Christmas shoppers encouraged to park & ride

Denise Lennox - GMPTE's Service Delivery Director

A new initiative is being launched by GMPTE today to persuade Christmas shoppers to park and ride to reach Rochdale town centre.

People across Greater Manchester are being encouraged to leave their cars behind and use public transport to reach town and city centres. More than 3,500 free parking spaces are available at train and tram stations and stops in the county.

www.gmpte.com/parkandride will provide details about the parking facilities and train and tram services available, along with information about which are the most suitable tickets to buy. People logging onto the site will be able to find out the best way of getting to their favourite town or city centre.

Shoppers wanting to reach Rochdale town centre by train are able to park at several railway stations, with services from Castleton, Littleborough, Mills Hill, Shaw & Crompton and Smithy Bridge taking under fifteen minutes to the town centre.

GMPTE's Service Delivery Director, Denise Lennox, said: "There are lots of park and ride opportunities for train and tram passengers in Greater Manchester. I am sure that this initiative will lead to more people knowing about and, hopefully, using them.

"By making the information available on the internet, we can make sure it's kept up-to-date and available directly to everyone.

"Town and city centres get very busy around Christmas and using public transport to reach them can be a great way of avoiding the congestion. It's also much less stressful as well!"

The new web pages will continue to be available following the Christmas period and it is hoped that they will encourage many more people to leave their cars behind and use public transport instead.

Detailed information about all Greater Manchester public transport services, including park and ride facilities, is available by calling Traveline on 0870 608 2608. Lines are open from 7am to 8pm, Monday to Friday, and from 8am to 8pm at weekends and on Bank Holidays. Textphone users should ring 0870 241 2216.