Manchester to get underground train network by 2050
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has revealed his ambitious plans for the development of the city, which include the building of an underground train network by 2050.
Burnham published his ten-year strategy for Greater Manchester on Tuesday 9 July, outlining how he aims to usher in the city’s ‘best decade since the Victorian era’.
Proposed changes include new bus routes, tramlines, and train stations, as well as more social housing, with Burnham pledging that by 2027 the city would be building more social housing than it is losing through the Right to Buy scheme.
Burnham also announced plans to invest heavily in new transport infrastructure for the city, stating that by 2050 Manchester Piccadilly will feature an underground tram and train station with a high-speed rail link to Liverpool.
He said the development of underground services for Manchester city centre and high-speed rail links from Manchester Piccadilly would make the station ‘the King’s Cross of the North’.
Along with thousands of new homes, the mayor’s strategy aims to deliver new manufacturing sites, commercial spaces, innovation districts, and hubs for entrepreneurship, cementing Greater Manchester’s reputation as a great place to do business.
The plans set out by the Mayor aim to foster a new era of economic growth, with Burnham stating that Manchester is on its way to become a second city to rival any other on the planet by 2050.
“Our task for the next decade is to build a platform for success for all our residents. We’ve never believed in a ‘trickle-down’ model of growth here – that if a few people and places do well then, somehow, that will benefit everyone,” Burnham said.
“We know we will only change the fortunes of all our people and places if we’re prepared to intervene and fix the foundations of life.”
“Our vision is ambitious, but in my eight years as Mayor, I’ve learned that, when we pull together, there’s nothing we can’t achieve. There’s a long and proud tradition of collaboration in Greater Manchester. Devolution has turbocharged that and now we’re ready to deliver a new model of growth where no one is left behind.” he said.
