It’s tram-tastic!

It’s tram-tastic!

THE wait is finally over: tomorrow sees the official launch of Metrolink in Oldham.

I was invited to take a sneak peek at the service before it opens to the public — and it gets a resounding thumbs up from me.

Trams will run every 12 minutes from a temporary stop at Oldham Mumps to Chorlton via Manchester Victoria, where passengers can change lines to get to Bury, Eccles, Altrincham or Media City.

As the service starts to get busier, there will be a tram every six minutes and the journey from Oldham to Manchester will take 25 minutes.

Though the current Mumps stop isn’t permanen,t it certainly looks the part and will do the job until the Park and Ride station opens at the former B&Q site later this year.

On the platform, easy-to-use machines allow commuters to buy their tickets with either cash or card. Information boards clearly explain the fare system. Travel is free for under-fives at all times and free after 9.30am for disabled passengers and over-60s with a travel pass.

As we left Mumps, the most obvious feature was the smoothness and silence of the ride. We arrived at Freehold — a new station — in under five minutes. Along the line there are stops at South Chadderton, Hollinwood — which will have its own 200-space park-and-ride facility; Failsworth, Newton Heath and Moston, Central Park and Monsall before Manchester Victoria.

South Chadderton, Central Park and Monsall are also new stops: the existing stations along the way have also been completely redeveloped since the loop line closed in October 2009.

There are plenty of seats aboard the clean and modern carriages and no big gaps between the tram doors and the platform.

Trams will run along the existing loop line until 2014 when they will run on the new line through the town centre.



In tonight’s print and eChron editions we look back 66 years — when Oldham last saw trams on its streets.








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