By Ethan Davies and Declan Carey

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has said work on a Stockport Metrolink could be started by 2028.

Although the Mayor admitted that the project would likely not be finished by then, he said he would be 'disappointed' if work had not started by that point.

It comes following an update on where potential tram lines could go.

Mr Burnham appeared on his regular BBC Radio Manchester 'In The Hotseat' phone-in last Thursday (11 July), where he was pressed by host Anna Jameson on when a more tangible element of the transport strategy — taking the tram to Stockport or Middleton — would come to fruition.

"They wouldn't be finished [by the end of the mayoral term in 2028]," he admitted. "Could we start work on them? I'd be disappointed if we didn't. We should have an agreed plan in place, the planning permission, and work starting — that absolutely is a realistic possibility."

And at a GMCA meeting the next day, there was cautionary talk from the mayor. "We cannot pay for everything or stack up a business case we have," he said in Swinton.

(Image - LDRS)

He was then challenged by Stockport Council leader Mark Hunter again on a firm commitment to starting the work to his borough. The Lib Dem politician said: "We have sat through so many of these reports talking about progress but we have talked about this so many times and not got progress being made. We have talked about business cases.

"At what point is that decision going to be made? Is there a timescale where you can say I think we are still six months away, or a year away?

"Part of the problem is that because you — and others including me — have talked about this so often there's an expectation and feeling we keep hearing this but it's not happening. At what point might we see that decision taken?"

Mr Burnham replied: "There's no point in me saying, 'here is the list where we have chosen these three [projects]'. There has to be a business case built, with you and us, otherwise it will go to the Department for Transport and be knocked back.

"The business cases are at different stages. Having gone through this hurdle of doing the sift [of potential schemes and coming to a shortlist], it's not just us, it's Stockport building the business case."

The interaction between the pair was telling, in that it showed the disconnect between the rhetoric on transport. For all of the progress on building the Bee Network — with buses set to be under full public control by January next year — there has been little progress by way of new infrastructure since the first integrated transport system announcement in 2021.

That produced the somewhat-infamous 'Death Star' map of transport. But the only new transport infrastructure built since then have been bike stands.

More is coming, with new railway stations looking like a reality in Cheadle and Golborne. However, it appears that with more talk of new transport options, the pressure is growing on the mayor to make it a reality.

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