Plans submitted for new Bolton interchange

AN application has been submitted for a new interchange in Bolton town centre which will see a bus station being linked to the town’s rail station.

The new facility is being built on land bounded by Newport St and Great Moor Street by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and Bolton Council.

It will replace the existing Moor Lane station and provide improved waiting areas, passenger facilities, accessibility, information, and safety and security.

Designs have been developed over recent months, driven in part by feedback received from public consultation exercises.

The plans include a new high-level pedestrian bridge linking the bus and rail stations, secure parking and cyclist facilities in a new cycle centre and environmental improvements such as air source heat pumps, solar panels and low-energy lighting being incorporated into the design.

A Compulsory Purchase Order has been made to acquire properties and land needed to build the station, but the council has said it “will continue to progress negotiations with landowners and tenants”. Subject to approval, the new interchange could be ready by 2015.

Cllr Andrew Fender, chair of the TfGM committee, said: “This is going to be a fantastic gateway for people living and working in Bolton, and for people visiting the town, so it was really important for people’s views to be taken on board.

“I’m really pleased that we’ve been able to make some very positive improvements to the designs thanks, in part, to the comments and feedback we received from the consultation.”

Cllr David Chadwick, TfGM Committee member for Bolton, said: “We want it to be a modern, fully accessible station that people can be really proud of and I think we’ve achieved that with the proposals that have been submitted.