Metrolink trams line to Oldham reopens after 60 years

Metrolink passengers will be able to connect to the other routes in Greater Manchester

Tram services between Manchester and Oldham have returned - for the first time since trams stopped running in Oldham in 1946.

The first service to Oldham Mumps left Manchester Victoria at 05:24 BST, calling at the eight stops on the line.

The tram then made the return journey, leaving Oldham at 06:00 BST and taking about 25 minutes to reach Manchester city centre.

The line is expected to be extended to reach Rochdale by the end of the year.

Transport for Greater Manchester said tram services will run every 12 minutes and a six-minute service will be introduced as passenger numbers grow.

Stops at Monsall, Central Park, Freehold and South Chadderton are all new while those at Mumps, Hollinwood, Failsworth and Newton Heath and Moston were used by the Oldham Loop until it closed in October 2009 and have now been completely rebuilt.

Jim McMahon, Oldham Council Leader, said: "This is about giving some equality to people in Oldham, Rochdale and across north-east Manchester to have the opportunities to access employment right across the city region."

Ian Yearsley, from the National Tramway Museum, said the cost of renewing the track in the 1930s and the worry that there would not be enough passengers due to the depression, had led to the closure of the former tram system on 3 August 1946.