Transport bosses will work closely with the bus operators to look at how the existing bus network can be enhanced while the line is upgraded. They intend to carry out passenger surveys to find out where people are travelling from as well as their final destinations.

GMPTE will be consulting passengers about alternative bus services, and will be able to provide more details about them nearer the time of the closure. Trains will also continue to run as normal on the line between Manchester, Rochdale and Leeds while the work takes place.

Philip Purdy, GMPTE’s Metrolink Director, said: “I’m delighted that we’ve now got a date confirmed for work to start on building a brand new Metrolink line to Oldham and Rochdale.

“As well as replacing the existing train stations with Metrolink stops, we’ll be building six new stops. The track will be upgraded and we’ve already ordered new trams to run on the line.

“The new tram service will be more than twice as frequent as the existing train service, and will provide a direct link into the heart of Manchester city centre and beyond. It will also make it much easier to reach other destinations across Greater Manchester using public transport.

“People will obviously have to change how they make their journeys while the work takes place but I hope they will agree that the new tram line will be worth the wait.”

GMPTE is overseeing a £575 million expansion of the Metrolink network to Oldham and Rochdale, Droylsden in Tameside and Chorlton in South Manchester.

Passengers will only be able to buy annual season tickets to and from train stations on the Oldham and Rochdale line up until Saturday 4 October 2008.

New Metrolink stops will be built at Monsall, Central Park, South Chadderton, Freehold, Newbold and outside Rochdale railway station on the Oldham and Rochdale line.

Two large Park & Ride sites will be created at Hollinwood and Derker and improvements will be made to the parking at Shaw and Crompton and at other stops on the line, taking the total number of spaces to more than 250.

The new Metrolink line is due to open to trams between Manchester and Central Park in spring 2011. Trams are expected to begin running to Oldham Mumps in autumn 2011, and to Rochdale in spring 2012.

Services will run between Shaw & Crompton and Manchester every 6 minutes, and between Rochdale and Manchester every 12 minutes, when the route opens.

The Metrolink network could be extended even further in the future using money from the government’s Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) and a loan supported by the introduction of a limited, peak-time only, congestion charge.

The TIF package of up to £3 billion includes extensions to Ashton-under-Lyne, East Didsbury, Manchester Airport, and Oldham and Rochdale town centres. Funding has also been earmarked to build a new line to Trafford Park and the Trafford Centre.

A formal consultation on the TIF proposals is currently taking place and a referendum will be held in December.