STORM assisting TFGM
At the STORM AGM held on 10 May, Stephen Clarke, Rail Development Manager of the Transport for Greater Manchester (formerly GMPTE), outlined their five priority issues for rail in Greater Manchester. They are:- 1 To improve the day to day railway operation in terms of reliability, punctuality and passenger comfort and safety. 2 To make sure Northern rail is allocated sufficient additional carriages to prevent the current serious overcrowding at peak times. 3 To consider what the next franchise should contain to ensure we get an adequate twenty first century rail service. (see ‘northern franchise: what do we want?) 4 The lines around Greater Manchester are too congested and do not have loops where trains may overtake other, slower trains, or that stations have too few platforms. This will be addressed by Network Rail's "Northern Hub" proposals and it is vital to get the Government to accept it. A good start has been made as the Government has recently approved funding for the "Ordsall Curve", a fundamental step in the Northern Hub. 5 High Speed2. This is not just about speed but is more important for capacity as even after the recently completed upgrade of the West Coast Mainline, it will soon be running at full capacity. STORM added the below to the list:- 6, Interavailability of all tickets between Rail and Metrolink between Rochdale and Manchester Victoria. 7, Adequate parking at Rail and Metrolink stops. 8 The Last trains to Greater Manchester suburban stations to leave Manchester to be at 24:00, seven days a week. Can you help STORM and TFGM by suggesting other priorities for our railway?