Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has announced that a 'detailed update' on the case for bringing Metrolink to Stockport will be delivered before the end of the year.

It comes as Mr Burnham confirmed on Radio Manchester that Stockport's new travel interchange would be 'Metrolink ready' - in preparation for a tram line, should one be approved. 

Recent plans to replace the railway bridge at the Greek Street roundabout were similarly 'future-proofed' for a Metrolink service. 

In a recent council meeting, Stockport Council leader Cllr Mark Hunter led calls for a tram service in Stockport, saying that 'patience was exhausted' in the borough. 

"The extension of the network to Stockport has been promised many times but we are still waiting despite all the assurances", he said. 

(Image - Manchester Metrolink)

"There have been a number of dramatic announcements, telling us that delivery of the business case is 'imminent' – but still we wait for our turn.

"Let's not forget that when Metrolink was first introduced in Greater Manchester over 30 years ago, it was always understood that all parts of the city region would eventually benefit. 

"After all, we have all paid into the investment in transport infrastructure through our council tax precepts over many years, yet Stockport residents are still to enjoy the benefits of the network locally."

Answering a question on the BBC Radio Manchester phone in, the Mayor said: "TfGM have been doing a detailed assessment of all of our ambitions for Metrolink, and the Metrolink to Stockport is a big part of that. The new interchange that links to new infrastructure is going to be Metrolink ready, so it's being built with that capability.

"What we're doing now is looking at the precise schemes that we've got to expand Metrolink and looking at the cost of them and we're going to publish that work later this year.

"We've got a big ambition to take Metrolink to Stockport but we've also got one to take it north up through close to Middleton, Heywood and up to Bury through the Atom Valley site, so these are part of our ambitions for Metrolink.

"We've got a bit more capital funding from the Government. We didn't agree with their decision around high-speed rail, and east-west rail across the North, but as a result of that they've increased some of our local capital so we've got some extra ability to do more."

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