'It's a botch job and won't wash...' Angela Rayner joins MPs opposing closure of Metrolink line during building of HS2

Political leaders in Tameside are urging the government to reconsider plans to close a vital Metrolink line for two years during the construction of High Speed 2 (HS2).

Angela Rayner, MP for Ashton-Under-Lyne, Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish and Jonathan Reynolds, MP for Stalybridge and Hyde, have co-authored a petition calling for a rethink. The current plans as part of the construction of the Crewe-Manchester route will see the Ashton line shut down for 24 months - a move which has been branded 'totally unacceptable' by Manchester Council.

This closure would effect passengers going to Etihad stadium and the new Co-op live Arena, as well as negatively impacting jobs, and economic development across Tameside, local leaders have warned.

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In the petition, the three Tameside MPs state that "the full closure of the Ashton Metrolink Line for a period of at least two years - and the Promoter's proposal to mitigate this with a replacement bus service - will undermine local, national and environmental strategies, cause unnecessary widespread travel disruption, and impact the socio-economic prospects of Tameside."

It comes as Manchester Council submitted their formal petitions calling on the Government to build an HS2 that will truly work for the region and its passengers for the next 120 years.

Manchester Council's petition will include calls for Piccadilly station to be built underground rather than being a surface terminus, a rethink on plans for 2,000 car parking spaces in the city centre which clash with a policy to reduce car journeys, and to include powers to enable transport bosses to build a new Piccadilly Metrolink