Manchester’s Transport Updates

Here are all of the important news stories about transport this week in Greater Manchester.

Transcript

00:00Hello and welcome to your transport information for Greater Manchester for the week beginning

00:03January 20th. There is as always a lot to get through so I won't mess around, let's get

00:09straight into it. Firstly, starting with the planned RMT strike on the 26th of January,

00:14it's been suspended. Members of the RMT union had intended to strike on both the 19th and 26th

00:19but the action was cancelled to allow for intensive talks to take place with Avanti,

00:22the service provider at the heart of this specific clash. Despite talks focusing on the

00:27end of industrial action, there are still future strikes expected until an agreement

00:31is reached and signed by all parties. The next strike timetable is expected to be released on

00:35January 27th. Now there's a lot on trains today thanks to Mr Andy Burnham talking us through his

00:40transport plans in depth but we're going to make a very quick stop at Manchester Airport where

00:44Tribe Hotel have opened a 24-hour social hub, there's an Italian inspired restaurant, a bar

00:49with a range of beers, wines and cocktails and areas for working. The area is very close to

00:53Terminal 2 and could be a good place to spend some time before or after a flight. Right now,

00:57let's get on to Mr Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester. He appeared on a radio phone-in

01:01called In The Hot Seat recently and fielded questions from all quarters about the plan

01:05for public transport going forward. With buses now completely under the stewardship of the B

01:09Network, there are suggestions that train services will soon go the same way. Indeed,

01:13Burnham didn't hold back on his commitment to transport in the area. There are apparently

01:18plans in progress for removing freight services from the passenger railway lines which can have

01:22a material impact on routes such as the one between Stockport and Staly Bridge. He also stated

01:27that the two new train stations planned for Goldbourne and Cheadle will be integrated into the

01:31B Network to allow for a seamless level of service while there are also plans for a tram train service

01:36from Hayward and Middleton up to Bury. The technology for these German-style tram trains

01:41is already in use in Sheffield so the infrastructure would not be impossible to set up here in Manchester.

01:46Finally on this, the Mayor mentioned that he would be keen to introduce an offshoot of the HS2 plans

01:50ensuring that existing train lines in the north will be able to cope with any increased services

01:54from the south. That's all for now from Manchester, Weltermore and we'll see you again next week.