'Manchester should have the same as London': Could 'night trams' finally be coming to Greater Manchester?
It's 11pm and the night is young but a stressful dash through town now awaits. You've spent the last two hours clock watching, keen to avoid an expensive taxi ride home.
"Sometimes I want to go out but I can't afford an Uber home so I'll not bother or I leave early. My friends who live in the ciity centre stay out and I don't want to leave." Jonathan Moore, chairman of the Salford Quays Community Forum, said the lack of public transport linking the area to the city centre was a constant source of frustration for residents.
He urged Greater Manchester's leaders to follow the capital's lead by extending the Metrolink timetable. "There is a big push to get people on public transport. You can't really have it that it is good for day time but when it gets to night time, you have to go and do something else. He explained: “It would be great for the night time economy in general, great for people working. It would open us up to more candidates for jobs, more employees.
In the motion submitted to Salford council, Liberal Democract councillors called for a service that 'suits workers, residents and tourists', citing a petition run over the last two years which has 'hundreds of signatures'. Cross-party discussions are now to take place between the controlling Labour group, Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, who put forward the proposal. Coun Warren and Conservative leader Robin Garrido both cited the safety of women and people returning from 'a night out' as well as shift workers as a reason for the possible introduction of such services.