Make sure you plan your journey this weekend as the Tour de France rolls into town

Make sure you plan your journey this weekend as the Tour de France rolls into town

The world’s biggest annual sporting event – the Tour de France – will be passing through Littleborough this weekend and the public are advised to plan their journey regardless of whether they are watching the spectacle or not.

The second stage of the race will begin in York before passing through part of Littleborough on Sunday 6 July, with both road and public transport services being affected by the race. Around one kilometre of the route passes through Littleborough along a section of the B6138 and the A58 adjacent to Blackstone Edge reservoir, before heading off towards Huddersfield and Sheffield where the second stage finishes.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to watch the world’s best cyclists on Sunday, and to help people get there TfGM has worked with transport operators to provide a number of additional or enhanced services on the day.

Metrolink will be running enhanced services to Rochdale all weekend, with every other tram to Rochdale being a double tram. Northern Rail has also increased capacity on services between Manchester and Rochdale, Hebden Bridge and Littleborough.

There will also be a special bus service operated by First from Manchester City Centre to Mytholmroyd via Rochdale early on Sunday morning, as well as a shuttle service taking people between Littleborough Rail Station and Cragg Vale - one of the key points of the second stage - which has been provided by Rochdale Council.

However, these enhanced and additional services are expected to be extremely busy both to and from the event so anyone planning to use these services this weekend, whether they are attending the race or not, should allow plenty of time to complete their journeys and plan ahead.

Road users are also being advised of a number of road closures and diversions in place for race from early on Sunday, so anyone wanting to drive to the event is advised to plan ahead as a significant part of their journey will involve walking, cycling or taking a shuttle bus towards the race site itself.

Road users in Littleborough, Rochdale, Oldham, Stockport and Tameside who aren’t heading to the race need to be aware that there will be significant disruption as a large section of the race passes close to the borders of these areas. Anyone travelling across the Pennines on the day will also need to plan ahead and allow extra time for their journey to minimise the impact of any disruption. The M62 will remain open on the Sunday, but a large number of roads across the Pennines will be closed whilst the race takes place.

Dan McMullan, Head of Communications and Customer Service at TfGM, said: “Whether you are going to watch the Tour de France or not, you need to plan ahead. Roads and public transport services will be busy, so please make sure you don’t get caught out.”

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