The GMCA published a detailed description of its bid for funding in its City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement Prospectus last month:
The bid was for £1.19bn, of which the Treasury has approved £1.07bn.
Only £116m was requested for the Future Metrolink Programme, broken down into £67m for the New Metrolink Extensions Package and £78m for the Tram Train Package. In comparison, £238m was requested for the Highway Maintenance Programme, £209m for the Streets for All Programme [town centre regeneration], £184m for the Bus Programme, £125m for the HS2 Programme [Piccadilly, Airport, Stockport and Wigan local transport Connectivity Packages], £104m for the Minor Works and Road Safety Programme, £82m for the Stops and Interchanges Programme, £63m for the Active Travel Programme, £49m for the Rail Programme [Access for All, Station Improvements and New Stations Packages] and £21m for the Metrolink Renewals Programme.
A local contribution of £29m will boost the Future Metrolink funding to £145m, to be spent on:
Other documents indicate that the tram-train pathfinder is proposed to operate between Oldham and Heywood via Rochdale, with a possible future extension to Bury along the ELR alignment. It is unclear if this will involve extension of Metrolink OLE to Heywood, or if the vehicles will have battery capability.