Browse Sections

• Education
• Special reports

Tram every six minutes

18/ 7/2008

TEN trams an hour will run through east Manchester when the new Metrolink line to Droylsden opens in four years time.

That's the promise by the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority, which is overseeing the £575 million expansion of the network.

The authority is timetabling a tram every six minutes each way on the line, equivalent to the current service from the city centre to Bury.

Construction work - with stops at Pollard Street, Holt Town, Sportcity, New East (Velodrome), Clayton and Edge Lane - is due to start early next year.

Councillor Andrew Fender, Manchester’s GMPTA spokesperson, said: "One of the biggest benefits of Metrolink is that it provides a frequent service, making it more convenient.

"Passengers don’t have to worry about checking a timetable before they leave home. They can simply turn up at a Metrolink stop and buy a ticket knowing that a tram will be along in a few minutes time."

The Droylsden line will be an extension from the existing Piccadilly station stop. A second is being built through Newton Heath to Oldham and Rochdale using the Oldham Loop railway line and a third to Chorlton in South Manchester.

Trains will stop running on the train line to Oldham and Rochdale in autumn 2009, with the new Metrolink line expected to open to trams between Manchester and Central Park in spring 2011.

Trams are also due to begin running to St Werburgh’s Road in Chorlton in spring 2011, Oldham Mumps in autumn 2011, and to Rochdale and Droylsden in spring 2012.