page_title: History of Manchester Metrolink
section_title: Phase 3b: Ashton-under-Lyne, East Didsbury and Manchester Airport
hierarchical_section_title: History of Manchester Metrolink / Delivery / Phase 3 / Phase 3b: Ashton-under-Lyne, East Didsbury and Manchester Airport
caption_attribution_description: English: Tram Across the Mersey: To the north-east of the Sale Water Park stop, the tramway crosses the Mersey Valley flood plain and River Mersey on a low tram-only viaduct structure passing to the south of Jackson's Bridge and Jackson’s Boat public house.
context_page_description: The history of Manchester Metrolink begins with its conception as Greater Manchester's light rail system in 1982 by the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive, and spans its inauguration in 1992 and the successive phases of expansion.
context_section_description: Phase 3b involved extending the East Manchester Line by 2.4 miles (3.9 km) from Droylsden to Ashton-under-Lyne; extending the South Manchester Line by 2.7 miles (4.3 km) from St Werburgh's Road to Didsbury; and creating a new 9-mile (14 km) Airport Line to Manchester Airport from a junction at St Werburgh's Road. Phase 3b also enacted long held plans first drawn up in 1983, to re-route and extend the Oldham and Rochdale Line with street running routes through Oldham and Rochdale town centres, both of which were poorly served by using the outlying Oldham Mumps and Rochdale railway stations alone.
  Tasked with procuring funds for Phase 3b from sources other than central Government, in July 2007 GMPTE and AGMA submitted a bid to the Transport Innovation Fund, which would release a multimillion-pound sum for public transport improvements linked to viable anti-road traffic congestion strategies. A referendum on the Greater Manchester Transport Innovation Fund was held in Greater Manchester on 19 December 2008, in which 79% of voters rejected plans for public transport improvements linked to a peak-time weekday-only Greater Manchester congestion charge. In May 2009, Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority (formerly GMPTA) and AGMA agreed to create the Greater Manchester Transport Fund, £1.5billion raised from a combination of a levy on council tax in Greater Manchester, government grants, contributions from the Manchester Airports Group, Metrolink fares and third-party funding for "major transport schemes" in the region. Phase 3b was approved with funding on a line-by-line basis between March and August 2010.
  Construction work for all Phase 3b lines began in March 2011. The 2.7-mile (4.3 km) route of the South Manchester Line from St Werburgh's Road to East Didsbury tram stop was the first section of Phase 3b line to open on 23 May 2013 – three months ahead of schedule. The East Manchester Line was completed on 9 October 2013 with a new service routed 2.1 miles (3.4 km) between Droylsden and Ashton-under-Lyne tram stop, taking the total system length to 47.7 miles (76.8 km). The Oldham and Rochdale Line was completed with a street-running service through Oldham town centre on 27 January 2014, and the addition of a street-running service between Rochdale railway station and Rochdale Town Centre on 31 March 2014, taking the total system length to 48.5 miles (78.1 km).
  On 3 November 2014, the network once again expanded, with a 14.5-mile (23.3 km) (does not add up to 92.5 km, only if 14.5 km is added instead of mi) extension to Manchester Airport railway station, bringing the length of the system to 92.5 kilometres (57.5 mi), making it the longest tramway in the United Kingdom, and the longest light railway. ‹See TfM› It opened more than one year early, and at a cost of £368 million.
caption: A tram passing over a purpose built viaduct over the River Mersey on the newly opened Airport Line, in November 2014
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