Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader and GM Transport spokesperson councillor Howard Sykes MBE has called on Greater Manchester’s transport bosses to consider a trial period for allowing bicycles on trams. 

Councillor Sykes said, “We should be focused on making public transport as accessible to as many people as possible and as joined up with other forms of active travel as possible.  Greater Manchester’s Transport should explore the possibility of allowing people to bring cycles onto trams on a trial basis.”

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) recently concluded a successful trial for dogs on trams, which resulted in the policy being made permanent earlier in January.

Councillor Sykes said, “I first called for dogs to be allowed on trams more than eight years ago.  Hopefully it doesn’t take TfGM another eight years to bring forward a trial for bikes.  There will be some complications because extra space and storage will be required.  Trams may require some adaptations and we’ll need to see proper dual-carriage services consistently throughout peak times.  They may also have to be a limit at times on the number allowed.”  

“But these are problems we need to be able to solve because demand for Metrolink services has never been higher.  People want choices when they travel, and our public transport system has to reflect that.”