BOLTON'S planned Metrolink with Manchester has won universal praise from townsfolk.

The news that the town will have a "supertram" transport link with Manchester -- as exclusively reported in last night's BEN -- has been applauded by people from civic leaders to the man-on-the-street.

And Cllr Guy Harkin, who played a key role in ensuring that the light rail system would come to the town, said there were two plans in the pipeline.

The first is to rebuild a derelict line from Radcliffe to Bolton - but a small part of the line has been built on and would require compulsory purchase orders to bulldoze homes.

The second, preferred option, is to build a Metrolink line along the existing track from Manchester but take it part way along Manchester Road into the town centre.

Cllr Harkin, Labour Deputy Leader of Bolton Council, said: "The idea which I prefer would see the line go onto street level, coming along Manchester Road and Trinity Street into the town centre and may be beyond.

"People in Bolton have seen it working well elsewhere and want it to come here. It's only fair that this town has the Metrolink."

There is no indication yet about how much the link would cost.

The Metrolink in Bury, which has been declared a success, leaves from the Interchange in Bury town centre -- Bolton also has an interchange at the Trinity Street train station.

Transport chiefs in Greater Manchester say it is still at the very early planning stages and a study to find out whether the link is even possible has yet to be made.

MP Dr Brian Iddon, welcoming the proposal, hinted that an entirely new track would be built to supplement the existing railway track into Manchester.

The MP for Bolton South East said: "There are a number of trains already from Bolton and so I would imagine it is possible an entirely new system could be built through south Bolton.

"It can only be good for Bolton. The congestion on road when I travelled into Salford was horrific.

"Many workers in Bolton commute to Manchester. We need a good link with this major centre."

Dr Iddon said that Bolton had been "last on the list" of satellite towns around Manchester because of the frequency of trains to Manchester Victoria and Piccadilly.

Bolton's neighbour Bury has had Metrolink trams into Manchester since 1992

Eccles and Salford Quays now has a line and the next plan is to spend £513 million on links to Oldham and Rochdale, to South Manchester and Manchester Airport and to Trafford Park and East Didsbury.

Stockport is also well under way to getting a link after a massive public consultation process took place.

Cllr Guy Harkin said that preparations were "well under way" and hoped it would be in place by the end of the decade.

The next stage is a feasibility study which will find out whether a rail system would be practical.

Cash would have to be found to finance the project -- which would be likely to run into hundreds of thousands of pounds for the 10 miles of track and infrastructure.

It would have to be decided where the track can be placed and the tram stops would be.

There would have to be a public consultation before the plans were sent to the Government to empower the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive to authorise the work.

The GMPTE has stressed that the plans are still in the initial stages. In a statement, the GMPTE said: "We are looking at a number of options to extend Metrolink beyond the existing network. One of these options is the possibility of linking Bolton into the Metrolink network. Proposals are at a very early stage and will be the subject of a feasibility study." Facts about the Metrolink THE Metrolink was first built from Bury to Altringham in 1992, when the 19 mile line to Altringham was opened - largely along the existing rail track -costing £155 million. It provides a service every six minutes at peak times and 12 minutes at all other times.

It takes 40 minutes to travel into Manchester.

The Metrolink has been financed by a combination of public money from central Government and private funding.

A specially formed private company called Serco Metrolink runs the service but GMPTE own the track and stations.

There are 13 million journeys made on the Metrolink from Bury every year - compared to the 7.5 million who used to journey by train.

The three new extensions to Oldham/Rochdale, Trafford Park/East Didsbury and South Manchester/Manchester Airport will triple the size of the network by adding an extra 35 miles.

Prime Minister Tony Blair personally opened the extension to Salford Quays in December.

The line to Eccles through Salford Quays, costing £160 million, was opened on July 21 - part of which runs all the way down Eccles New Road into the town centre.

Decision on the Metrolink network are made by 33 councillors from the local boroughs which make up the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority. The Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive acts as a "mini-civil service" to implement the decisions of councillors on the authority.