*Funding package of up to £3bn, including £1.5bn government grants, £1.2bn of loan paid back through a congestion charge, £100m of third-party funding and government money for extra rail carriages.
*Money comes on top of about £600m for the first phase of the Metrolink tram network extension
*Money will pay for a package of public transport improvements
*Completion of the "Big Bang" Metrolink tram extension, with lines to Rochdale and Oldham town centres, the airport, Ashton under Lyne and the Trafford Centre
*120 extra yellow buses for schools
*Bus feeder services to rail and Metrolink stations
*Increase in bus services to the city centre
*Eight new transport interchanges
*Increased rail capacity for 7,000 extra passengers at peak times
*Double the amount of park and ride facilities around the city
*Real time electronic information at all major bus, rail and tram stations
*A new travel "smartcard" which can be used across different forms of transport owned by different companies
*Charge not introduced until summer 2013
*Will be capped at £5 a day at 2007 prices, estimated to be £6 a day in 2013
*Fewer than 20 per cent of drivers expected to pay a charge at all
*Charge based on two "rings" - first just inside the M60 and the second roughly around the inner ring road
*Motorists will use a "tag and beacon" system, with pre-paid electronic tags
*Charges apply Monday to Friday, from 7am-9.30am towards the city centre, and from 4pm-6.30pm outwards
*Drivers will pay £2 (at 2007 prices) for crossing the outer ring in the morning, and a further £1 for crossing the inner ring
*Outward peak-time journeys will cost £1 for passing the inner ring and £1 for passing the outer ring.
*No charges at other times, or at weekends or on Bank Holidays.
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At a glance
June 09, 2008

Showing comments 1 to 14 and replies | View All
James (09/06/2008 at 19:31)
Let's hope all the councils get right behind this.
Mark Spencer, Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire. (09/06/2008 at 20:23)
Mike (10/06/2008 at 08:30)
Yeah rite!
*Motorists will use a "tag and beacon" system, with pre-paid electronic tags*
Not a chance…..take me to court
*Fewer than 20 per cent of drivers expected to pay a charge at all*
Where have they plucked this percentage from? I’m sure a damn sight more drivers will be affected
Simon B, The North West. (10/06/2008 at 09:42)
as proposed, the charge will not levy enough money to repay the loan.
stacy (10/06/2008 at 13:26)
only nickname left (10/06/2008 at 14:04)
Chris, Irlam (11/06/2008 at 12:55)
Let's hope all the councils get right behind this."
Surely you are having a laugh right? Either that or you are blind & deaf.
Munkey Boy, Audenshaw, Manchester (12/06/2008 at 12:02)
Please stop with the personal insults. It's rude, even hiding behind your anonymity, and frankly does little to progress the discussion.
Le Comte de Bobelesque, formerly a frog (12/06/2008 at 12:28)
I live in NE Manchester and work at the airport. I go via central Manchester rather than the M60 because it is 7 miles shorter. I wonder if my efforts to save fuel will be repaid?
The whole thing is just a con.
Marc (12/06/2008 at 12:37)
I B Happy, Seven Dwarfs Mansion (12/06/2008 at 12:54)
"Gordon Brown was accused last night of offering £1.2bn to win the votes of nine Democratic Unionist party MPs whose support ensured the government won the 42 day vote in the Commons."
One point two billion English pounds
Now where have I seen that figure before?
Black Flag (12/06/2008 at 13:58)
Given that the transport system in London is generally more expensive than the system we currently have, I suspect not.
The politicians will start sticking their noses in, telling us when we can and can't travel by bus, the system will become bureaucratic and inefficient, costs will rise and it will need more tax pumped into it to prop it up.
Marc (12/06/2008 at 14:33)
jomov, Manchester (12/06/2008 at 14:57)
Yes I'm sure that is an option some people would explore but..what if there are so many that take this option that it causes conjestion outside the charge time?
Hey hey, bet they widen the charge time slots!