A post on social media showed what The Tube would look like if it was in Greater Manchester rather than in the capital.

The post on X, formerly Twitter, by Ed Howe (@EdHoweTweets) started a lot of discussion after its appearance last month.

Mr Howe, a self-styled "transport nerd", took a map of The Tube from 2014, one which was therefore without additions such as the construction of the Elizabeth Line and the extension of the Northern Line, then transposed it onto a map of Greater Manchester. The result showed how well-integrated the region would be if it was in possession of a similar system.

In Bolton, where the transport system is at the top of the agenda in light of the arrival of the Bee Network and the unending uncertainty over the extension of the Metrolink, the improvement is particularly striking.

The borough is served by four lines – the equivalents of the Bakerloo Line, the Jubilee Line, the Metropolitan Line and the Northern Line – as well as The Overground.

There are more than 20 stations on the four lines from Daisy Hill and Dobb Brow in the west of the borough to Darcy Lever and Little Lever in the east of the borough.

The Overground reaches as far as Logistics North in the south of the borough and as far as Winter Will in the north of the borough.

Mr Howe, who lives in London but is from Manchester, said: "In all honesty I was in on a Saturday night and I was messing around on my laptop.

"I didn't really set out to produce anything and I was really surprised when I shared my work and it went viral. Honestly I expected around 10 likes."

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The post on social media was seen more than two million times and it was shared hundreds of times as well.

It received rave reviews from a number of commenters who wished it was a reality rather than a pipe dream.

One commenter said: "It is not even a crazy concept, four cities in Germany have well-established undergrounds."

Another commenter said: "It is genius and it must have taken you an absolute age – well done @EdHoweTweets."

This article was written by Jack Tooth. To contact him, email jack.tooth@newsquest.co.uk or follow @JTRTooth on Twitter.