{"id":162514,"date":"2025-06-06T08:52:15","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T08:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/162514\/"},"modified":"2025-06-06T08:52:15","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T08:52:15","slug":"andy-burnham-gives-update-on-tram-train-plan-to-connect-bolton-leigh-and-atherton-to-metrolink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/162514\/","title":{"rendered":"Andy Burnham gives update on \u2018tram-train\u2019 plan to connect Bolton, Leigh and Atherton to Metrolink"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Andy Burnham said he wanted all 10 boroughs in Greater Manchester to be connected by a Metrolink style service<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_JS367328316.jpg\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>Tram-trains which can operate on both existing train tracks and tram lines could be used to connect Bolton and Leigh to Metrolink via Atherton <\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Plans for a tram-train service via Atherton which would also connect <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/all-about\/bolton\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Bolton<\/a> and Leigh to the <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/all-about\/metrolink\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Metrolink<\/a> are set to be published next month, Greater Manchester\u2019s mayor has said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/all-about\/andy-burnham\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Andy Burnham<\/a> said the tram-trains, able to operate both on tram tracks and existing rail lines, would be the key to unlocking Metrolink services to the towns.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Speaking on <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/all-about\/bbc\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">BBC<\/a> Radio Manchester\u2019s \u2018In The Hotseat\u2019 phone-in, the metro mayor was challenged by listener Alison who asked why the massive \u00a32.5bn extra transport funding for Greater Manchester announced yesterday by chancellor Rachel Reeves, made no mention of Bolton.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">She asked: \u201cHas Bolton been forgotten yet again? When, when, when will Bolton be linked to the Metrolink?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Mr Burnham told listeners: \u201cWe\u2019re just working up now the next Greater Manchester strategy and will be publishing that in the early part of July.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cWe will be looking at a tram-train scheme via Atherton which could potentially link to Bolton and to Leigh.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cThe reason why it\u2019s not as firm as yesterday with the other schemes is that they are more viable at this moment in time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8220;It\u2019s not the case that Bolton is cut out of the picture or forgotten.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cBolton will see some big transport improvements in pretty short order. We want all our boroughs to be connected by a Metrolink style service.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cTram-train via Atherton is the way in which Bolton and Leigh would be connected.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">He also said that rail passengers would see other, non-infrastructure changes in Bolton soon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cTwo rail lines which connect via Bolton are coming into the Bee Network by 2028,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cThat means Bolton will all of a sudden be a very attractive place from a travel point of view.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cPassengers will be able to tap in at Bolton station and they\u2019ll be in the Bee Network cap.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cThat\u2019s going to be a change that comes quicker than any new infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cIn effect, those services will be like Metrolink, they\u2019ll be quicker and passengers will be in the same system.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andy Burnham said he wanted all 10 boroughs in Greater Manchester to be connected by a Metrolink style&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[22438,15333,279,748,393,4884,3043,2465,285,8825,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-162514","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-atherton","9":"tag-bee-network","10":"tag-bolton","11":"tag-britain","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-leigh","15":"tag-manchester","16":"tag-politics","17":"tag-transport-for-greater-manchester","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114635574078584170","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}