A 2050 Vision for the Future of Rail in Greater Manchester’ was unveiled by the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, during a speech at the Public Transport in the North of England conference in central Manchester today.
Developed alongside rail industry partners, it sets out a roadmap to improve, grow and ultimately transform rail; doubling passenger numbers, supporting 75,000 new homes and unlocking £90bn in economic uplift across the North West area of the Northern Arc by 2050.
Greater Manchester’s rail network covers over 318km, across 96 stations and delivers over 40 million passenger trips into Manchester’s central stations.
However, the current system faces significant challenges: limited local influence and accountability, many inaccessible stations, crowded services, and issues with reliability.
The new vision seeks to address these challenges, ensuring a more responsive, inclusive, and dependable network supporting residents, businesses and communities
Among the plans are Several new stations, including Golborne and Cheadle, will add 30,000 people to the network.
By 2040, half of all stations will be upgraded for step-free access while Plans include up to 75,000 new homes near the rail network and major regeneration at Old Trafford.
A new underground station for Piccadilly is promised by 2050 which will allow for increased capacity, supporting 40,000 new jobs, thousands of homes, and nearly a million square feet of new commercial space.
This Sunday the city-region becomes one of the first areas to benefit from simpler rail fares, in a key first step to making train travel across Greater Manchester easier.
A confusing range of more than a dozen different fares will be replaced by two simple options: anytime or off-peak. The new fares will be valid on rail services run by all operators and all single journeys will be half the price of return trips.
Critically, it paves the way for contactless payments and integration with the Bee Network from December 2026, joining up trains with buses, trams and active travel.
