Editing Oldham (section)

== Transport ==
[[File:Bus in Oldham.jpg|thumb|The 409 to [[Rochdale]], pictured in Oldham's town centre. [[First Greater Manchester]] has its headquarters in Oldham, operating bus services throughout Greater Manchester.]]
The geography of Oldham constrained the development of major transport infrastructure,<ref name="Oldham 1907">{{cite map|title=Oldham|edition=1907|publisher=Alan Godfrey Maps|cartography=[[Ordnance Survey]]|isbn=1-84151-056-4|section=Lancashire Sheet 97.06|year=1999}}</ref> with the former County Borough Council suggesting that "if it had not grown substantially before the railway age it would surely have been overlooked".<ref name="Oldham 1907" /> Oldham has never been on a main-line railway route, and canals too have only been able to serve it from a distance,<ref name="Oldham 1907" /> meaning that "Oldham has never had a train service worthy of a town of its size".<ref name="Chadderton 1907" />

A principal destination along the former [[Oldham Loop Line]], Oldham once had six [[railway station]]s but this was reduced to three once [[Clegg Street railway station|Clegg Street]], [[Oldham Central railway station|Oldham Central]] and [[Glodwick Road railway station|Glodwick Road]] closed in the mid-20th century. [[Oldham Werneth railway station|Oldham Werneth]], [[Oldham Mumps railway station|Oldham Mumps]] and [[Derker railway station|Derker]] closed on 3 October 2009.<ref name="sig">{{citation |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1150326_signalman_reaches_end_of_line |publisher=manchestereveningnews.co.uk |work=[[Manchester Evening News]] |access-date=5 October 2009 |date=1 October 2009 |title=Signalman reaches end of line |last=Kirby |first=Dean |archive-date=28 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210528130939/https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/signalman-reaches-end-of-line-931200 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="era">{{citation|url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1069009_end_of_era_as_loop_line_is_replaced|publisher=manchestereveningnews.co.uk|work=[[Manchester Evening News]]|access-date=5 October 2009|date=26 September 2008|title=End of era as loop line is replaced|archive-date=28 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210528130938/https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/end-of-era-as-loop-line-is-replaced-968376|url-status=live}}</ref> Trains from [[Manchester Victoria station]] to Oldham had to climb steeply through much of its {{convert|6|mi|km|0|adj=on|abbr=off}} route, from around {{convert|100|ft|m|sigfig=1|abbr=off}} at Manchester city centre to around {{convert|600|ft|m|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} at Oldham Mumps.<ref name="Oldham 1907" /> The Werneth Incline, with its gradient of 1 in 27, made the [[Middleton Junction railway station|Middleton Junction]] to [[Oldham Werneth railway station|Oldham Werneth]] route the steepest regular passenger line in the country.<ref name="Chadderton 1907">{{cite map |title=Chadderton |edition=1907 |publisher=Alan Godfrey Maps |cartography=[[Ordnance Survey]] |isbn=1-84151-159-5 |section=Lancashire Sheet 97.05 |year=2000}}</ref> The Werneth Incline route closed in 1963. It had been replaced as the main route to Manchester by the section of line built between Oldham Werneth Station and Thorpes Bridge Junction, at [[Newton Heath]] in May 1880.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/o/oldham_werneth/index.shtml|title=Disused Stations: Oldham Werneth Station|website=www.disused-stations.org.uk|access-date=9 September 2010|archive-date=18 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100918011116/http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/o/oldham_werneth/index.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> Oldham Mumps, the second oldest station on the line after Werneth,<ref name="sig" /> took its name from its location in the Mumps area of Oldham, which itself probably derived from the archaic word "mumper" which was slang for a [[beggar]].{{sfnp|Gibb|2005|p=28|ps=}} The former Oldham Loop Line was converted for use with an expanded [[Manchester Metrolink|Metrolink]] light rail network, and renamed as the [[Oldham and Rochdale Line]]. The line between Victoria and a temporary [[Oldham Mumps tram stop]] opened on 13 June 2012,<ref name="Oldham Heart" /><ref name="sig" /><ref name="era" /> and more central stops opened on 27 January 2014.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/news/date-set-for-oldham-metrolink-line/ |title=Date set for Oldham Metrolink line |publisher=Place North West |date=18 December 2013 |access-date=17 March 2016 |archive-date=25 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325054745/https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/news/date-set-for-oldham-metrolink-line/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Tram on Union Street, Oldham, looking west, geograph-3808797-by-Alan-Murray-Rust.jpg|thumb|left|A [[Manchester Metrolink|Metrolink]] tram running through Union Street, on the Oldham town centre line opened in January 2014.]]
Oldham had electric [[tram]]ways to Manchester in the early 20th century; the first tram was driven from Manchester into Oldham in 1900 by the [[List of Lord Mayors of Manchester|Lord Mayor of Manchester]].{{sfn|Millett|1996|p=}} The system came to an end on 3 August 1946, however.{{sfnp|Bateson|1949|p=|ps=}} There was also a short-lived [[Trolleybuses in Oldham|Oldham trolleybus system]], in 1925–26. [[Oldham bus station]] has frequent bus services to Manchester, Rochdale, Ashton-under-Lyne and Middleton with other services to the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, [[Tameside]], and across the Pennines to [[Huddersfield]] in [[West Yorkshire]].<ref name="Oldham Bus Station">{{citation |url=http://www.building.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=113&storycode=1006962&c=1 |publisher=building.co.uk |year=2001 |title=Oldham Bus Station&nbsp;– Cost study |access-date=9 November 2007 |archive-date=14 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114201857/http://www.building.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=113&storycode=1006962&c=1 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Oldham Bus Usage">{{citation |url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/dashcam-video-boy-bus-surfing-12220227 |publisher=manchestereveningnews.co.uk |year=2016 |title=Oldham Bus Usage |access-date=25 November 2016 |archive-date=27 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161127113524/http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/dashcam-video-boy-bus-surfing-12220227 |url-status=live }}</ref> The roof canopy is supported internally on two rows of steel trees. The extensive use of glass and stainless steel maximises visibility, and there is a carefully co-ordinated family of information fittings, posters and seating, using robust natural materials for floors and plinths.<ref name="Oldham Bus Station" /> The bus station is used by [[National Express Coaches|National Express]] coaches. [[First Greater Manchester]] has its headquarters in Oldham.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/northwest/manchester/contact/index.php |publisher=firstgroup.com |year=2007 |access-date=14 November 2007 |author=[[First Greater Manchester]] |title=Contact us }}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

Despite the Turnpike Act 1734, Oldham had no turnpike road to Manchester for another 56 years and [[Church Lane, Oldham]] remained part of the main street through the town. But following a further Act of Parliament a turnpike was constructed. The first regular coach service to Manchester came into operation in October 1790, with a journey time of over 2 hours and a fare 2s.8d (about 13p), with half fare for travellers on top of the coach.<ref>{{cite web |author=John Moss, for Papillon Graphics |url=http://www.manchester2002-uk.com/towns/oldham1.html |title=Oldham, Greater Manchester, formerly Oldham in Lancashire |publisher=Manchester2002-uk.com |access-date=13 November 2012 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116144543/http://manchester2002-uk.com/towns/oldham1.html |archive-date=16 January 2013 }}</ref>

Oldham is about {{convert|4|mi|km|0|abbr=off}} south of the major [[M62 motorway]], but is linked to it by the [[M60 motorway|M60]] at [[Hollinwood, Greater Manchester|Hollinwood]], and [[A627(M) motorway|A627(M)]] via [[Chadderton]]. There are major [[Great Britain road numbering scheme|A roads]] to [[Ashton-under-Lyne]], [[Huddersfield]], [[Manchester]], and [[Rochdale]].{{sfnp|Bateson|1949|p=|ps=}}

The [[Hollinwood Branch Canal|Hollinwood Branch]] of the [[Ashton Canal]] was a [[Canals of Great Britain|canal]] that ran from [[Fairfield, Droylsden|Fairfield]] in [[Droylsden]], through Littlemoss and [[Daisy Nook|Daisy Nook Country Park]] to the [[Hollinwood, Greater Manchester|Hollinwood]] area of Oldham, with a branch from Daisy Nook to the [[Fairbottom Branch Canal]].<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.hollinwoodcanal.co.uk/ |title=Hollinwood Canal Society |author=Hollinwood Canal Society |publisher=hollinwoodcanal.co.uk |access-date=6 November 2007 |archive-date=25 November 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051125091218/http://www.hollinwoodcanal.co.uk/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The canal was mainly used for the haulage of [[coal]] until it fell into disuse for commercial traffic in the 1930s.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.hollinwoodcanal.co.uk/canal.htm |title=About the Hollinwood Canal |author=Hollinwood Canal Society |publisher=hollinwoodcanal.co.uk |access-date=6 November 2007 |archive-date=11 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211001247/http://www.hollinwoodcanal.co.uk/canal.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> It included four aqueducts and a two-rise lock staircase.