151-667: The Castlefield corridor (also known as the Deansgate corridor ) is a railway corridor between Castlefield junction and Fairfield Street junction in Greater Manchester , England. The corridor forms the eastern end of the southerly Liverpool–Manchester line . The route is recognised as a significant bottleneck, magnified further by the opening of the Ordsall Chord in 2017 and timetable change in May 2018 which increased
302-586: A joint venture composed of an association of 24 colleges in the region. Primary and secondary education within Greater Manchester are the responsibility of the constituent boroughs which form local education authorities and administer schools. The county has several independent schools such as Bolton School , Bury Grammar School , Manchester Grammar School , Oldham Hulme Grammar School , St Bede's College , Stockport Grammar School and Chethams School of Music. Much of Greater Manchester's wealth
453-669: A "stockbroker belt, with well-appointed dwellings in an area of sylvan opulence". Greater Manchester has six universities: the Manchester Metropolitan University , the University of Bolton , the University of Law , the University of Manchester the University of Salford and The University Campus of Football Business . Together with the Royal Northern College of Music they had a combined population of students of 101,165 in 2007 –
604-693: A "wide and varied range" of wildlife and natural habitats. For instance, the wooded valleys of Bolton, Bury and Stockport, the moorlands north and east of Rochdale, Oldham and Stalybridge, and the reed beds between Wigan and Leigh, harbour flora and fauna of national importance. Mature woodland, scrubland, grassland, high moorland, mossland, agricultural land, lakes, wetlands, river valleys, embankments, urban parks and suburban gardens are habitats found in Greater Manchester which further contribute to biodiversity. The Greater Manchester Ecology Unit classifies Sites of Biological Importance . The 21 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Greater Manchester, and
755-529: A Special Review Area. The Local Government Commission for England presented draft recommendations, in December 1965, proposing a new county based on the conurbation surrounding and including Manchester, with nine most-purpose boroughs corresponding to the modern Greater Manchester boroughs (excluding Wigan). The review was abolished in favour of the Royal Commission on Local Government before issuing
906-577: A Strategic Outline Business Case for NPR was to have been completed by the end of 2018, which was then delayed until 2020. This was then further delayed until the publishing of the Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) in November 2021. As well as a through station for Bradford, there have been calls for an additional station at Rochdale on the new line between Manchester and Leeds. NPR is being developed in addition to planned improvements including
1057-611: A broadly voluntary basis. That eight of the ten borough councils have (for the most part) been Labour -controlled since 1986, has helped maintain this informal co-operation between the districts at a county-level. After the abolition of the county council, the ten authorities of Greater Manchester co-operated voluntarily on policy issues like Local Transport Plans as well as funding the Greater Manchester County Record Office , and local services were administered by statutory joint boards . Now under
1208-661: A constitution to the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Transport and two days later the Communities Secretary John Denham approved the constitution and launched a 15-week public consultation on the draft bill together with the approved constitution. Following requests by the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities, which was superseded by the GMCA,
1359-576: A converted former railway station in Manchester city centre used for cultural events, and GMCC's creation of five new country parks within its boundaries. GMCC was, however, criticised for being too Manchester-centric by representatives from the outer suburbs. A decade after they were established, the mostly Labour -controlled metropolitan county councils and the Greater London Council (GLC) had several high-profile clashes with
1510-500: A county-wide basis. The Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) was established to continue much of the county-wide services of the county council . The metropolitan county continues to exist in law, and as a geographic frame of reference, for example as a NUTS 2 administrative division for statistical purposes within the European Union . Although having been a Lieutenancy area since 1974, Greater Manchester
1661-748: A directly elected councillor from one of the ten metropolitan boroughs that comprise Greater Manchester. The authority derives most of its powers from the Local Government Act 2000 and Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 , and replaced a range of single-purpose joint boards and quangos in 2011, to provide a formal administrative authority for Greater Manchester with powers over public transport, skills, housing, regeneration, waste management, carbon neutrality and planning permission. Functional executive bodies, such as Transport for Greater Manchester , are responsible for delivery of services in these areas. On 3 November 2014,
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#17327944466121812-659: A final report. The Royal Commission's 1969 report, known as the Redcliffe-Maud Report, proposed the removal of much of the then existing system of local government. The commission described the system of administering urban and rural districts separately as outdated, noting that urban areas provided employment and services for rural dwellers, and open countryside was used by town dwellers for recreation. The commission considered interdependence of areas at many levels, including travel-to-work, provision of services, and which local newspapers were read, before proposing
1963-917: A full new high-speed rail line all the way from Liverpool to Hull with a stop at a new station in Bradford. The succeeding government said in its November 2022 financial statement that only the 'core' parts of NPR would be funded. The project is classified as an England and Wales project, facing criticism from some Welsh politicians. NPR forms part of High Speed North, the overarching proposal that includes improvements to both roads and rail. These developments are designed to improve transport connections between major northern English cities and transport hubs, including Liverpool, Manchester , Manchester Airport , Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Doncaster , Sheffield , York , Newcastle and Hull, as well as other significant economic centres. The High Speed North project aims to improve public transport journey times between
2114-410: A global market. The townships in and around Manchester began expanding "at an astonishing rate" around the turn of the 19th century as part of a process of unplanned urbanisation brought on by a boom in industrial textile production and processing. This population increase resulted in the "vigorous concentric growth" of a conurbation between Manchester and an arc of surrounding mill towns , formed from
2265-499: A higher percentage of reliability and service than in the period immediately before the lockdown. Throughout 2020, there was a limit of 12 trains per hour (12 tph) rather than the previous 15 tph. As a trade-off, a temporary reduction in the number of passenger services using the corridor has been suggested, as a short-term measure to improve service reliability. In 2010, a study for the Manchester Hub ruled out quad-tracking
2416-722: A large Ashkenazi Orthodox synagogue in North Manchester. Greater Manchester is covered by the Roman Catholic Dioceses of Salford and Shrewsbury , and the Archdiocese of Liverpool . Much of Greater Manchester is part of the Anglican Diocese of Manchester , apart from Wigan which lies within the Diocese of Liverpool and parts of Stockport , Tameside and Trafford , which are in
2567-574: A majority of the county north of the River Irwell to as far as Chorley, Darwen, St Helens and Rossendale form a large part of the historic county of Lancashire including Manchester, Salford, Eccles, Bolton, Bury, Prestwich, Swinton, Pendlebury, Wigan, Leigh, Rochdale, Oldham, Ashton-under-Lyne, Stretford, Urmston, Old Trafford, Chadderton, Middleton, Heywood, Radcliffe, Milnrow, Horwich, Blackrod, Westhoughton, Littleborough, Atherton, Ashton-in-Makerfield and Golborne. The eastern and northeastern parts of
2718-399: A minority report suggested that Buxton be included). The metropolitan area was to be divided into nine metropolitan districts, based on Wigan, Bolton, Bury/Rochdale, Warrington, Manchester (including Salford and Old Trafford), Oldham, Altrincham, Stockport and Tameside. The report noted "The choice even of a label of convenience for this metropolitan area is difficult". Seven years earlier,
2869-412: A network of ancient peat bog on the fringe of Chat Moss , which in turn, at 10.6 sq mi (27 km ) comprises the largest area of prime farmland in Greater Manchester and contains the largest block of semi-natural woodland in the county. The Wigan Flashes, such as those at Pennington Flash Country Park , are the by-product of coal mining, where subsidence has led to waterbodies collecting in
3020-419: A new 125 miles per hour (201 km/h) trans-Pennine high speed rail link connecting to the northern branches of HS2 at Manchester and Leeds (30-minute journey time), together with other regional rail developments, and the bringing forward of the construction of the northern part of HS2, as part of a regional transport plan including other road, intermodal port, and rail freight improvements. The estimated cost of
3171-403: A new administrative metropolitan area . The area had roughly the same northern boundary as today's Greater Manchester (though included Rossendale ), but covered much more territory from Cheshire (including Macclesfield , Warrington , Alderley Edge , Northwich , Middlewich , Wilmslow and Lymm ), and Derbyshire (the towns of New Mills , Whaley Bridge , Glossop and Chapel-en-le-Frith –
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#17327944466123322-633: A new authority covering the Pennines around Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire, and the Saddleworth White Rose Society erected signs with the wording "The Historic West Riding of Yorkshire". A 2015 petition called for Wigan to apply for independence from Greater Manchester and rejoin Lancashire because of its heritage and location. There was a proposal for Horwich , Atherton , Blackrod and Westhoughton to form either
3473-598: A new part of Greater Manchester or become a separate area back within Lancashire possibly under the Borough of Chorley although this was not pursued. The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) is the top-tier administrative body for the local governance of Greater Manchester. It was established on 1 April 2011 as a pilot combined authority , unique to local government in the United Kingdom . Upon formation, it consisted of ten indirectly elected members, each
3624-502: A plant with fluffy white plumes native to wet hollows on high moors, was announced as the county flower of Greater Manchester. The house sparrow , starling , and blackbird are among the most populous bird species in Greater Manchester; magpie and feral pigeon are common and breed in habitats across the county. Flocks of feral parakeets can be seen in many of south Manchester's parks, including Birchfields Park, Whitworth Park and Platt Fields Park . The birds' relocation to
3775-544: A report released by the Institute for Public Policy Research 's Centre for Cities proposed the creation of two administrative city regions based on Manchester and Birmingham . The Manchester City Region initially appeared in government documents as one of eight city regions defined in the 2004 strategic document Moving Forward: The Northern Way . In July 2007, The Treasury published its Review of sub-national economic development and regeneration , which stated that
3926-503: A second high-speed line named High Speed 2 (HS2) is currently being constructed and is scheduled to come into service in the late 2020s. The HS3 designation implies the development of a third high-speed rail route. Historically, the use of the term High Speed 3 has been loose—the House of Lords' Economic Affairs Committee (March 2015) stated that there was no firm definition of the route implied by HS3: Improvements to east-west links in
4077-420: A steady accretion of houses, factories and transport infrastructure. Places such as Bury , Oldham and Bolton played a central economic role nationally, and by the end of the 19th century had become some of the most important and productive cotton-producing towns in the world. However, it was Manchester that was the most populous settlement, a major city, the world's largest marketplace for cotton goods, and
4228-404: A strategic authority based in what is now Westminster House off Piccadilly Gardens , comprised 106 members drawn from the ten metropolitan boroughs of Greater Manchester. It was a sub-regional body running regional services such as transport, strategic planning, emergency services and waste disposal. In 1986, along with the five other metropolitan county councils and the Greater London Council ,
4379-677: A survey prepared for the British Association intended to define the "South-East Lancashire conurbation" noted that "Greater Manchester it is not ... One of its main characteristics is the marked individuality of its towns, ... all of which have an industrial and commercial history of more than local significance". The term Selnec (or SELNEC ) was already in use as an abbreviation for south east Lancashire and north east Cheshire; Redcliffe-Maud took this as "the most convenient term available", having modified it to south east Lancashire, north east and central Cheshire. Following
4530-537: A temperate maritime climate , like most of the British Isles , with relatively cool summers and mild winters. The county's average annual rainfall is 806.6 mm (31.76 in) compared to the UK average of 1,125.0 mm (44.29 in), and its mean rain days are 140.4 mm (5.53 in) per annum, compared to the UK average of 154.4 mm (6.08 in). The mean temperature is slightly above average for
4681-631: A variety of types. Manchester city centre is noted for its high-rise apartments, while Salford has some of the tallest and most densely populated tower block estates in Europe. Saddleworth has stone-built properties, including farmhouses and converted weavers' cottages. Throughout Greater Manchester, rows of terraced houses are common, most of them built during the Victorian and Edwardian periods . House prices and labour markets differ in Greater Manchester between north and south, such that in
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4832-447: A visual orientation point of reference as a central business district. However, Greater Manchester is also a polycentric county with ten metropolitan districts, each of which has a major town centre – and in some cases more than one – and many smaller settlements. The major towns encircle Manchester city centre, and between them are other outlying towns (such as Denton , Middleton and Failsworth ) which are suburban to both
4983-452: Is "Greater Mancunian". The Manchester accent and dialect , native to Manchester, is common in the city and adjacent areas, but gives way to "slower, deeper accents" towards Greater Manchester's fringes and suburbs. Greater Manchester is home to a diverse population and is a multicultural agglomeration with an ethnic minority population comprising 8.5% of the total population in 2001. In 2008, there were over 66 refugee nationalities in
5134-573: Is "very clearly not [an] England and Wales" project. The Welsh Government stated it should be classed as "England-only" and the current classification was "wrong". In the Technical Annex to the IRP the TfN proposals that had been considered were summarised as three options. • Option 1 was a mixture of new-build high-speed line, covering roughly half the route from Liverpool to Leeds, and upgrades to
5285-487: Is a ceremonial county in North West England . It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester . The county has an area of 493 sq mi (1,277 km ) and is highly urbanised, with a population of 2.9 million. The majority of the county's settlements are part of
5436-421: Is a mix of high density urban areas, suburbs, semi-rural and rural locations in Greater Manchester, but land use is mostly urban. The built environment of Greater Manchester utilises red brick and sandstone prominently as a building material, alongside structures composed of modern materials, high-rise towers, and landmark 19th, 20th and 21st century buildings in the city and town centres. Manchester city centre
5587-452: Is promoted by the combined public transport authority Transport for the North (TfN) and, according to analysis by TfN, currently fewer than 10,000 people in the North can access four or more of the North's largest economic centres within 60 minutes. This could rise to around 1.3 million once High Speed North is fully delivered. A plan to improve rail journey times in northern England,
5738-676: Is represented in Parliament by the Labour Party, and is generally considered a Labour stronghold. The results of the 2024 United Kingdom general election in Greater Manchester are as follows: Greater Manchester has a population of 2,867,800 (2021 Census), making it the third most populous county in England after Greater London and the West Midlands and the highest ever for the county. The demonym of Greater Manchester
5889-404: Is stopping people getting in their car." The site of a new through station at Bradford has been earmarked to be located on the current St James' Market, itself built upon the former Adolphus Street station site. The current food market, which is said to have outgrown the site, would be moved elsewhere. There has been no detail of exactly how the railway lines would access the station, however,
6040-482: Is the commercial and geographic heart of Greater Manchester, and with the adjoining parts of Salford and Trafford, is defined as Greater Manchester's "Regional Centre" for purposes of urban planning and public transport. Political and economic ties between the city centre and neighbouring Salford and Trafford have strengthened with the shift from town and district centres to metropolitan-level centres in England, and this area's high-rise landmark buildings provide
6191-757: The Brigantes . Stretford was also part of the land believed to have been occupied by the Celtic Brigantes tribe, and lay on their border with the Cornovii on the southern side of the River Mersey . The remains of 1st-century forts at Castlefield in Manchester, and Castleshaw Roman Fort in Saddleworth , are evidence of Roman occupation . From the River Mersey to River Ribble
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6342-816: The Calder Valley route . TfN's aspirational Manchester–Manchester Airport and Leeds–Sheffield journey times were identified as being achievable by the HS2 scheme, with modifications to through running to Sheffield city centre. At the 2016 Budget , the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, endorsed the general proposals by the National Infrastructure Commission for a high speed line between only Manchester and Leeds, with an aim of reducing journey times to 30 minutes between
6493-503: The City of Salford , Stockport , Tameside , Trafford and Wigan . These district councils have the greatest powers over public services, and control matters such as council tax , education provision, social housing, libraries and healthcare. Eight of the ten metropolitan boroughs were named after the eight former county boroughs that now compose the largest centres of population and greater historical and political prominence. As an example,
6644-608: The Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher , with regards overspending and high rates charging. Government policy on the issue was considered throughout 1982, and the Conservative Party put a "promise to scrap the metropolitan county councils" and the GLC, in their manifesto for the 1983 general election . Greater Manchester County Council was abolished on 31 March 1986 under the Local Government Act 1985 . That
6795-570: The Devolution to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority agreement was signed to pass further powers and responsibilities, as well as the establishment of an elected Mayor of Greater Manchester. From April 2016, Greater Manchester became the first area of England to "get full control of its health spending" with a devolution deal which unites the region's health and social care systems under one budget under
6946-521: The Diocese of Chester . Following the deindustrialisation of Greater Manchester in the mid-20th century, there was a significant economic and population decline in the region, particularly in Manchester and Salford. Vast areas of low-quality squalid terraced housing that were built throughout the Victorian era were found to be in a poor state of repair and unsuited to modern needs; many inner-city districts suffered from chronic social deprivation and high levels of unemployment. Slum clearance and
7097-776: The Duchy of Lancaster – extending the duchy to include areas which are historically in the counties of Cheshire and the West Riding of Yorkshire. Until 31 March 2005, Greater Manchester's Keeper of the Rolls was appointed by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster ; they are now appointed by the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain . The first Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester was Sir William Downward who held
7248-552: The Greater Manchester Built-up Area , which extends into Cheshire and Merseyside and is the second most populous urban area in the UK . The city of Manchester is the largest settlement. Other large settlements are Altrincham , Bolton , Rochdale , Sale , Salford , Stockport and Wigan . Greater Manchester contains ten metropolitan boroughs : Manchester, Salford , Bolton , Bury , Oldham , Rochdale , Stockport , Tameside , Trafford and Wigan ,
7399-530: The Manchester Airport Group which controls Manchester Airport and three other UK airports. Other services are directly funded and managed by the local councils. Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county with its own Lord-Lieutenant who is the personal representative of the monarch. The Local Government Act 1972 provided that the whole of the area to be covered by the new metropolitan county of Greater Manchester would also be included in
7550-669: The Northern Hub , or, as currently called, the Great North Rail Project, was developed from a 2009 scheme to improve the rail network around Manchester. Schemes to improve the Leeds–Manchester line speed by 2014 were included in Network Rail's CP5 improvements, with an aim to reduce Manchester – Leeds journey times by 15 minutes. In 2011, the approximately £290 million electrification of
7701-947: The Pennines : the West Pennine Moors in the northwest, the South Pennines in the northeast and the Peak District in the east. Most of the county's rivers rise in the Pennines and are tributaries of the Mersey and Irwell , the latter of which is itself a tributary of the Mersey. The county is connected to the Mersey Estuary by the Manchester Ship Canal , which for its entire length within Greater Manchester consists of canalised sections of
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#17327944466127852-527: The Trafford Park container terminal. The corridor is a significant bottleneck to rail traffic; it is one of three officially recognised congested infrastructure rail hotspots in the United Kingdom, and is uniquely still in need of major investment. In an attempt to obligate the Department for Transport to provide funding for the Oxford Road upgrade to improve punctuality, Network Rail declared
8003-693: The Transport Act 1968 , in 1969 the SELNEC Passenger Transport Executive (an authority to co-ordinate and operate public transport in the region) was set up, covering an area smaller than the proposed Selnec, and different again to the eventual Greater Manchester. Compared with the Redcliffe-Maud area, it excluded Macclesfield, Warrington, and Knutsford but included Glossop in Derbyshire and Saddleworth in
8154-655: The West Riding of Yorkshire . It excluded Wigan, which was both in the Redcliffe-Maud area and in the eventual Greater Manchester (but had not been part of the 1958 act's review area). Redcliffe-Maud's recommendations were accepted by the Labour-controlled government in February 1970. Although the Redcliffe-Maud Report was rejected by the Conservative government after the 1970 general election , there
8305-459: The boroughs of High Peak , Warrington and the former boroughs of Congleton , Macclesfield and Vale Royal . In January 2008, AGMA suggested that a formal government structure be created to cover Greater Manchester. The issue resurfaced in June 2008 with regards to proposed congestion charging in Greater Manchester ; Sir Richard Leese (leader of Manchester City Council ) said "I've come to
8456-516: The cotton industry and expansion in ancillary trades. The area became central to England's woollen trade with domestic flannel and fustian cloth production, which encouraged a system of cross-regional trade. In the 18th century, German traders had coined the name Manchesterthum to cover the region in and around Manchester. Infrastructure such as rows of terraced housing, factories and roads were constructed to house labour, transport goods, and produce cotton goods on an industrial scale for
8607-550: The financial crisis of 2007–2008 , it was announced in the 2009 United Kingdom Budget that Greater Manchester and the Leeds City Region would be awarded Statutory City Region Pilot status, allowing (if they desired) for their constituent district councils to pool resources and become statutory Combined Authorities with powers comparable to the Greater London Authority. The stated aim of the pilot
8758-420: The parish councils , which cover the various civil parishes in Greater Manchester , and have limited powers over upkeep, maintenance and small grants. For the first 12 years after the county was created in 1974, Greater Manchester had a two-tier system of local government, and the metropolitan borough councils shared power with the Greater Manchester County Council . The Greater Manchester County Council,
8909-419: The second most populous built-up area in the UK , and occupied an area of 630.3 km (243.4 sq mi) at the time of the 2011 census. The European Union designate the conurbation as a single homogeneous urban city region . The Built-up Area includes most of Greater Manchester, omitting areas of countryside and small villages, as well as noncontiguous urban towns such as Wigan and Marple . Outside
9060-455: The "Manchester known in commerce", and referred to the areas that formed "a substantial part of South Lancashire and part of Cheshire, comprising all municipal boroughs and minor authorities within a radius of eight or nine miles of Manchester". In his 1915 book Cities in Evolution , urban planner Sir Patrick Geddes wrote "far more than Lancashire realises, is growing up another Greater London". The Manchester Evening Chronicle brought to
9211-414: The 12.1 sq mi (31 km ) of common land in Greater Manchester are of particular interest to organisations such as the Greater Manchester Local Record Centre, the Greater Manchester Biodiversity Project and the Manchester Field Club, which are dedicated to wildlife conservation and the preservation of the region's natural history . Among the SSSIs are Astley and Bedford Mosses which form
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#17327944466129362-404: The 18th and 19th centuries: a phenomenal rise in population, the appearance of the specialist industrial town, a transport revolution, and weak local lordship". Much of the county was at the forefront of textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution and into the early-20th century; Peter Smith, Baron Smith of Leigh , chair of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority said "clearly, all of
9513-402: The 2000s, the Housing Market Renewal Initiative identified Manchester , Salford, Rochdale and Oldham as areas with terraced housing unsuited to modern needs. In contrast, towns and villages in southern Greater Manchester, from Bramhall through Woodford to Altrincham constitute an arc of wealthy commuter towns . Altrincham in particular, with its neighbours Bowdon and Hale , forms
9664-429: The 20th century. Northern Powerhouse Rail Northern Powerhouse Rail ( NPR ), sometimes referred to unofficially as High Speed 3 , is a proposed major rail programme designed to substantially enhance the economic potential of the North of England . The phrase was adopted in 2014 for a project featuring new and significantly upgraded railway lines in the region. The aim is to transform rail services between
9815-404: The Castlefield corridor 'congested' in September 2019. During the COVID-19 pandemic , services on the line were scaled back in line with a 90% reduction in demand, as the United Kingdom went into a lockdown in March 2020. Since the partial return from that lockdown, services were steadily increased. However, the phased recovery process enabled both Northern and TransPennine Express to achieve
9966-555: The Great North Rail Project. HS2 Ltd and Network Rail have been commissioned by TfN to prepare engineering and costing studies on a range of rail infrastructure options. This could involve new and upgraded rail infrastructure. In addition to serving the six previously identified centres, work is also underway to develop options to serve Other Significant Economic Centres (OSECs). Options for NPR stations will also promote and integrate with masterplans and wider spatial plans, including Leeds Station and Manchester Piccadilly. In March 2019, it
10117-429: The Greater Manchester County Council was abolished, and most of its powers were devolved to the boroughs. Between 1986 and 2011, the boroughs were effectively unitary authority areas , but opted to co-operate voluntarily under the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA), which served to create a co-ordinated county-wide approach to issues of common interest to Greater Manchester, such as public transport and
10268-466: The Greater Manchester County Council. The plan set out objectives for the forthcoming metropolitan county. The highest priority was to increase the quality of life for its inhabitants by improving the county's physical environment and cultural facilities which had suffered following deindustrialisation – much of Greater Manchester's basic infrastructure dated from its 19th-century growth, and was unsuited to modern lifestyles. Other objectives were to reverse
10419-461: The Greater Manchester area was once at the heart of a very vibrant [textiles] industry", represented by former textile mills found throughout the county. The territory that makes up Greater Manchester experienced a rapid decline of these traditional sectors, partly during the Lancashire Cotton famine brought on by the American Civil War , but mainly as part of the post-war economic depression and deindustrialization of Britain that occurred during
10570-519: The Mersey and Irwell. What is now Greater Manchester was a largely rural area until the Industrial Revolution , when the region rapidly industrialised. The area's towns and cities became major centres for the manufacture of cotton textiles , aided by the exploitation of the Lancashire coalfield . The region was also an engineering and scientific centre, leading to achievements such as the first inter-city railway and Ernest Rutherford 's pioneering work on nuclear fission . Since deindustrialisation in
10721-664: The Metropolitan Borough of Stockport is centred on the town of Stockport , a former county borough, but includes other smaller settlements, such as Cheadle , Gatley , and Bramhall . The names of two of the metropolitan boroughs were given a neutral name because, at the time they were created, there was no agreement on the town to be put forward as the administrative centre and neither had a county borough . These boroughs are Tameside and Trafford , centred on Ashton-under-Lyne and Stretford , respectively, and are named with reference to geographical and historical origins. The lowest formal tier of local government in Greater Manchester are
10872-561: The NIC studied additional improvements on the Manchester–Leeds route, focussing on the Diggle route (via Huddersfield ) utilising disused track plus new-build tunnels, and identified potential journey time savings of between 1 and 10 minutes. A preliminary study by Network Rail did not rule out that the aspirational Leeds–Manchester journey time of 30 minutes could be achieved on
11023-591: The NPR minister Jake Berry MP stated that a possible underground interchange at Manchester Piccadilly would inflate the cost of the project and lead to an offset of spend somewhere else on the project: "...spending an extra £6bn on that [Manchester Piccadilly underground] means we have to find £6bn that we won’t spend somewhere else - and that might be putting in the parkway station in Bradford. The people of Bradford, if they want to get to Leeds or Manchester, [would] have to get in their car and what we have to absolutely be doing
11174-532: The Regional Centre and the major town centres. Combined, these factors make Greater Manchester the most complex "polycentric functional urban region" in the UK outside London. The Greater Manchester Built-up Area is the conurbation or continuous urban area based around Greater Manchester, as defined by the Office for National Statistics . In 2011, it had an estimated population of 2,553,379, making it
11325-579: The UK has made them the country's "only naturalised parrot and the most northerly breeding parrot in the world". The South Pennines also support internationally important numbers of golden plover , curlew , merlin and twite . A number of Red Eared Terrapins , a species of small turtle, are known to inhabit the lake in Alexandra Park . Greater Manchester is formed of parts of Cheshire, Lancashire and parts of West Riding of Yorkshire. The historic boundary between Cheshire and Lancashire begins from
11476-435: The United Kingdom. Greater Manchester has a relatively high humidity level, which lent itself to the optimised and breakage-free textile manufacturing process that took place around the county. Snowfall is not common in the built up areas because of the urban warming effect but the West Pennine Moors in the northwest, South Pennines in the northeast and Peak District in the east receive more snow, and roads leading out of
11627-483: The approval of the Combined Authority. On 3 November 2014, George Osborne , the Chancellor of the Exchequer , announced that there would be an eleventh member of the GMCA – a directly elected Mayor of Greater Manchester , with "powers over transport, housing, planning and policing" from 2017. Greater Manchester is a landlocked county spanning 493 sq mi (1,277 km ). The Pennines rise to
11778-522: The artificial limits of boundaries" in return for greater autonomy from the central government of the UK . A referendum on the Greater Manchester Transport Innovation Fund was held in December 2008, in which voters "overwhelmingly rejected" plans for public transport improvements linked to a peak-time weekday-only congestion charge. Following a bid from AGMA highlighting the potential benefits in combatting
11929-536: The benefits in "due course" and it is "responsible for heavy rail infrastructure across England and Wales", therefore it spends the money directly for Wales rather than provide funds to the Welsh Government. Plaid Cymru described the decision as a push of "blatant lies", that the project "harms the Welsh economy" and that rail infrastructure should be devolved to Wales . The Welsh Liberal Democrats stated it
12080-518: The boundary of Greater Manchester it includes several adjacent areas of settlement and a few outliers connected to the conurbation by ribbon development, such as Wilmslow and Alderley Edge in Cheshire, Glossop and Hadfield in Derbyshire, and Whitworth in Lancashire. This conurbation forms part of a megalopolis of 9.4 million across northern England . Greater Manchester experiences
12231-455: The changing needs of the county of Lancashire, including those for Manchester and surrounding districts. Other proposals included the creation of a Manchester County Council, a directly elected regional body. In 1951, the census in the UK began reporting on South East Lancashire as a homogeneous conurbation. The Local Government Act 1958 designated the south east Lancashire area (which, despite its name, included part of north east Cheshire),
12382-456: The communities of town and village, each of which was the embodiment of the character of this region". The name Greater Manchester was adopted, having been favoured over Selnec following public consultation, despite opposition claiming that "Greater Manchester [...] is a myth. An abomination. A travesty.". By January 1974, a joint working party representing Greater Manchester had drawn up its county Structure Plan , ready for implementation by
12533-423: The conclusion that [a referendum on congestion charging should be held] because we don't have an indirectly or directly elected body for Greater Manchester that has the power to make this decision". On 14 July 2008 the ten local authorities in Greater Manchester agreed to a strategic and integrated cross-county Multi-Area Agreement ; a voluntary initiative aimed at making district councils "work together to challenge
12684-403: The control of local leaders, including Greater Manchester's new directly elected mayor. On 4 May 2017, Labour politician Andy Burnham was elected as the inaugural mayor , joining the GMCA as its eleventh member and serving as its leader. Beneath the GMCA are the ten councils of Greater Manchester's ten districts , which are Bolton , Bury , the City of Manchester , Oldham , Rochdale ,
12835-741: The corridor with a new viaduct. A rail tunnel has been proposed for the corridor, as part of the Greater Manchester Transport Strategy 2040. UK rail advocacy group Railfuture has noted that the reinstatement of the Glazebrook East Junction–Skelton Junction line , along with its former branch to Carrington Power Station and an extension of the branch to Flixton , would help to relieve the Castlefield corridor of freight traffic. A conceptual proposal by un-funded think tank NorthOnTrack
12986-500: The cost to be less per mile than that of HS2, giving a cost of under £6 billion. Initial responses to the proposal were mixed: Jeremy Acklam of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) suggested that planners should look at connecting other northern cities such as Liverpool, and potentially North East England via York; commentators noted that the proposal could be viewed as an attempt to gain political support in
13137-581: The councils of which collaborate through Greater Manchester Combined Authority . The county was created on 1 April 1974 from parts of north-east Cheshire, south-east Lancashire, and a small part of the West Riding of Yorkshire . The centre and south-west of Greater Manchester are lowlands, similar to the West Lancashire Coastal Plain to the north-west and the Cheshire Plain to the south-west. The north and east are part of
13288-661: The county can be closed due to heavy snowfall. They include the A62 road via Standedge , the Pennine section of the M62 and the A57 , Snake Pass , towards Sheffield . At the most southern point of Greater Manchester, Woodford's Met Office weather station recorded a temperature of −17.6 °C (0.3 °F) on 8 January 2010 . Contrary to its reputation for urban sprawl, Greater Manchester has green belt constraining urban drift , and
13439-531: The county centuries later, to south of the Mersey and Tame , were governed under Cheshire while the Saddleworth area and a small part of Mossley are historically part of Yorkshire . In the late 18th to early 19th century, the Industrial Revolution transformed the local domestic system; mechanisation enabled the industrialisation of the region's textile trade, triggering rapid growth in
13590-474: The county which include Saddleworth and parts of Rochdale form part of the historic county of West Riding of Yorkshire. Since the formation of Greater Manchester, residents have debated their identities in the metropolitan and historic counties through heritage, culture and governance. Residents in Saddleworth in the Borough of Oldham have called for independence from Greater Manchester and Oldham Council and
13741-520: The county. At the 2001 UK census, 74.2% of Greater Manchester's residents were Christian, 5.0% Muslim, 0.9% Jewish, 0.7% Hindu, 0.2% Buddhist, and 0.1% Sikh. 11.4% had no religion, 0.2% had an alternative religion and 7.4% did not state their religion. This is similar to the rest of the country, although the proportions of Muslims and Jews are nearly twice the national average. It contains the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation ,
13892-556: The day the Local Government Act came into effect noted that the "new arrangement is a compromise which seeks to reconcile familiar geography which commands a certain amount of affection and loyalty, with the scale of operations on which modern planning methods can work effectively". Frangopulo noted that the creation of Greater Manchester "was the official unifying of a region which, through history and tradition, had forged for itself over many centuries bonds ... between
14043-622: The direction of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, these joint boards are Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) which is responsible for planning and co-ordinating public transport across the county; the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service , who are administered by a joint Fire and Rescue Authority; and the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority . These joint boards are made up of councillors appointed from each of
14194-520: The distance from London to Paris". It also recommended collaboration between TfN and HS2 Ltd on the design of the northern parts of HS2; and on the design of the improved Manchester Piccadilly station, together with Manchester City Council and other rail bodies. The Report suggested the development of a HS3 link after the completion of Network Rail's £2bn trans-Pennine electrification upgrade (scheduled to take place between 2015 and 2022, leading to 40-minute journey times). A report by Arup commissioned by
14345-426: The draft Strategic Transport Plan should be an Outline Business Case, that was to have been submitted by the end of 2018. At Manchester Piccadilly, it is likely a new NPR station will be needed and options include a new underground station or a new surface turnback station. Between Manchester and Sheffield, TfN is currently looking at whether it can upgrade the existing line or whether a new line will be needed. Again,
14496-568: The east. The corridor is on a 1.5-mile-long (2.4 km) viaduct , built by the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway in the late 1840s as a near continuous series of red brick vaulted arches , interspersed with iron or steel bridges. The structure is Grade II listed from the River Irwell to Piccadilly station. The route carries a mixture of local and long-distance passenger trains, as well as intermodal freight from
14647-552: The evidence base for the IRP was insufficient and made a number of specific comments. These included that A full analysis of the wider economic impacts of the different Northern Powerhouse Rail options is needed, and BCR [benefit-cost ratio] analyses must be produced for all NPR options. Upgrading lines will bring modest benefits, but not to the transformative extent needed to end regional imbalances. In October 2022, early on in her short-lived Premiership , Liz Truss said that her government's plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail meant
14798-458: The existing lines into Leeds (via Huddersfield) and Liverpool (via Warrington Bank Quay) for the rest of the route. • Option 2 was for an entirely new-build high-speed line between Leeds and Manchester, including a new station on the outskirts of Bradford; a new line from Warrington to Liverpool (with a parkway station at Warrington); and an underground Piccadilly station with a connection allowing it to be used for Sheffield services. • Option 3
14949-544: The fore the issue of "regional unity" for the area in April 1935 under the headline "Greater Manchester – The Ratepayers' Salvation". It reported on the "increasing demands for the exploration of the possibilities of a greater merger of public services throughout Manchester and the surrounding municipalities". The issue was frequently discussed by civic leaders in the area at that time, particularly those from Manchester and Salford . The Mayor of Salford pledged his support to
15100-464: The government would allow those city regions that wished to work together to form a statutory framework for city regional activity, including powers over transport, skills, planning and economic development. The Manchester City Region encompassed fifteen local government districts: the cities of Manchester and Salford plus the metropolitan boroughs of Stockport , Tameside , Trafford , Bolton , Bury , Oldham , Rochdale and Wigan , together with
15251-430: The high-speed Manchester–Leeds rail link was circa over £5bn, with a proposed completion date of 2030; the entire project was costed at £10bn to £15bn. George Osborne attended the project launch, and provided his backing for the project. A report Rebalancing Britain published by High Speed Two Limited in late 2014 also acknowledged the need for improved east–west transportation links in northern England, and recommended
15402-499: The idea, stating that he looked forward to the day when "there would be a merging of the essential services of Manchester, Salford, and the surrounding districts constituting Greater Manchester." Proposals were halted by the Second World War , though in the decade after it, the pace of proposals for local government reform for the area quickened. In 1947, Lancashire County Council proposed a three " ridings " system to meet
15553-511: The increased building of social housing overspill estates by Salford and Manchester City Councils lead to a decrease in population in central Greater Manchester. During the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, the population of Greater Manchester declined by over 8,000 inhabitants a year. While Manchester's population shrank by about 40% during this time (from 766,311 in 1931 to 452,000 in 2006), the total population of Greater Manchester decreased by only 8%. Greater Manchester's housing stock comprises
15704-513: The line would be developed on existing routes, from Liverpool to Warrington using the southern Liverpool–Manchester line and from Marsden to Leeds using the TransPennine line . The benefits of this plan compared to the previous proposals are stated as being that it would: This announcement met with anger and disappointment from the Board of Transport for the North. However, they expressed
15855-430: The major cities in the North of England. Present-day rail connections between cities such as Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds are slow compared to commuter journeys across Greater London . By improving transport connections, it is proposed that commuters will be able to travel to work more freely, allowing these cities to compete together as one large single economy, rather than competing against one another. The NPR scheme
16006-506: The major northern cities, with cost estimates from £5bn to £19bn, and estimated journey times of one half to two thirds of current routes; alternative upgrades of existing routes were costed in the £1bn to £7bn range, and had lesser journey time reductions, of the order of 10–15 minutes; the proposals were in addition to existing High Speed 2 route options for Liverpool and Sheffield-Leeds. The development options were planned for Network Rail Control Period 6 (2019–24). In March 2016,
16157-454: The major towns and cities, requiring the region's single biggest transport investment since the Industrial Revolution . The original scheme would have seen a new high-speed rail line from Liverpool to Warrington continuing to join the HS2 tunnel which it would share into Manchester Piccadilly station . From there, the line would have continued to Leeds with a stop at Bradford . The line
16308-579: The metropolitan county councils were controlled by the Labour Party led to accusations that their abolition was motivated by party politics: the general secretary of the National Association of Local Government Officers described it as a "completely cynical manoeuvre". Most of the functions of GMCC were devolved to the ten Greater Manchester metropolitan district councils, though functions such as emergency services and public transport were taken over by joint boards and continued to be run on
16459-464: The mid-20th century the county has emerged as a major centre for services, media and digital industries, and is renowned for guitar and dance music and its football teams. Although Greater Manchester was not created until 1974, the history of its settlements go back centuries. There is evidence of Iron Age habitation, particularly at Mellor , and a known Celtic Britons settlement named Chochion , believed to have been an area of Wigan settled by
16610-476: The natural centre of its region. By 1835 "Manchester was without challenge the first and greatest industrial city in the world"; and by 1848 urban sprawl had fused the city to its surrounding towns and hinterland to form a single continuous conurbation. The area is recorded in planning documents for the Manchester Ship Canal dated 1883, as "Manchester, Salford and the Out-Townships". The conurbation
16761-447: The network forms part of the existing and future rail network of the north. £60M of funding was provided to generate plans for a route by 2017. In October 2017, the then Chancellor Philip Hammond allocated £300M to future-proof junctions between NPR and HS2, to allow east–west services to use HS2 infrastructure. Later in the same month, it was proposed that an underground station for Manchester Piccadilly should be built to accommodate
16912-488: The new authority was created on 1 April 2011. On the same day, the Transport for Greater Manchester Committee was also formed from a pool of 33 councillors allocated by council population (roughly one councillor per 75,000 residents) to scrutinise the running of Greater Manchester's transport bodies and their finances, approve the decisions and policies of said bodies and form strategic policy recommendations or projects for
17063-416: The new services of up to eight trains per hour; an underground station would require less building work and still provide good links to HS2. In December 2017, TfN announced a proposal for a new project called NPR. On 16 January 2018, TfN released their draft 30-year Strategic Transport Plan of staged developments for northern England. It included NPR with proposals for The outcome of the consultation on
17214-504: The newly established governmental advisory body, the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC), chaired by Lord Adonis , reported on transport infrastructure projects in the north of England. It recommended bringing forward HS3 proposals, beginning with the Manchester–Leeds section. The NIC's report, High Speed North stated that "It takes longer to get from Liverpool to Hull by train than to travel twice
17365-415: The north and east of the county with the West Pennine Moors in the northwest, the South Pennines in the northeast and the Peak District in the east. Several coalfields (mainly sandstones and shales) lie in the west of the county while the Cheshire Plain fringes the south. The rivers Mersey , Irwell and Tame run through Greater Manchester, all of which rise in the Pennines. Other rivers traverse
17516-408: The north of England have often been referred to as "HS3". This term has been used interchangeably to mean the connection between Leeds and Manchester or a longer route running from Liverpool to Hull via Manchester and Leeds. Such a railway would not necessarily need to be high-speed. [..] We refer to "east-west links" rather than "HS3" in this report as there is no clear indication yet what form or route
17667-631: The north of England in the run-up to the 2015 general election : the Institute of Economic Affairs characterised the proposal as a "headline grabbing vanity project designed to attract votes". The British Chambers of Commerce , Confederation of British Industry and others were cautiously positive about the proposal, but emphasised the need to deliver on existing smaller scale schemes. On 5 August 2014, an alliance of six city councils—Leeds, Liverpool, Hull, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sheffield —unveiled an initial regional transport plan linking their cities called 'One North'. This plan incorporated
17818-419: The northern cities' influence was comparatively less than London's and that the link would promote economies of agglomeration . Osborne suggested the line should be considered as part of a review of the second phase of High Speed 2. Initial estimates suggested a rail line with a 140 miles per hour (230 km/h) line speed, and Leeds–Manchester journey times reduced to 30 minutes. Osborne estimated
17969-467: The number of services through Manchester city centre from 12 to 15 trains per hour. This uplift in services had a detrimental impact on punctuality and reliability, ultimately playing a major factor in the failure of the Arriva Rail North franchise in 2020. As of August 2021, 12 trains per hour pass through the Castlefield corridor. The twin-track corridor extends from Castlefield junction to
18120-408: The passage of the bill, the towns of Whitworth , Wilmslow and Poynton successfully objected to their incorporation in the new county. The areas that were incorporated into Greater Manchester in 1974 previously formed parts of the administrative counties of Cheshire, Lancashire, the West Riding of Yorkshire , and eight independent county boroughs . By the early 1970s, this system of demarcation
18271-457: The points of both the River Irwell and Manchester Ship Canal. The southern parts of the county that form part of Trafford, Stockport and Tameside cover Altrincham, Sale, Stockport, Marple, Cheadle Hulme, Hyde, Stalybridge and Wythenshawe (Which became part of Manchester in the 1920s) are all historically part of Cheshire. Denton and Audenshaw in Tameside were historically part of Lancashire. While
18422-606: The progressing of the schemes in the 'One North' report. On 20 March 2015, the Department of Transport published plans for transport infrastructure improvements in the north of England, including proposals by the TfN working group; the TransNorth report proposed a number of options for improved rail links between Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle and Hull with line speeds up to 140 miles per hour (230 km/h). The proposals included new-build routes between
18573-507: The proposals might take or if the trains will be "high speed" in the same sense as HS2. In June 2014, at a speech given at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry , the incumbent Chancellor of the Exchequer , George Osborne , proposed a high speed rail link between Leeds and Manchester; the line would utilise the existing route between Leeds and Manchester, with additional tunnels and other infrastructure. Osborne argued that
18724-512: The proviso that: In line with the Government's existing approach to rail enhancements, commitments will be made only to progress individual schemes up to the next stage of development, subject to a review of their readiness. It announced the cancellation of the eastern leg of the HS2 project, and that NPR would be slimmed down. The NPR line would now be built as a new high-speed line between Warrington, Manchester and Marsden . The rest of
18875-472: The railway part of Bradford Interchange would close. On 17 March 2023, the project was classified by HM Treasury as an "England and Wales" project, although no infrastructure for the project would be in Wales . As a result of the classification, Wales would not receive a Barnett consequential of funding, estimated to be £1 billion, unlike Scotland and Northern Ireland. The UK Government said it would state
19026-835: The region as tributaries to the major rivers, including the Douglas , the Irk , and the Roch . Black Chew Head is the highest point in Greater Manchester which forms part of the Peak District National Park , rising 1,778 ft (542 m) above sea-level, within the parish of Saddleworth . Greater Manchester is characterised by its dense urban and industrial developments, which include centres of commerce, finance, retail and administration, as well as commuter suburbs and housing, interspersed with transport infrastructure such as light rail, roads and motorway, and canals. There
19177-461: The resulting hollows which form an important reed bed resource in Greater Manchester. Opened in 1979, Sale Water Park is a 152-acre (62 ha) area of countryside and parkland in Sale which includes a 52-acre (21 ha) artificial lake by the River Mersey . Clover , sorrel , nettle and thistle are common, and grow wild in Greater Manchester. Common heather ( Calluna vulgaris ) dominates
19328-503: The separation of the proposed Bury/Rochdale authority (retained from the Redcliffe-Maud report) into the Metropolitan Borough of Bury and the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale . Bury and Rochdale were originally planned to form a single district (dubbed "Botchdale" by local MP Michael Fidler ) but were divided into separate boroughs. To re-balance the districts, the borough of Rochdale took Middleton from Oldham. During
19479-511: The shared labour market, as well as making representations to central government and the European Union. Although used as a "successful brand", Greater Manchester's politics have been characterised by "entrenched localism and related rivalries", historically resistant to regionalism . The major towns in Greater Manchester retain a "fierce independence", meaning Greater Manchester is administered using "inter-municipal coordination" on
19630-563: The south", and so had to negotiate several land-use, transport and housing projects with its neighbouring county councils. However a "major programme of environmental action" by GMCC broadly succeeded in reversing social deprevation in its inner city slums. Leisure and recreational successes included the Greater Manchester Exhibition Centre (better known as the G-Mex centre and now branded Manchester Central ),
19781-459: The southern Liverpool–Manchester line . Instead of building a dedicated high speed line to Leeds via Bradford the scaled back scheme will only provide dedicated high speed rail track from Manchester as far as Marsden, West Yorkshire , where the line will join the upgraded TransPennine line to Leeds via Huddersfield . In July 2022, the House of Commons Transport Committee expressed concern that
19932-598: The ten boroughs (except the Waste Disposal Authority, which does not include the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan ). Greater Manchester Police was formerly overseen by a joint police authority , but was briefly overseen by the Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner from 2012 until the functions of that office were subsumed into the new regional mayoralty upon its creation in 2017. The ten borough councils are joint-owners of
20083-589: The ten councils. Such strategic matters would be decided on via an enhanced majority rule voting system involving ten members appointed from among the councillors of the metropolitan boroughs (one representing each borough with each council nominating one substitute) without the input of central government. The ten district councils of Greater Manchester approved the creation of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) on 29 March 2010, and submitted final recommendations for
20234-494: The third highest number in England behind Greater London (360,890) and the West Midlands (140,980), and the thirteenth highest in England per head of population. The majority of students are concentrated on Oxford Road in Manchester, Europe's largest urban higher education precinct. As of 2010, further education in Greater Manchester is co-ordinated by the Greater Manchester Colleges Group,
20385-538: The title from 1974 to 1988. The current Lord Lieutenant is Warren James Smith. As a geographic county, Greater Manchester is used by the government (via the Office for National Statistics ) for the gathering of county-wide statistics, and organising and collating general register and census material. In terms of representation in the Parliament of the United Kingdom , Greater Manchester is divided into 27 parliamentary constituencies . Most of Greater Manchester
20536-557: The trans-Pennine Manchester–Leeds line was given funding. Work started on the electrification in 2013. NPR has often been referred to in the press as "High Speed 3" or "HS3", in reference to the development of high-speed rail in the United Kingdom . The first high-speed railway line to be built in Britain was High Speed 1 (HS1), the route connecting London to the Channel Tunnel , which opened 2003–2007. The southern phase of
20687-557: The trend of depopulation in central-Greater Manchester, to invest in country parks to improve the region's poor reputation on leisure facilities, and to improve the county's transport infrastructure and patterns. Because of political objection, particularly from Cheshire, Greater Manchester covered only the inner, urban 62 of the 90 former districts that the Royal Commission had outlined as an effective administrative metropolitan area. In this capacity, GMCC found itself "planning for an arbitrary metropolitan area ... abruptly truncated to
20838-456: The two destinations. In August 2016, the Institute of Public Policy Research urged the Government to prioritise HS3 over HS2. In August 2017, the former chancellor, George Osborne called for the Government to commit to NPR following backing of Crossrail 2 and scrapping of electrification schemes in July 2017. Transport for the North is developing the NPR programme and is considering how
20989-475: The uplands, such as Saddleworth Moor , which lies within the South Pennines and Dark Peak area of the Peak District National Park . The Rochdale Canal harbours floating water-plantain ( Luronium natams ), a nationally endangered aquatic plant. In 2002, Plantlife International launched its County Flowers campaign , asking members of the public to nominate and vote for a wild flower emblem for their county. Common cottongrass ( Eriophorum angustifolium ),
21140-431: The west of Deansgate , through Manchester Oxford Road and Manchester Piccadilly , to Fairfield Street junction just beyond Piccadilly station. Oxford Road station is the only point on the route where there are four through lines. At the western end of the corridor, lines from Trafford Park , Eccles , Salford Crescent and Manchester Victoria converge. Lines from Ardwick , Levenshulme and Mauldeth Road converge at
21291-471: Was "a Victorian metropolis, achieving its commercial peak during 1890–1915". In the 1910s, local government reforms to administer this conurbation as a single entity were proposed. Use in a municipal context appeared in a 1914 report submitted in response to what was considered to have been the successful creation of the County of London in 1889. The report suggested that a county should be set up to recognise
21442-516: Was a commitment to local government reform, and the need for a metropolitan county centred on the conurbation surrounding Manchester was accepted. The new government's original proposal was much smaller than the Redcliffe-Maud Report's Selnec, with areas such as Winsford, Northwich, Knutsford, Macclesfield and Glossop retained by their original counties to ensure their county councils had enough revenue to remain competitive ( Cheshire County Council would have ceased to exist). Other late changes included
21593-650: Was announced a new commission had been established to plan a new £6bn city centre station in Liverpool to accommodate HS2 and NPR services. In July 2019, the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to fund the Leeds to Manchester section of the NPR route as a first stage of NPR. It was also revealed that the plans would be published in the Autumn 2019, after the review of HS2 had concluded. However, in September 2019,
21744-641: Was described as "archaic" and "grossly inadequate to keep pace both with the impact of motor travel, and with the huge increases in local government responsibilities". The Local Government Act 1972 reformed local government in England , with the act enacted on the 1 April 1974. The area was given the name Greater Manchester and a metropolitan county designation. This was a two-tier counties and districts system. The act formally , although Greater Manchester County Council (GMCC) had been running since elections in 1973 . The leading article in The Times on
21895-497: Was generated during the Industrial Revolution, particularly textile manufacture. The world's first cotton mill was built in the town of Royton , and the county encompasses several former mill towns . An Association for Industrial Archaeology publication describes Greater Manchester as "one of the classic areas of industrial and urban growth in Britain, the result of a combination of forces that came together in
22046-519: Was included as a ceremonial county by the Lieutenancies Act 1997 on 1 July 1997. In 1998, the people of Greater London voted in a referendum in favour of establishing a new Greater London Authority , with mayor and an elected chamber for the county. The New Local Government Network proposed the creation of a new Manchester City Region based on Greater Manchester and other metropolitan counties as part of on-going reform efforts, while
22197-552: Was intended to improve journey times and frequency between major Northern cities as well as creating more capacity for local service on lines that express services would have been moved out from. However, in 2021, the Johnson government significantly curtailed the scheme in the Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands (IRP). Under the IRP the existing lines to Warrington from Liverpool will be upgraded, using
22348-513: Was put forward to solve the issue, along with a re-imagining of the integration of Northern Powerhouse Rail , opening up the possibility for the Castlefield Corridor to be freed of long-distance services to become a dedicated S-Bahn -style core for Manchester's commuter services. 53°28′26″N 2°14′48″W / 53.4739°N 2.2468°W / 53.4739; -2.2468 Greater Manchester Greater Manchester
22499-510: Was recorded as an area surveyed with Cheshire in the Domesday Book of 1086; it is thought that the area was partially surveyed. Between Lancashire 's creation to the 18th century an ancient division of the shire, with a similar but smaller area to the current county, was known as Salfordshire . The division (a wapentake which later became a hundred) had several parishes, townships and market towns. Other areas of what would become
22650-417: Was the same as Option 2, but with a new central station underground at Warrington (still offering less convenient interchange to Bank Quay), and an underground station in the vicinity of the existing Bradford Interchange station. The IRP chose Option 1. In November 2021, the proposals were substantially curtailed with the publication of the Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands (IRP). It contained
22801-406: Was to evaluate the contributions to economic growth and sustainable development by Combined Authorities. The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 enabled the creation of a Combined Authority for Greater Manchester with devolved powers on public transport, skills, housing, regeneration, waste management, carbon neutrality and planning permission , pending approval from
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