Metrolink bike ban will stay in place

Interior of the new trams

Rochdale's cyclists will not be allowed to take their bikes on board Metrolink trams when the new service starts.

Transport chiefs hired consultants to help them decide whether to overturn the ban on cycles which has operated since the system opened in 1992.

But they have now decided that allowing bikes would be too dangerous to other passengers.

Although the original trams are not big enough, pressure from cycling groups and the building of 40 new trams for the new extensions, including the Oldham and Rochdale line, prompted bosses to consider changing the policy.

They hired Mott McDonald to investigate, but the experts warned that there was a risk to fellow passengers from sharp points — such as handlebars and pedals — and there would be a danger of minor injuries while bicycles are manoeuvred on and off a tram.

Standing passengers would be in particular danger as operating speed varies from 50mph to 25mph, coupled with the use of emergency braking. As a result, cycles could only be permitted within the space currently designated for wheelchairs and pushchairs — creating a possible source of conflict.

The consultants say no other tram system in the country allows bikes on normal services, though in Sheffield a “cycle special” tram is run on the last Sunday in the month.

Organised by a cycling group, it pays £150 for a round trip and ordinary passengers are not allowed on board.

Principal railway inspector David Keay insisted that if bikes were carried on trams they would have to be secured and stored to protect other passengers.

But officials concluded “the measures possible to mitigate the risks of injury, damage and operational problems are not guaranteed to reduce the risk significantly enough to warrant a change in policy”.

Councillors on Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority voted by seven votes to five to keep the ban, but green campaigners complained that they did not publish the consultants’ report until after the meeting — preventing them from lobbying against it.