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Next stop Didsbury
Laura Thistlethwaite12/ 6/2008
METROLINK looks set to come to Didsbury after the government agreed to hand over £3bn to revolutionise public transport in Greater Manchester.
Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly announced her department will fund a package of transport improvements. In return, Manchester would have to introduce a congestion charge of up to £5 a day.
The funding will be enough to secure the long-awaited ‘Big Bang’ Metrolink expansion to East Didsbury and will see massive improvements in bus and rail services across Manchester.
Part of the £3bn will pay to extend a tram line already confirmed to stop at Firswood and Chorlton. It will branch out at St Werburgh’s Road, with one line stopping at Withington, Burton Road, West Didsbury, Didsbury Village and East Didsbury.
On the southbound line, stations are planned for Hough End, Barlow Moor and Hardy Farm, continuing along a number of other stops before reaching Manchester Airport.
A rapid transit bus route – running on a special track and guided by wheels which lock into raised kerbs – is set to run along Oxford Road to Fallowfield, Withington and East Didsbury.
If congestion charging is accepted by Greater Manchester Councils, improvement work would start immediately to be in place by the launch of the new fee in 2013.
Withington MP John Leech cautiously welcomed the plans. He said: "We were happy for the bid to go ahead as long as people are fully consulted. We must ensure the people of Greater Manchester have the final say."
He added: "There are serious concerns about the impact on the less well off who will be hit the hardest. My biggest concerns are in the increases in petrol prices and the cost of living.
"We could have gone for a cost neutral scheme which takes into consideration the amount a person uses their car and whether they are using greener vehicles.
"It will encourage some people to use public transport and change their behaviour on whether they drive or walk, but I wonder how many people will just change their driving times and go to work earlier or later to avoid paying."
Ruth Kelly announced approval of the Transport Initiative Fund (TIF) £1.5bn in grants, plus permission to borrow £1.2bn more, if it brings in a peak-hour charge of up to £5 a day at current prices. That would be topped up with £100m from other sources and up to £200m of extra government cash for rail network stock.
Lucy Powell, Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Withington, said: "The great news for south Manchester is not the congestion charge, but the extension of the Metrolink to East Didsbury, which is long overdue, and the new framework for the bus services which will mean there are better and more appropriate services."
The congestion fee, payable from Monday to Friday at peak times, will be based on two ‘rings’ the first just inside the M60 and the second roughly positioned around the inner ring road.
However, critics fear parts of south Manchester, including Burnage, Levenshulme and Northenden, will not see any major improvements.
Paul Samson, a Northenden estate agent and bar owner, said: "I’m sceptical about the public transport improvements happening in places like Northenden, which fall outside the Metrolink expansion; I think that the costs of getting a bus or tram will inevitably have to rise at some point to pay back the government loan.
"I also worry that the congestion charge could be detrimental to businesses which might move further out of the city."
A tram line from Didsbury to Stockport has also been proposed separately from the Transport Initiative Fund bid.
The offer will now be put out to 12 weeks’ of public consultation before the ten Greater Manchester councils decide whether to accept it or not. Under current rules at least seven of the councils would have to say ‘yes’ for the charge and investment to go ahead.
Most recent 2 of 2 user comments
As Virgil said in the Aeneid, "I fear the Greeks even when bearing gifts". In the same vein, I do not trust this government at all...even when offering something apparently attracive.( By the way, isn't that in itself a bit suspicious??)
13/06/2008 at 00:45
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