Metrolink work on track at Mumps

HEAVY load . . . the line is ripped up and taken away

IT’S out with the old and in with the new as Oldham’s railway line is ripped up to be replaced by tram tracks at Mumps.

Work is well under way in converting the Oldham loop line to finally bring Metrolink to the borough.

It was the end of an era at the beginning of October when the last train rumbled along the line after more than 140 years of railway services. But it will be a long wait for the trams as it will take two years to replace the 12-mile long line.

Commuters are having to rely on express buses in the meantime, with trams expected to begin running to Oldham Mumps in autumn 2011, and Rochdale in spring 2012.