6:00am Tuesday 9th February 2010
CHRONIC overcrowding on Bolton’s trains may never be tackled, transport chiefs admitted last night.
Despite daily rush-hour chaos, the Department for Transport (DfT) still has no concrete plans in place to deliver much-needed extra carriages to the region. A damning report by the Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority (GMITA) admits the first phase of the rolling stock programme will only satisfy half of the original commitment to Northern Rail, will comprise entirely of 25-year-old second-hand carriages and is at risk of severe delay because it has not yet been formalised.
The Government originally announced that Northern Rail would be given 182 additional carriages while First TransPennine Express was set to get 42. That number was cut by half last July but the GMITA fears the plan to provide any carriages could be put back to 2014 at the earliest.
A review said passenger demand had been forecast at lower levels than when original numbers were calculated, and higher costs were anticipated for the new rolling stock.
The five northern transport authorities objected to the figures, which they said were pessimistic.
Cllr David Wilkinson, one of three Bolton representatives on the GMITA, said: “The report shows that the DfT is listening, but it has no sense of how urgently this new stock is needed.
“The original promise would only scratch the surface but it would allow people to get their backside on a seat. Now we are being told there is another delay and the stock when it eventually turns up with be 25 years old — half of its lifespan.”
When Northern Rail secured the franchise in 2003, its conditions did not take into account any growth on the routes it operated.
But that growth has been far greater than expected with the Bolton-Wigan-Atherton corridor alone seeing an increase in use of 63 per cent between 1998 and 2008.
The report admits, however, that “progress continues to be slow and uncertain.”
The DfT was last night unavailable for comment.
While this is the latest set back for commuters, over-crowding on routes through Bolton has been worsening for the past 20 years.
During his visit to Bolton in December, Lord Adonis admitted that years of under-investment had meant the North West had suffered as a result.
The GMITA is expected to agree to write to Greater Manchester’s MPs and the leaders of the 10 authorities to seek their support in lobbying the Government to keep its promises.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/trade_directory/