Claims have been made the Metrolink has made Oldham WORSE. A new study analysing how levelling up can be implemented successfully has suggested the town may have been better off if the region's tram system didn’t connect to it.
The research from Onward UK, a centre-right think tank, alleges the move has ‘undermined’ Oldham’s town centre, with participants saying they would rather go into Manchester or Rochdale to eat and drink.
The report also found that Oldham residents associated intimidation and crime with the tram line, with most saying they did not use services at night. READ MORE: Government finally gives its reasons why Manchester can't have underground HS2 station - unlike London “You take your life into your hands for a £3.60 return,” one participant told researchers. “As a lady I wouldn’t go on my own into Ashton, into Oldham.” Another person blamed the Metrolink line for what participants termed Oldham’s 'dying' town centre, saying: “The town centre was on the edge and when the tram came, it pushed it over.” Oldham council said the Metrolink offers a 'more frequent, greener and fully accessible alternative to trains' and that the tram brings people in as well as taking them out.
But the report claims there was a 'wider feeling' that the tram had been a 'negative development' for Oldham. It suggests that the installation of the Metrolink line in January 2014 meant that more residents would leave Oldham to shop and work, which residents said was 'undermining' the town centre.
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