14.12.17
Burnham announces major Greater Manchester transport overhaul
The mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has announced a major overhaul of the region’s transport network.
Burnham said problems with transport in the north could “no longer be ignored” and announced the creation of a Strategic Transport Board, which will monitor transport projects and ensure decisions are made in line with joined-up services.
He also said the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) would work to ensure train operators do more to compensate commuters for poor services.
Addressing members of the Urban Transport Group at a meeting in Leeds, Burnham said the new board would be chaired by himself and Richard Leese the leader of Manchester City Council.
He described Greater Manchester’s train services as “packed-out and clapped-out” and said the north had been treated as “second-class over many years” in terms of transport investment.
“Our road, rail and bus services are not only poor individually, they can’t be properly integrated due to an inconsistent national policy framework in which they operate,” Burnham stated.
“We cannot have a transport system where different modes of transport operate completely independently from each other or, worse, actively competing and undermining each other as we have seen with bus operators and Metrolink.
“It lacks coherence, it’s confusing for passengers, and it doesn’t deliver for a growing 21st century city-region. It is time to bring some order to this chaos.”
The speech is the result of Transport for Greater Manchester’s (TfGM) six-week ‘Congestion Conversation’ which looked to understand how congested transport links in the region affect people.
In addition to other new developments, the GMCA will look to introduce contactless bank card payments across Metrolink services late next year.
Burnham said passenger satisfaction in Greater Manchester was below the national average and singled out the use of pacers on the rail network, which he said were intended to run for 20 years but are still operating nearly 40 years later.
TfGM has begun talks with passenger watchdog Transport Focus to discuss compensation for season ticket holders on the Bolton to Manchester line, which has suffered from particular poor performance.
Top image: Peter Byrne, PA Wire
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