Those travelling on the Metrolink between Altrincham and Bury could be heading underground in the future, with Greater Manchester Combined Authority agreeing to invest £375,000 to begin feasibility studies on a tunnelled metro.
The Altrincham and Bury line was one of three areas proposed for an underground line by Transport for Greater Manchester during a meeting with GMCA’s Bee Network committee last week.
TfGM said it would explore developing an underground rapid transit line that aligned with the existing Altrincham and Bury Metrolink lines as they are the busiest in the system and likely to exceed capacity by 2050 even if longer vehicles are introduced. An underground relief tunnel, TfGM argued, would double the network’s capacity.
The other two line potentials to be explored in the feasibility studies are one that aligns with the Castlefield Corridor and Salford Crescent to Piccadilly and a brand-new, wholly segregated underground metro that runs from Northern Gateway to Manchester International Airport, connecting areas without existing tram or train lines.
All three possible underground lines are in the earliest of planning stages, with TfGM bosses saying they would be unable to even provide a map of what they may look like in GM before the committee’s next meeting in February.
The proposals earned praise from Bury Council’s Cllr Alan Quinn, who admitted to being “pretty excited about this”.
He added: “I think it’s fantastic that when we reach capacity we do what Greater Manchester does, we think outside the box.”
The £375,000 in funding for the feasibility studies comes from GM’s City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement from central government.
In December, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham had set a target to open a subway network in the city by 2050. In August, feasibility studies for an underground transit system had been an agreed beneficiary from a £6m funding commitment by the GMCA.