Tram bike ban to stay

CYCLISTS will not be able to take their bikes on trams when Metrolink services begin running in Oldham.

The decision comes after a working party led by Oldham councillor Richard Knowles found that it would cost £3.3 million to make room for them on the fleet of trams.

The findings have been accepted by Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority (GMITA) — but the door has been left open for a change when Metrolink’s original fleet is refurbished in a few years’ time.

The committee reaffirmed Metrolink’s policy since the system started in 1992 of not allowing bicycles — other than covered folding bikes — on trams.

Officials and Stagecoach Metrolink are to investigate the possibility of adopting a folding cycle lease scheme, which currently operates on South-West Trains routes.

And a major bicycle hire scheme, which would bring the “Boris bikes” of London to Manchester city centre and parts of Salford, is to be investigated.

A recent survey of more than 1,000 people showed that a majority were not in favour of allowing bikes on trams if enough seats were removed to carry two or four bikes per tram.

The same committee also decided not to lift a ban on mobility scooters on trams, instead opting to set up a working group and wait for guidance from the Department for Transport.