Scandal of Leigh's public transport

A survey into the public transport provision in the county's 16 biggest towns found that Leigh was the worst-served town.

The shocking findings also revealed that Leigh was the only town in Greater Manchester not to have an overground train station or a Metrolink tram service.

But the study - commissioned by Leigh MP Andy Burnham from the House of Commons Library - also found that Leigh had the poorest bus links to city centre Manchester, with only three frequent services.

Mr Burnham spoke for 30 minutes in a special House of Commons debate on Leigh's public transport links on Tuesday where he called for urgent action from Transport Minister Tony McNulty to address the problem.

He called for the Leigh Guided Busway to be given final planning permission and for a railway station to be established in Golborne.

The findings of the report said: "It is clear that Leigh's bus services does not make up for its lack of tram and train services. Leigh has the smallest number of frequent public transport services with the city centre on each mode.

"It is difficult to argue against the assertion that the public transport service between Manchester and Leigh is poorer than with any other similar sized town.

Mr Burnham said: "These findings make very depressing reading but will only confirm what most people in the Leigh area already know.

"My constituency is at the crossroads of the North West. It should have some of the best transport links in the region, and yet we are rock bottom of the league.

"Leigh is the largest town in the country with no rail station. But to add insult to injury, we also have the worst bus services in Greater Manchester.

"I have been happy to help support the case for extending Metrolink and will continue to do so, but there is a danger that the very real needs of our town are being overlooked.

"It is time for people who run our transport systems to focus on Leigh."