Trams hit the buffers

Town centre hopes grind to a halt


LINGERING hopes that Oldham might still get Metrolink trams in the town centre have finally been dashed.

Greater Manchester’s council leaders have placed the scheme near the bottom of a list of transport priorities to rescue following the collapse of its Transport Innovation Fund bid after the resounding “no” vote in the congestion charge referendum last December.

And that means that trams are now highly unlikely to ever enter the heart of Oldham with new stops at Westwood, King Street, and Union Street.

Oldham’s council leader Howard Sykes heard from officials at a meeting of the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities on Friday that the most they can now raise for transport schemes would be £1.375bn.

But it would cost £1.854bn to complete everything which had been planned before the referendum.

Under a complicated formula to calculate economic, social, and environmental benefits of each of the individual plans, the Oldham scheme is one of four which falls outside the priorities — even if the region is successful in getting the best deal of £1.375bn.

Also without hope are a Metrolink line to the Trafford Centre and a new interchange and road system at Stockport.

Neighbouring Rochdale would still get its Metrolink extension from the railway station to the town centre and other extensions to Ashton, East Didsbury, and Manchester Airport could also be saved by the formation of a Greater Manchester Transport Fund which would collect money from various Government and local funds and borrow more for major projects.

AGMA officials will continue to work on the various options for making up the shortfall from the loss of the TIF cash and believe their cause may be helped by the fact that Greater Manchester was named by the Chancellor as one of two trial areas to get “city region” status.