Oldham

How the public transport investment would affect Oldham

The Metrolink would be re-routed through Oldham Town Centre. As well as the tram connecting people to more places, improvements would also be made to bus and rail services, Park and Ride facilities and cycling routes.

Metrolink

TIF improvements would include:

the tram entering the heart of Oldham town centre with new stops at Westwood, Oldham King Street, Oldham Central (Union Street) with a relocated stop at Oldham Mumps
on weekdays, trams would run every six minutes from Union Street to Shaw and Manchester city centre
an extra station at Kingsway Business Park, between Shaw and Rochdale town centre
extensions to Rochdale town centre, Manchester Airport, Ashton-under-Lyne and East Didsbury. Funding has also been earmarked for a potential Trafford Centre extension via the Trafford Park line
62 new trams, 20 miles of additional track and 41 new stops equipped with new ticket machines for ‘Smartcard’ ticketing as well as debit and credit cards
there would be a major expansion of Metrolink across Greater Manchester with the capacity to carry an extra 30,000 passengers in each of the morning and evening peak periods

Bus improvements

Examples of proposed changes to buses in Oldham include:

Greenfield – Oldham – Manchester increased from two to four buses an hour, during Monday to Saturday daytimes; it will link to the Huddersfield /Diggle/Uppermill service at Grasscroft to give eight buses per hour to Oldham, continuing via Copster Hill to Manchester. Evening and Sunday services increased to every 30 minutes
the existing Shaw – Rushcroft - Buckstones circular service would be increased from every 30 minutes to every 20 minutes, Mondays to Saturdays. The service will start earlier, finish later and will additionally operate every 30 minutes on Sunday daytimes to provide a local feeder service for Metrolink at Shaw and Crompton station
the Shaw – Oldham – Middleton – Manchester service would increase to every seven or eight minutes during the day between Oldham and Manchester (every 20 minutes in the evenings and on Sundays)
West Chadderton – Oldham increased from hourly to every 30 minutes during the day, Monday to Saturday. Would start earlier and would be re-routed to serve Royal Oldham Hospital
additional circular (orbital) bus services to connect areas outside the city centre
180 Yellow School Buses would be introduced across Greater Manchester providing customised services to schools, with seats allocated to pupils and drivers dedicated to the service

These are just some examples of proposed bus service and facility improvements, with Greater Manchester seeing an overall increase of 10% to bus services with more services starting earlier, running later in the evening and at weekends.

Rail improvements

Extra carriages would be added on peak-time trains using Mills Hill and Greenfield. Also additional refurbishment would take place at Greenfield station.

To reduce overcrowding, there would be extra rail carriages for services across Greater Manchester with capacity for an additional 2,950 passengers in the three hour morning peak period. This is as well as the additional capacity for 4,100 passengers in the three hour morning peak, which would be funded by the Government without TIF.

Park and Ride

The TIF proposals would double the existing number of Park and Ride spaces serving Greater Manchester. Money has already been dedicated to this and positive feedback in the recent consultations has resulted in additional funds being set aside in re-allocated Local Transport Plan budgets for further sites across the region – funds that might have been invested elsewhere without TIF.

Park and Ride facilities at Shaw and Crompton would be expanded. The Chadderton area would benefit from expanded park and ride facilities at Mills Hill.

Cycling

Improvements for cyclists with 125 miles of cycle routes and cycle parking across Greater Manchester and cycle hire schemes in Manchester and Stockport. Cycle routes planned for Oldham include:

cycle facility between Moston and Chadderton for safer cycling away from main roads
upgraded route alongside Rochdale canal between the city centre and White Gate
a new route between Failsworth and White Gate.
there would also be three improved cycle routes crossing the proposed charging rings

Improvements for passengers

Further passenger improvements would include:

a 20% reduction on public transport fares at peak times for low paid workers (statutory minimum wage)
better and more timely travel information via real-time electronic displays and improved safety and security with CCTV, help points and better lighting at stops and stations
an integrated ticketing and simplified fare structure using a new ‘Smartcard ticket’ would allow prepayment of fares for travel on trains, trams and buses

80% of the public transport improvements would be in place across Greater Manchester with a significant improvement in public transport in Oldham, before the peak-time congestion charge would begin in summer 2013.