metrolink passengers were caught out by a sudden change to services on the Bury line.
Commuters waiting on the Bury platform on Monday were expecting the 7.58am Altrincham tram, only to realise they had missed their usual service, which instead had arrived and left the platform at 7.55am.
One passenger, who asked not to be named, said: "With no warning they just decided to run all trams on the Bury line three minutes early after years of having the same timetable.
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"That lack of customer information made me late for work, but the response from Metrolink when complaining really wound me up.
"No apology, or hint that they will keep customers informed next time they change the timetable, just pointing to terms and conditions that say they can run whatever service they want between the first and last trams."
The response to the passenger from Metrolink's customer service was an explanation saying tram times were 'amended slightly following a period of emergency operation due to Covid'.
In fact, when the Manchester Evening News contacted Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) to find out what this meant, they said the change to the timetable had nothing to do with Covid - although it had impacted on the service and workforce more generally.
A spokesman said the alteration was in fact to improve performance and assist shift change-overs at Bury.
Danny Vaughan, TfGM's head of Metrolink, said: “KAM staff have been working extremely hard throughout the pandemic to keep Greater Manchester moving.
"There have been significant challenges over the past 20 months that have, at times, impacted on service performance and reliability.
“As part of ongoing work to stabilise and improve the service to customers, the operator made some changes that has resulted in trams on the Bury line starting three minutes earlier than they did previously.
"We were told this change would not affect customers and I’d like to apologise if anyone’s journey was impacted by it.
“One of the key benefits of Metrolink is its high-frequency service, with trams running every six-minutes on the Bury line at peak times.
"All customer information was updated prior to the change and passengers can check our website and social media channels for the latest information and advice relating to our services.”
