Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, has issued a stark warning that without immediate government support Manchester Metrolink will have to be completely suspended. Mr Burnham made the warning during a joint online briefing with his counterpart in Liverpool, Steve Rotherham, and called upon the government to provide a similar bail-out to that offered to rail and bus operators in the country.
During the briefing Mr Burham said that monthly income has fallen from £6million to well below £1million. Whilst this is good news in that most people are heeding warnings to only travel on public transport if the journey is necessary it does also mean that it is difficult for transport leaders to maintain a service based on this reduced income.
The warning from Mr Burnham suggests the financial support is needed within days rather than weeks and that even if any support was coming it may be necessary to further reduce services across the network.
One thing this warning does show is that as with funding for concessionary travel passes, trams and light rail do often fall in between two areas and end up not being fully considered as either. With Metrolink still providing a vital service for key workers it can only be hoped that some form of agreement can be reached allowing some sort of service to be maintained whilst lockdown continues.
Good news that the Government seems to be taking a more logical and helpful approach now, saying that it “will support England’s light rail systems to allow essential services to continue during the coronavirus pandemic”.