Oldham and Rochdale Line
AM5000 tram atOldham Mumps tram stop.
Overview
Locale	Manchester,Chadderton,Oldham ,Rochdale
Termini	Manchester Victoria Rochdale Town Centre
Stations	19
Service
Type	Tram/Light rail
System	Manchester Metrolink
Rolling stock	M5000
History
Opened	13 June 2012 (Victoria to Oldham Mumps) 16 December 2012 (Oldham Mumps to Shaw & Crompton) 28 February 2013 (Shaw & Crompton to Rochdale railway station) 27 January 2014 (Oldham town centre line) 31 March 2014 (Rochdale railway station to Rochdale Town Centre)
Technical
Track length	23.5 km (14.6 mi)
Character	Converted railway line withstreet running sections.
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)standard gauge
Electrification	750 volts DC overhead
Operating speed	50 mph (80km/h)
Route map Legend 0:00 Rochdale Town Centre 0:04 Rochdale Railway Station Calder Valley line 0:07 Newbold Rochdale Canal 0:08 Kingsway Business Park 0:10 Milnrow  M62  0:12 Newhey 0:16 Shaw and Crompton 0:19 Derker 0:21 Oldham Mumps 0:23 Oldham Central 0:24 Oldham King Street 0:26 Westwood 0:29 Freehold 0:31 South Chadderton  M60  0:32 Hollinwood Rochdale Canal 0:34 Failsworth 0:36 Newton Heath and Moston Calder Valley line 0:39 Central Park 0:40 Monsall to Queens Road Depot toQueens Road River Irk toVictoria This diagram: view talk edit

TheOldham and Rochdale Line (ORL) is a light rail/tram line on theManchester Metrolink inGreater Manchester, running from NorthManchester toRochdale town centre viaOldham, reusing most of the trackbed of the formerOldham Loop railway line which closed in 2009. The line was re-opened in a modified form as a tramway from 2012 – 2014, as part of Phase 3 of the Metrolink's expansion.

The line runs north-east toOldham before turning north toShaw and then north-west toRochdale. The line mostly follows the trackbed of the former heavy railOldham Loop Line. However, it leaves the trackbed to run on the streets through Oldham town centre.^[1] There is also a street-running section in Rochdale town centre.

The line begins at Irk Valley Junction, where it diverges from theBury Line to the east, following the former Cheetham Hill loop line. Near the junction with the Bury Line, a link runs into Queens Road tram depot. The line then serves stops atMonsall andCentral Park before crossing over theCalder Valley Line on a tram viaduct.^[1]

After passing over the viaduct, the line then re-joins the former railway trackbed. After a few hundred metres, the tracks merge into a single track. The adjacent track is used by freight trains to the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Depot. Double track running resumes just beyondNewton Heath and Moston stop, and the line continues north-east along the former railway trackbed, serving stops atFailsworth,Hollinwood (both converted railway stations),South Chadderton, andFreehold (both brand new tram stops).^[1]

Beyond Freehold tram stop, close to the edge of Oldham town centre, the line diverges from the former railway trackbed at a sharp left turn, and onto a mostly street running line through the town centre, serving stops atWestwood,Oldham King Street,Oldham Central andOldham Mumps.^[1]

The line then rejoins the former railway trackbed near the eastern edge of the town centre, and runs north, serving stops atDerker andShaw and Crompton, then turns to the north-west servingNewhey,Milnrow (both converted railway stations),Kingsway Business Park andNewbold (both new tram stops). The tram line merges into a single track again just west of Newbold. Rather than running directly intoRochdale station as the former railway did, the tram line now passes over theCalder Valley Line on a bridge and runs alongside the main line railway into Rochdale. It then merges onto the street and to anew tram stop outside the railway station. It then continues on the streets to the line's terminus atRochdale Town Centre.^[1]

The route was originally a railway, theOldham Loop Line, which was built in stages: The first railway to reach Oldham was a branch line which opened in March 1842, constructed by theManchester and Leeds Railway (M&LR). This line ran fromMiddleton Junction, from theManchester to Leeds line which had opened the previous year, toOldham Werneth railway station: Oldham Werneth was located inconveniently from the town centre in the lower part of Oldham, so in 1847, the line was extended one mile toOldham Mumps railway station. By this time the Manchester and Leeds Railway had become part of theLancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR).^[2]

In August 1863, a six-mile (10 km) extension was opened from Oldham Mumps to Rochdale, also connecting to the Manchester-Leeds line, effectively creating a loop from Middleton to Rochdale.^[2]

The line between Middleton Junction and Oldham was steeply inclined and therefore difficult to work; until 1854 the line had been cable-worked. In 1873, the LYR obtained an act to build a more direct, and less steeply inclined line between Oldham and Manchester, running viaFailsworth, and joining the Manchester-Leeds line at Thorpes Bridge Junction. This line was opened in May 1880, therefore completing what became known as the Oldham Loop Line. The original line from Middleton Junction to Oldham closed in 1964.^[2]

Unlike theBury andAltrincham Lines, the Oldham line was never electrified, and was operated by steam and then, from 1958, by diesels.^[2]

The Oldham Loop Line was identified by transport planners in the 1980s, as one of the local railway lines in the Greater Manchester area, which was used mostly for local traffic, and could therefore be split off from the main line network and converted tolight-rail operation.^[3] The network was however to be built in stages, and the Oldham line was not included in the first phase of the Metrolink in the early 1990s due to cost reasons, theBury Line andAltrincham Line being chosen for conversion instead.^[4]

The line was however included in thethird phase of the system's development, which also included new lines toAshton-under-Lyne,East Didsbury andManchester Airport.^[4]

Several new features were to be included as part of the conversion:

• In order to better serve Oldham town centre, a new street running line was to be constructed, with four new stops atWestwood,Oldham King Street,Oldham Central andOldham Mumps. This would allow a 1.5 mile (2.4 km) section of the old railway through the former Oldham Mumps railway station to be abandoned.^[5]
• In order to better serve Rochdale town centre, a short street-running line was to be constructed fromRochdale Railway Station toRochdale Town Centre.^[1]
• In addition to these, several entirely new stops were to be added on the former railway sections atSouth Chadderton,Freehold,Kingsway Business Park andNewbold.

The final day of railway operations was 3 October 2009, and the Oldham Loop Line was closed for conversion. The line was completely rebuilt, with all of the former infrastructure, including the former stations and station buildings demolished, and replaced, and overhead wiring added.^[1]

The line was re-opened in phases: Tram services started on 13 June 2012 betweenVictoria andOldham Mumps: As a temporary measure, until the town centre line was completed, the former railway line borderingOldham town centre was retained, and a single temporary tram stop constructed close to the site of the formerOldham Mumps railway station (a permanent stop with the same name was later opened on the Oldham town centre section in a different location). Services were extended toShaw and Crompton on 16 December 2012, and toRochdale Railway Station on 28 February 2013. The Oldham town centre line opened on 27 January 2014, allowing the section of former railway line, and temporary stop at Oldham Mumps to be permanently closed. The Rochdale town centre line toRochdale Interchange opened on 31 March 2014.^[1]

In January 2016, Jim McMahon, MP forOldham West and Royton, proposed two loop extensions to the metrolink system around Oldham. The link would add a spur fromWestwood tram stop toMiddleton town centre, before joining theBury Line nearBowker Vale, in line with the proposed Middleton extension.

The Ashton Loop would extend the line beyond Ashton town centre to Oldham Mumps. Both would connect Rochdale to its neighbouring towns without the need to travel in and out of Manchester city centre. Initial high level feasibility work was undertaken by officials at Transport for Greater Manchester which demonstrated the route is technically possible.^[6]

On this line, full route run fromEast Didsbury – Rochdale Town Centre duringall Metrolink operational times.

Short workings fromEast Didsbury – Shaw and Crompton duringpeak times only.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toManchester Metrolink Rochdale line.

• LRTA entry on this line

• Manchester Metrolink lines
• Oldham
• Rochdale
• Chadderton
• Former railway lines converted to Manchester Metrolink lines

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