Old trams to be changed

ALL of Metrolink’s oldest trams will be replaced with new vehicles by 2014.

Transport leaders voted to replace 12 of the 32 original T68 trams with the new yellow-and-silver M5000 vehicles in September last year, and have now decided to replace the rest.

An order for 20 of the new M5000s — at £2m each — will be placed.

Seventy-four new trams are already serving the expanding network, including new lines to Oldham and Rochdale.

Once all the new lines are in operation, the network will be served from a pool of 94 new trams. The M5000s suffer 25 per cent of the faults of the older trams and are 10 tonnes lighter — reducing energy and rail replacement costs.


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