Wigan

There would be a new station at Golborne funded by re-allocated Local Transport Plan money made possible by TIF, allowing services between Wigan and Manchester via Golborne. Up to £14 million would be available for the project through re-allocated Local Transport Plan (LTP) funds – money that would have been invested elsewhere without TIF.

To reduce overcrowding, under the TIF there would be extra seats on peak-time rail services with the provision of extra carriages on commuter trains.

Station improvements would also be undertaken at Atherton, Hindley, Ince, Pemberton, Bryn, Gathurst and Appley Bridge.

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.

Proposed improvements to the bus network in Wigan would include:

• the Leigh – Salford – Manchester rapid transit busway service running to Manchester city centre every 15 minutes, via Tyldesley, the East Lancashire Road and Salford. It would run cross-city to the Higher Education Precinct around Oxford Road, Manchester Royal Infirmary and the new Manchester Children’s Hospital.
• an improved service from Wigan to Hindley – Atherton – Tyldesley – Salford – Manchester, which would run every 15 minutes and would also operate as a cross-city service to the Children’s Hospital and Manchester Royal Infirmary.
• more frequent services running between Belle Green and Bottling Wood via Wigan town centre and the Infirmary, with new evening and Sunday journeys
• services between Wigan and St Helens would run every 10 minutes in the daytime. This would combine with services to Skelmersdale / Ormskirk to provide a service between Wigan and Orrell Post every five minutes
• Westwood Park being served by a coordinated 4 buses an hour in the daytime, offering through journeys from Belle Green, Ince, Worsley Hall, Kitt Green, Marsh Green, Beech Hill, Platt Bridge and Wigan town centre
• Robin Park would be served by a 4 bus per hour service in the daytime, offering through journeys from Belle Green, Ince, Kitt Green, Shevington, Standish, Beech Hill and Wigan town centre• 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

These are just some examples of proposed bus service 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.

Under TIF proposals, there would be a major expansion of the Metrolink network across Greater Manchester with the capacity to carry an extra 30,000 passengers in each of the morning and evening peak periods. Passengers would benefit from an additional 20 miles of track, 62 new trams and 41 new stops, all of which would be equipped with new ticket machines for Smartcard ticketing as well as debit and credit cards.

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 Wigan include facilities between Wigan town centre and Robin Park.

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 sites would serve the Leigh – Salford – Manchester rapid transit busway on the A580 near Worsley, Tyldesley, Hough Lane and Leigh and at Atherton railway station.

A further £15 million would be provided for Wigan through re-allocated Local Transport Plan (LTP) funds – money that might have been invested elsewhere without TIF.

These additional funds would be invested in transport infrastructure projects such as bus priority measures, bus stop and rail station mprovements, cycle routes, traffic management work and pedestrian facilities.