Oldham’s raw deal on rail money

A COUNCILLOR is demanding fair play for Oldham commuters and an end to the north-south divide when it comes to handing out transport cash.

The borough lost the chance to get trams into Oldham town centre with the No vote in the congestion charge referendum last December.

But Richard Knowles, who represents Saddleworth South and leads the Lib Dems on Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority, said: “Somewhere in the order of £8 million for the Oldham loop will not be spent after October when it closes for conversion to Metrolink.

“I think we have a very strong case for arguing that the money should be invested in Greater Manchester. As things stand, it will just be lost.”

He is also demanding that the five Pacer trains used on the loop should stay in Greater Manchester after the line closes.

“At first, we were assured that we could keep them but that assurance appears to have melted away.

“The new carriages for TransPennine Express (which runs through Greenfield) have not even been ordered yet.

“The Government is now refusing us any capital expenditure when it is spending billions of pounds on Crossrail, London, and a range of transport for the Olympics — funded by us.