Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has promised that the Government will provide funding for Greater Manchester’s Metrolink system but the amount is still being negotiated.
Earliet this week, Greater Manchester’s Mayor Andy Burnham said that the network faced being mothballed if the Government did not provide funding.
It is understood that the money will allow the system to operate at 50 per cent capacity during the crisis.
A package of transport measures to keep supply routes bringing critical goods into the U.K. was unveiled by Grant Shapps at today’s Downing Street press conference. This includes the fast-tracking of a trial to deliver urgent medical supplies by drone in the hope it will aid the coronavirus response.
However Jim McMahon MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary,and MP for Oldham said that
“The Government’s transport package has left more questions than it’s answered. Few will be convinced that this secures jobs and the long term viability of key transport sectors, essential for any future economic recovery.
“Their support to light rail merely papers over the cracks without providing funding to make up for the shortfall in income. They’ve failed to secure all the key ferry ports they should have such as between Holyhead and Dublin. And they’ve failed to give bus operators the clear guidance they need to ensure that drivers are safe in their vehicles.
“This announcement is not the response of a Government that’s got a well thought through plan.”
