Green light for Altrincham Interchange refurbishment

A major redevelopment of Altrincham Interchange has been approved by Trafford Council.

Transport for Greater Manchester’s proposals were given the seal of approval at a meeting of Trafford Council’s planning committee on Thursday.

They will transform the existing interchange into a new, fully accessible facility with a modern concourse; a single, integrated ticket office; and improved links between bus, train and tram services.

As part of the Greater Manchester Commuter Cycling Project, which is being funded through the Government’s Local Sustainable Transport Fund, a new cycle facility will also be provided at the refurbished interchange.

The final, detailed designs for both the interchange and cycle facility (which is still in the early stages of development) will now be agreed with Trafford Council ahead of a contractor being appointed to carry out the work.

Councillor Andrew Fender, Chair of Transport for Greater Manchester, said: “This is fantastic news and enables us to press ahead with delivering a new-look interchange that will provide an attractive gateway to Altrincham.

“While it will be a modern, fully accessible facility, we’ve retained and will be enhancing many of the site’s valuable heritage features, including glazing the canopies on platform one, showcasing the existing rail buildings from Stamford New Road and improving the clock tower area.”

Councillor Brian Rigby, Transport for Greater Manchester’s Trafford spokesperson, said: “Officers at TfGM will now work closely with their counterparts at Trafford to finalise all aspects of the scheme, including the development of the cycle facility, and in doing so will consider all of the comments received during the planning process.

“The addition of the cycle facility is a significant improvement on what we had initially planned to provide, and will allow people to cycle in, freshen-up and then either get the bus, train or tram to complete their journey to work, or head off to destinations around the town centre itself.”

Trafford Council’s Executive Councillor Michael Cornes said: “This is an exciting project which will give a much-needed boost to Altrincham Interchange, bringing real benefits for public transport users.

“I hope that providing this modern, high-quality facility will encourage more people to leave their cars at home and make use of public transport to help the environment and reduce congestion.

“This should create more opportunities for car parking for shoppers and those using the town centre, bringing further economic benefits to Altrincham itself.

“We will now be working closely with Transport for Greater Manchester to finalise details of this scheme in order to make sure the best possible facility is developed.”

In addition to the improvements outlined above, the current bus station will be completely redeveloped and improvements will also be introduced to the rail platforms, the entrance to the station from Moss Lane and the pedestrian area on Stamford New Road.

Subject to the finalisation of designs and the appointment of a contractor, work on the main elements of the refurbishment should start in summer next year, and is expected to take around 18 months to complete.