It has been confirmed that the Oldham Loop line currently being converted to Metrolink operation, will only last in service for three years as it will close once the Oldham Town Centre line is completed in 2014. It has initially been hoped that both lines would operate concurrently but it has now been decided this is not possible.
Cllr Howard Sykes, Oldham Council Leader, said: “We've looked long and hard whether you can keep both, but it would cost a lot of money that we haven't got.
Also you wouldn't get the frequency of the trams - because you would be sending them round different routes and the timings are different. You wouldn't get the patronage Metrolinks needs to get, which it does get with the trams every 12 and six minutes."
Philip Purdy, GMPTE’s Metrolink Director, added: “We will be reusing as much of the existing heavy rail track, sleepers and ballast as possible. This is in light of the fact that the line through Oldham town centre is due to be operational from around spring 2014. When the town centre line opens, we will decommission the section from Werneth to Mumps and then reuse and recycle as many of the equipment, fixtures and infrastructure as possible on other sections of the network."
Services on the Oldham Loop Line are due to commence from autumn 2011.
Source: BBC News Online