Metrolink: Why we could be on track in 3 years
METROLINK could be extended to areas including Stockport within three years, the mayor has said, after government promised to back the tram network’s further expansion.
New tram-trains would run along existing railway lines to areas not currently served by the system, in a move also designed to ease the rail bottleneck in central Manchester.
Transport for Greater Manchester’s aspirations for the coming years propose running adapted Metrolink trams along existing railway lines out to a range of specific new areas.
The government’s latest commitment appears to back those plans.
Mr Burnham added: “It is a bugbear for people who live in boroughs that don’t have the tram network.
“I would like it to go to Bolton, to Wigan, to Stockport and build out this system and I would like to agree a plan to take more control of the suburban rail system.”
He admitted that ‘no cheques have been signed yet,’ but added: “When the government comes and says something like that there’s obviously a lot behind it.
“They don’t make commitments like that lightly. There’s a real urgency and they’ve recognised this, because of rail capacity in central Manchester.”
Any move to extend the tram network would partly be about moving towards a London-style integrated transport system, he said, but would also aim to ease the existing bottleneck in central Manchester around Oxford Road - one of the major reasons last May’s new rail timetable didn’t go to plan.
Previously, proposals to add capacity centred on adding platforms to Piccadilly Station and expanding Oxford Road, but Mr Grayling suggested tram-trains may offer better value for money.
He also hinted Greater Manchester could ultimately take control of its railways, saying: “I think in terms of the rail network, the integration of rail and Metrolink - the tram-trains - provides just that opportunity, it provides an opportunity for Greater Manchester to have its own Metro-Rail service in the way Liverpool does.
“The future of franchising is up in the air at the moment anyway.
“I’m on record saying I’m not sure franchising works anymore.”
Meanwhile, government has dropped a heavy hint that Greater Manchester could eventually run its own railways - a plan favoured by local leaders.
Andy Burnham and transport secretary Chris Grayling confirmed plans to work towards a MerseyRail-style local light rail network during a joint visit to the Trafford Park tram line extension, currently under construction.
Mr Grayling said ‘several hundred millions pounds’ had already been set aside to upgrade central Manchester’s rail network in the coming years, saying: “What we want to do now is work out what is the best way of easing some of the capacity problems in central Manchester, and we’re of the view, Network Rail is of the view, the mayor’s of the view, that actually tramtrain is a part of that. There is money available.”
Asked how quickly such an expansion could be built, he said: “I want to get on with this as quick as we can.”
Mr Burnham went further, suggesting tram-trains could run out to currently under-served areas by 2022.
“Actually it could be a matter of a few years to see the first tram-train vehicles in Greater Manchester, three to five years, possibly, something like that,” he said.
“We’ve got some trams on order at the moment, we could look at extending that order to get this thing moving more quickly.
“We might have a few Pathfinder projects before you then do the real infrastructure work that opens it up and integrates the suburban rail system with the Metrolink.”