Cheadle and Gatley Lib Dems are moving
Graham, Tom and Ian
Your Lib Dem team for Cheadle West & Gatley Learn more
What were the local issues four decades ago?
Cheadle and Gatley Lib Dems are moving
Cheadle and Gatley Lib Dems are moving
What were the local issues four decades ago?
Cheadle and Gatley Lib Dems are moving
Lib Dems fight to bring Metrolink to Cheadle
by Lib Dem team on 22 May, 2015
The Liberal Democrat campaign to bring Metrolink to Cheadle and Gatley is continuing apace.
The Lib Dems are campaigning to bring Metrolink to Cheadle and Gatley
“We need to build as much support as we can for an orbital Metrolink, connecting Rochdale, Oldham, Tameside, Stockport, Wythenshawe, Altrincham and the airport by covenient, fast trams.” Cllr Iain Roberts explained.
“Stockport’s Rail Strategy got the line on the map and got TfGM’s agreement. But there are always more projects around than there’s money to deliver them so it isn’t enough to get an agreed plan. We need to move it up the agenda. If it’s just Cheadle and Gatley calling for it, that’s pretty tough. If we can build a coalition of support around the plans, it gets much easier.”
The Lib Dems are pushing for TfGM to commission a business case study for the line – something that’s absolutely essential if it’s to get funding.
“These big projects don’t get the millions of pounds they need to fund them because someone thinks they’re a nice idea.” Iain said. “They get funded because the economic case stacks up – they’ll generate more in financial benefits than they cost. That’s why the airport’s plans are so important to us. Airport City will create more than 10,000 new jobs, the airport itself is expanding and many more people will want to get to the planned Manchester Airport HS2 stop when it opens. The fact is there simply isn’t enough road space to get all those people to the airport, and there’s no-where to build more.”
“An orbital Metrolink line will be great for Cheadle – allowing people to come into the village to work and shop without bringing their cars, and making it easier for people in Cheadle to get to Stockport, Manchester and elsewhere. But it’s also essential to unlock the potential of the airport developments, making all those jobs accessible to people in Stockport, Tameside, Oldham and Trafford and stopping the road network grinding to a halt.”
The Lib Dems have been holding talks with other local councils and the airport. This year Iain will be one of Stockport’s representatives on Transport for Greater Manchester, pushing the case there too.
“We know these things don’t happen overnight,” Iain said. “Every Metrolink line built so far has taken years to get agreement, more time to get funding and then it still needs to be constructed. The Lib Dems believe this is the right thing for our area and we will fight for this for as long as it takes.”
21 Comments
I understand that the proposed site of the Gatley station is at the top of Belmont/Pendlebury roads. Everyone using this will come by car ( its a longish walk from Gatley village) We do not want extra traffic day and night in this area- we already suffer with Gatley Station traffic. Would it not be a better idea to scrap this white elephant and spend the money on improving the roads and existing public transport i.e the buses.
Hi Phil – there’s no site proposed for Gatley yet. If you look at Metrolink stops, many are in residential areas without car parking and it doesn’t cause a problem (apart from increasing the house prices of those who live nearby). I think people only have to look at how popular the trams are to see why it’s a better option than buses: quicker, better, more reliable journey times and better used.
Agree, to me this is still a white elephant, just needs a rail station at Gatley and Cheadle or the Didbury metro line extending to Stockport. As for the article mentioning Oldham, Rochdale, Tameside, Wythenshawe, the airport and Altrincham, they’ve already got the metro. How many lines and stations do we need?!!
Absolutely Iain. We need a positive, forward thinking outlook on this rather than the old-school, backward way. All other European cities are expanding trams as their preferred commuter route, so I find it impossible to understand why some folk appear to want more/better roads – crazy. Trams are a quicker way to get people around, lessens the carbon footprint and reduces congestion – no brainer.
Hi John,
Extending the Didsbury line to Stockport wouldn’t give us Metrolink in Cheadle or Gatley (it would go through Cheadle Heath).
We are pushing for a Cheadle station, at least as an interim measure, but a heavy rail line running one train an hour won’t give us the service we really need.
The importance of the other places isn’t that they don’t have Metrolink, it’s that they don’t have an orbital route giving them access to the thousands of jobs being created around the airport. (You wouldn’t say that Cheadle doesn’t need a station because Stockport borough already has lots of stations).
Whether we’re asking for a new station or a Metrolink line, we face the same problem: many more schemes vying for funding than there is money available to fund them (by a ratio of about 10:1 – and that’s just the viable schemes seriously taken up by government and councils).
So if we want to get our stations, with trains or Metrolink, it almost certainly isn’t enough to just say “please can we have a new station.” We need to make the economic case as to why investing taxpayers’ money in our station, or our Metrolink line, is a better way to spend it that the 90% of schemes that won’t get funding. That’s why we need to build the strategic case for an orbital route and get our neighbours on board.
Improve the roads, how? We’ve already made concessions to Stagecoach over their times and still they run late. Buses need competition to break their monopoly, and the tram offers that.
One query on funding though. I presume all smbc tax payers pay a precept to gmpte from their rate bills, yet we don’t have one inch of Metrolink track in stockport, surely there’s a better justification there rather than the hardly vital “second city crossing”?
Alan – agree completely on the funding. SMBC pays a lot to TfGM. We do get benefits from that, both capital projects (relief road, bus interchange, town centre access package, cycle improvements) and ongoing revenue (managing traffic lights and major junctions, subsidised bus routes). But we need Metrolink in Stockport.
In funding terms it comes down to economic benefit, and that comes down largely to access to jobs. If a Metrolink line is taking people who want jobs to where there are lots of jobs, it will come out much better economically and be much more likely to secure funding.
Living in Gatley, I really cannot see any benefits for me. We already have an excellent train service to Manchester centre and the airport, and an equally excellent bus service to Stockport.
Residents from the Pendlebury estate will probably not welcome this either.
Bruce – fair enough. The benefits are certainly greater for Cheadle, with no rail service. For Gatley it would be a local Metrolink stop like many across GM, making it quicker for some to get to Stockport or to the jobs around Manchester Airport (most of which aren’t next to the existing airport station).
Those living nearby would probably see a significant increase in the value of their houses (as has been seen in other similar areas). There’s no reason to think it would generate lots of additional traffic or parking – that hasn’t been the case at other similar Metrolink stops – but there are ways to manage it if there is.
It all sounds very good but do not agree that parking would not be an issue. Parking at Gatley station on the residential roads is a nuisance, for many reasons that the residents witness every day. People will still want to bring their cars and park as near to tram stops as possible, of course on the residential roads if they use the top,of Belmont Road.
I still believe the best course of action is to press for the re-opening of the stations on the Stockport – Altrincham Network Rail line, including Gatley/Northenden and Cheadle (LNW) station in our area with a more frequent service. Others at Baguley Southmoor Rd., Timperley, etc., could follow as I understand there has been local pressure so to do.
I do not think this line should be converted to Metrolink as it presents our current service to Chester and is part of the national network.
In any case, just how would it be connected to the Metrolink system at Stockport – if and when Metrolink ever gets to Stockport?
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A metrolink stop at gatley that would take you to stockport would be brilliant. Buses are overpriced and unreliable. It would also remove the delay in trying to cross kingsway. Greater manchester also needs an oyster card system with daily caps. Anyone who has used a bus in london and edinburgh would be shocked at the cost of a bus journey around manchester, even the day rider tickets Are expensive compared to those 2 cities excellent one fare no matter how far you travel policy on the buses.
Mild, again bus fares come down to lack of competition. Stagecoach increase their fares by 10p regularly. This represents at least. 5% increase each time, when inflation is at zero.
Unfortunately the Tories don’t like regulation which would
Go some way to preventing such wanton increases
How scrapping this vital piece of public transport will lead to better transport is completely loony. How do you think this money could be spent to “improve the existing roads” anyway? They can’t be made wider and fixing potholes won’t get rid of traffic! Having a metrolink will mean less cars on the road not more as people will go on the trams instead of in their cars or on bus. The bus service is already amble isn’t at capacity if you’ve ever used a bus in our local area. Its just buses aren’t pleasant or quick to use hence why many people take the bus to the train station and take the train. But please I’d love to see your logic behind solving car traffic problems by only improving the road surfaces and not offering an alternative transportation option to driving a car, all while being accessible to those of us who cannot drive.
The Stockport-Altrincham line will be an orbital route, something which public transport in Manchester is terrible at currently. Without lines like this you would need to go into the city centre and then back out, which is obviously inefficient. Notice how Manchester has an orbital ring road motorway for example and not a hub-spoke road network? You need the ring to join up the end of the spokes if you want a good transport system.
If you’d like to educate yourself on the future plans, then here is a link to the Stockport Rail Strategy page which contains the entire rail-based transport plan for Stockport in PDF format at the bottom of the page: http://www.stockport.gov.uk/newsroom/railstrategy
Hi Iain
I am very much in favour of bringing the Metrolink to Cheadle and Gatley. Anything which might help to reduce the volume of traffic on the A34 and A560 would be great, and you already know my views on this!!
I appreciate the other comments about increased traffic getting to the metrolink stations, but surely this will considered in the proposals. One of the respondents says we have a great train service into Manchester. I totally disagree. I think it is a very poor service, running only twice an hour during the day, and worse in the evenings and weekends. I hope it gets the go ahead with your support. We need to get traffic off the roads….I use the metrolink to go to Manchester, from Parrs Wood – it is great.
Best regards
Tony Kaye
The more economic answer to Tony’s coment is to increase the number of trains stopping at Gatley, not building a new rail line.
The NR service to Manchester is far quicker than Metrolink would be from Parrs Wood plus the car journey and parking, etc.
Increasing the number of trains stopping at Gatley is tricky – the airport wants more fast trains from Manchester to the Airport and there’s only so many trains that can be fitted in. We’d like to see more, but there are plenty of others pressing for less!
The Metrolink idea is a way to increase the number of trains/trams stopping in Gatley without building a new line: we use the existing Chester line and run trams along it.
I certainly support this but short term something really must be done to sort out the appalling bus service in to Manchester from Cheadle..3 different operators including 2 for the x57/157 alone so buying a dayrider is pointless if you plan to come back whenever the x57/157 change over happens. The 157 from town to Parrs Wood is £1, but to Cheadle it’s £2.60 – and there’s not a single direct but from town to Cheadle on a Sunday after 17:50! More 130’s would help as they are quicker and benefit from the bus lane up Kingsway..It beggars belief we don’t yet have an Oyster card system and Manchester and back yesterday cost me nearly £6, yet just over the bridge in Parrs Wood it would’ve been £2.
Quotation from the Surface Access document of the draft Manchester Airport Sustainability Plan published in connection with the airport’s recent expansion plans,
“GREATER MANCHESTER TRAM-TRAIN
TfGM is currently exploring the potential for tram-trains, a new concept which aims to have the benefits of both heavy rail and trams.It has many similarities to Metrolink, but the specially designed vehicles are able to run on street tracks and also share tracks with conventional
trains. It could improve frequencies and provide new services.
An initial feasibility study identified Manchester to Marple via Bredbury as the most economically viable route. A number of other routes areunder consideration as part of a potential tram-train network. The Stockport to Altrincham corridor would improve orbital connectivity,
using a combination of the existing freight rail line and Metrolink lines.
It would be a new public transport option for the airport area. It could also potentially serve the Airport City Enterprise Zone and the proposed Manchester Airport HS2 Station.
We will continue to work with TfGM on the feasibility of tram-train as an option to improve airport accessibility.”
Iain – perhaps you should have further talks with both TfGM and MAG about their plans.
Bob – thanks, I’m having regular conversations with both TfGM and MAG.
I may not live in the area represented by the Councillor; But I do live in Tameside; where I truly believe Metrolink needs to venture out with an orbital route. Should I need to get to the likes of Chorlton, The Airport, or Didsbury, I either have to drive or use Public transport that takes me into Manchester & then back out (Quickest way possible – other than several changes of buses) If for example they built the line to Stockport (From Didsbury) using the old route; & then took it out of Stockport & up past Tesco (using a similar route to the old Tivot Dale line that used to be there) & through the back Brinnington & Reddish Vale. Or from from Stockport towards Lower Bredbury towards Woodley and onwards Hyde & into Manchester using the much hyped Tram-Train. The majority of these routes where the railway has been taken up are preserved or are just footpaths and with some creative thinking could still be utilised as both. I agree this needs to moved up the agenda. It gets my support.