TRANSPORT chiefs are pressing ahead with plans to introduce a guided busway through Leigh and Tyldesley as part of a Quality Bus Corridor link with Salford and Manchester.

A meeting of Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority welcomed a GMPTE report outlining the progress made on works requested by the Secretary of State in his interim assessment of the scheme.

Members were told that habitat surveys are currently being conducted to confirm the range and population of great crested newts along the busway. Work has also commenced on the engineering alignment of an extension to the bridleway along the full length of the busway.

The Authority also proposed to make a major bid for government funding of £9 million to purchase 15 articulated sets of fully accessible, low floor 'CiVis' style vehicles to provide a high frequency ten minute service between Leigh and Manchester.

The major scheme bid will now be submitted to the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) for approval with a view to including it in the 2005/6 Greater Manchester Local Transport Plan (LTP).

Authority chairman Councillor Roger Jones, said: "The guided busway proposals have almost unanimous backing from both the independent government Inspector who presided over the 2002 public inquiry and the Secretary of State for Transport, Alistair Darling.

"I am pleased to see that GMPTE is forging ahead with the further works Mr Darling requested so that he can make a final decision on the scheme. "Hopefully, we will be able to report back to the Department for Transport by the end of the year and look forward to another favourable response.

"In the meantime we are looking to the future and I am pleased the Authority has given its backing to the major scheme bid for vehicles to operate on the system.

"I have seen the CiVis style buses at first hand and was extremely impressed. They are high quality vehicles and entirely fitting to run on such a high profile scheme."

Leaders of Wigan and Salford Councils also reiterated their support for the scheme.

Wigan's Lord Peter Smith said: "The Leigh - Salford - Manchester Quality Bus Corridor is going be a tremendous economic and social boost for all the areas it passes through.

"The guided busway is going to provide a high quality transport link for people in Leigh and I look forward to seeing it made a reality as soon as possible."

It is expected that GMPTE will be in a position to present evidence by Autumn this year. The earliest that a decision from the Secretary of State could be expected is early 2005.

The scheme includes proposals for a 7km segregated guided busway along the disused railway line from Leigh through Tyldesley to Ellenbrook which would be complemented by a further 10km of bus priority measures along the East Lancs Road and A6 into Manchester city centre.

Promoters say the corridor would mean buses every 10 minutes between Leigh and Manchester during the daytime on weekdays and the old rail route which the busway would follow to Ellenbrook would be improved for those who use the corridor for walking, cycling and horse riding, with extended, bridleway, walkway and cycleway facilities.

Tyldesley Councillor and Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority member, Stephen Hellier, said: "The busway will bring much-needed high-quality public transport to the numerous local residents, many of whom are elderly or disabled, who simply do not have cars.

"Drivers who are fed up with queuing on the A580 will have a welcome alternative. Improved access to employment and leisure has always been a key aim of the scheme, but that now has greater importance with the go-ahead for the Leigh Sports Village."