Manchester Metro
Manchester needs an excellent transport infrastructure; not only for the economy but also to reduce the traffic that we all know is a contributor to global warming. Since the Metrolink opened the Altrincham to Bury line in 1992 the light rail system has proved a great success in Greater Manchester and is estimated to have replaced up to 3.5 million car journeys a year. Its expansion is more than warranted, as much of the Manchester Central constituency is still not served by the scheme.
Many people were dismayed with the Department of Transport's initial decision in 2004 to abandon the extension of our city’s overcrowded Metrolink. This decision could have serious repercussions on Manchester’s ambition to create thousands of jobs during the next decade and also goes completely against the Government’s purported aims to narrow the North-South economic divide. Along with other MPs from across Greater Manchester Tony has been campaigning up to the level of the Prime Minister and the Chancellor to have this decision substantively reversed. In the House of Commons, Tony has raised on many occasions the anger felt by Mancunians at the decision.