Rochdale Council lobbying for better transport and lower rail fares to put borough on track for economic revival

Rochdale Council is pushing the government for cheaper rail fares, more frequent services and shorter journey times on the Leeds to Manchester line to improve the borough’s economic prospects.

The calls are part of the council’s official response to the Department for Transport’s public consultation, ahead of moves to invite train operating companies to bid to run train services on the Trans Pennine and Northern Rail lines from February 2016.

The moves come in the week that inflation busting fare rises of 3.5 per cent were announced.

Transport Improvements, including the introduction of the Ordsall Chord, which will link Manchester Victoria station with Oxford Road and Piccadilly, to enable Rochdale passengers to travel direct to Manchester Piccadilly, are already set to happen as part of the Northern Hub rail improvements.

But the council is pushing for more and has outlined a series of suggestions in their consultation response, which they submitted to government this week.

These include:

• Consistency in fares and ticketing across Greater Manchester. A peak return ticket from Rochdale to Manchester currently costs £7.50, the highest rate per mile in the region.
• Electrification of the Calder Valley line to help reduce journey times between Bradford and Manchester to 50 minutes.
• The addition of an extra platform at Rochdale railway station to enable an additional service to run every hour from Rochdale to Manchester.
• Improved rolling stock with more carriages to enable increased passenger numbers and provide more comfortable journeys.
• An increase from two to three stops an hour at Mills Hill and Littleborough stations by services running to and from Manchester.

Council Leader, Councillor Richard Farnell, said: “Better transport links enable more people to travel in and out of our borough for work and are a critical part of our economic revival. The Northern Hub will go a long way to improving our fortunes, but it’s clear that more needs to be done and that’s why we’ve put together such a comprehensive report for the government to consider.

“The aspirations we have for our railway may be put forward to the companies who are bidding for the franchise as things they will need to deliver if they win the contract. We hope the government will seriously consider our proposals.”

Companies will receive an invitation to tender for the franchise in December 2014, with an announcement on who will run the lines for the next seven years being made in October 2015.