Andy Burnham wants a Greater Manchester tube network as he gives update on new Metrolink lines

Andy Burnham has said new Metrolink lines to Stockport, Heywood, Middleton and Bolton could be built 'by the end of the decade'.

And the Mayor has repeated his call for Greater Manchester to have an underground system, saying it was vital for the region's continued growth. Mr Burnham's comments come after a major expansion of the Bee Network was announced earlier this week.

There are plans to bring eight existing railway lines in the region under local control by 2028; expand the Metrolink; and create a London-style transport system with fully contactless tap in and tap out payments.

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Appearing on BBC Radio Manchester this morning, Mr Burnham said he hoped work on proposed new tram lines to Stockport, Heywood, Middleton and Bolton would begin during his current term in office and could be completed by the end of the decade. Asked by presenter Anna Jameson if those plans were realistic, Mr Burnham replied: "It's absolutely realistic and more than that it's essential."

Asked if the plans were affordable, he said: "Yes, because we have done well at managing Metrolink over the years. We've shown at Metrolink can pay for itself but at the same time can get economic growth.

"We now have a government that says its national mission is growth. Greater Manchester has been growing faster than the UK economy. Infrastructure is the enabler of growth. If you don't put the infrastructure in that growth will grind to a halt.

"Greater Manchester, you could say, is at risk of this in some places where the growth has gone faster than the infrastructure we've got.

"We think we can deliver the expansion to Stockport, Heywood and Middleton and also looking at Bolton with the budgets we have been allocated. I'm absolutely confident we can do this."

And Mr Burnham also repeated calls for Greater Manchester to get a tube system, saying if the region wants to keep growing 'we need to start talking seriously about an underground'. He said: "We have got to start thinking about the 2030s and the 2040s.

"[If you look at] any second city anywhere in Europe, pretty much every single one of the them has a metro system underground. We can't keep doing everything on the surface in our city region.

"The tram is brilliant and I think it's a better service than the London Underground but at the end of the day if we are going to keep supporting the growth that we all want to see and the Government wants to see you are going to have to put in place even more expensive infrastructure eventually."