Metrolink network’s latest addition officially opens Monday

People will be able to ride trams into the heart of Oldham from Monday, as the Metrolink network’s latest addition officially opens to the public.

Subject to final testing and commissioning over the weekend, the first in-service tram to pass through the new town centre will leave Manchester Victoria at 5.09am, reaching the Westwood stop circa 5.30am.

The first tram from Rochdale Tram Station will depart at 6am, arriving at the new Oldham Mumps stop circa 6.18am.

The new line has four new stops – Westwood, Oldham King Street, Oldham Central and Oldham Mumps, with the latter integrating tram and bus services and providing a new, free park and ride site for Metrolink passengers.

Once it opens, journeys from Rochdale to Manchester Victoria will take around 45 minutes, while journeys from Oldham Mumps will take around half an hour.

The Oldham Loop Line closed to train services in October 2009 for conversion to Metrolink. More than 1.2 million journeys were made on it in its last year as a rail line – compared to more than 2.5 million in its first full year as a tram line.

The existing, temporary route between the former rail station at Werneth and Oldham Mumps will be decommissioned by the end of spring 2014.

That will see the platforms, platform equipment, ramps, overhead power lines, rails and sleepers removed and, where appropriate, retained for use elsewhere on the network. The tunnels will be secured at each opening to prevent trespass.