THE wheels have been set in motion for the next phase of the Metrolink extension.
Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive has asked Manchester council for outline approval to build two tram stops in Didsbury Village and Withington.
The Didsbury stop will be on Olive Shapley Avenue, off School Lane. The Withington station will be next to Hough End playing fields, on Princess Parkway.
There will be drop-off bays and surveillance at both sites, which will open on the proposed East Didsbury line - funded by the £1.5bn Greater Manchester Transport Fund set up this year.
Plans for the line - along with another extension to Ashton under Lyne - were fast-tracked by the region's 10 council leaders, who set up the regional fund in the wake of the failed congestion-charge bid.
The Metrolink extensions are awaiting approval from the Department for Transport before work can get under way.
But GMPTE bosses said last month they hoped construction would begin on the East Didsbury line by the end of the year.
It will eventually have five stops serving Withington, Burton Road, West Didsbury, Didsbury Village and East Didsbury.
A GMPTE spokeswoman said: "We can confirm we have submitted outline planning applications for Withington and Didsbury Village on the East Didsbury line."
But she was unable to give a time frame for when work would begin and when the stations are expected to open, adding: "We are unable to confirm construction and an official schedule until a constructor is on board."
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Didsbury and Withington are on the worlds busiest bus route. Most buses only seem to be 30% full so the capacity is there on them so why build a Metrolink there? Maybe because the Metrolink is free to use for most people. Traffic is a nightmare around both Didsbury and Withington due to bus lanes, buses and lane reductions so why do they want 'drop of points'. Make people walk.
It would be better to have a Metrolink station in Heaton Park. They can turn the park into a car park and all those travelling from Yorkshire can park and ride from there.
Anyway, it is such a mess in town that shoppers are going elsewhere and companies are moving out.
I agree. I will vote against any Councillor who wants to increase my Council Tax to pay for this nonsense.
Jack The Hat - is your post satirical or not? I can't quite work it out!
Its the way these councils work, not very clever at what they plan, congraduate themselfs over the most idiotic things,as we pay, what next movig pavements to take people to bus stops, the only thing they achive to do right is create congestion.
"were fast-tracked by the region's 10 council leaders, who set up the regional fund in the wake of the failed congestion-charge bid"
i wasnt aware of this? so they couldnt get hold of our money with the concharge so they pushed through another way of grabbing money from us.
as always its the people who seem to have to fund everything when its been promised all those years ago.
its time there was a tax revolution. all we seem to do now is work to pay tax. any little thats left over is for you to try and survive on.
Lots of miserable mancunians on here today.
Why do they not have stops close to where most people live.? The proposed Withington stop is no where near the centre of Withington or the student population or the university...It is next to a large playing fields and busy main road. Meanwhile on the route where people want to travel IE the Manchester-Rusholme-Fallowfield-Withington
route there will still be 100's of busses. Who planned this one then ? The tram should be there to replace the busses. The proposed route is not in the right place and will not compete with £3 weekly bus passes.
To Jack the hat, please check on the route as it is going along side princess parkway, not down the A34.
happy2behere - the route is running along former rail alignments, that is why it doesn't run through Withington Centre nor past the University. To do this it would have to run down the main road, and would be much slower. The area it does pass through is still densely populated. It is expected to be the most profitable route on the network, demonstrating its expected high passenger numbers.
Wilmslow Road and through Rusholme is NOT A34. You are thinking of Kigsway. Check the A-Z.
Dave Dave
The route of europe's busiest bus route is profitable because it passes Manchester University, all the halls of residences, student flats AND all the businesses along that route, bars, restaurants, supermarkets, (Wilmslow road, sorry Jack I agree it is not A34) Add to that all the people who live within walking distance of a bus stop on this corridor and hey presto ££££ The tram route does not pass anything. Why would a student or person who live on the existing corridor walk a fair distance and pay more to get on a tram ? So we have the same problem of the 100+ busses and I think empty trams. Did I mention the bus runs all night ? and the tram stops at midnight ? This is a no brainer
Hey Dave Dave. We aren't miserable just fed up of politicians circumventing democracy. The people rejected large scale transport schemes in the congestion charge debate, and now politicans decide they'll go ahead anyway and lump the cost on to the Council Tax. I already pay nearly as much Council tax on my one bed flat here as I did on a 3 bed detached house in Oxfordshire in 2005. Its time they cut their cloth a bit and reigned in spending.
Why is the metrolink going to Didsbury & Withington? why not the A6 Corridor?
I always find it funny on here that people make comments before finding out any of the facts! I suppose they havent even looked at the map to see where it's going to go.
Yet more big bits of concrete in our suburbs,Why make a tram system look like a railway system? Manchesters idea of a tram system is disgusting it builds these massive concrete platforms all over the place that make the city look scruffy.We need a tram system that is just that "A tram system" Not a cheap extension of a railway system .Droylsden didsbury are all in the sights of the "Ugly planners".They make our living spaces look terrible,just look at the state of some parts of manchester,children could have planned a better city.
Why is the metrolink going to Didsbury & Withington? why not the A6 Corridor? - uncle bulgaria, Wimbledon Common
Because Didsbury and Withington are full of students and the A6 corridor passes salford precinct. Now, if they could move salford quays to where the precinct is, Merry could sell the area to Stringer, who would rename it 'manchester quays' and we might be in with a chance at seeing a tram in salford. Oh, wait, they arleady have a tram that goes past the quays. We don't have a prayer!
Dave Dave,using former rail alignments, this is the remarks of someone in the know, you are either in planning or just a wind up.
The "Withington" stop is next to Hough End on Princess Parkway, near Didsbury Point. Not as the locals would think of Withington, ie. Cine City on Wilmslow Rd. The line isn't there for the student population, they'll still be served by the bus services via Fallowfield.
It is more about professionals working in central Manchester, and from that point of view, there's plenty in that Didsbury corridor that currently wouldn't consider getting a bus.
Does anyone know when the promised remainder of the big bang take place ? or where it will be going around Northern Moor