A SENIOR Bolton councillor is looking forward to the day when trams are commonplace once again in the town.

It might be 10 years or so before Metrolink trams run into Bolton town centre -- but Cllr Guy Harkin is confident that it will happen.

Cllr Harkin, deputy leader of Bolton Council and vice-chairman of the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority, believes a service would be "very popular" and good for Bolton.

It is decades since trams last ran in Bolton and Cllr Harkin's enthusiasm for the new supertrams is not shared by Andrew Dickson, president of Bolton and Bury Chamber of Commerce.

He is not convinced that the town would necessarily benefit if the existing Metrolink system was extended to Bolton.

"My immediate reaction would be that it would enable Bolton people to get to Manchester city centre," he said.

That would mean further economic erosion for Bolton town centre and surrounding villages.

It was possible, he said, that it could also help connect Bolton with potential shoppers in towns such as Wigan, Oldham and Rochdale, but he added: "I cannot see that somehow."

He did concede, however, that a Metro link would open up access to a wider job force and at the moment there was a great shortage of skilled people.

Many did not want to drive into Bolton because of the traffic wardens and the high cost of parking.

Cllr Harkin, however, believes that Bury and Altrincham -- at opposite ends of the Metrolink line which connects them both with Manchester city centre -- have benefited in a major way since the £160 million scheme was opened by the Queen in 1992.

He says the same sort of thing is also happening in Eccles following the opening of the extension which also connects Salford Quays to the network.

The next landmark is a massive extension plan which would take Metrolink to Oldham and Rochdale, to Manchester Airport via Wythenshawe, to Ashton-under-Lyne and to the Trafford Centre.

The Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority, which owns the Metrolink, is waiting for the go-ahead from the new Transport Minister, Alistair Darling. Bids from major consortia involved are understood to put the price at about £100 million more than the original estimate of £527 million.

Cllr Harkin, who is confident that scheme will go ahead, is already thinking forward to the day the system links all 10 boroughs in Greater Manchester.

"It is not sustainable for eight boroughs to be covered and two not," he said.

Cllr Harkin revealed that Keith Howcroft, a Bolton man who is director of planning for the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive, had been asked to take a preliminary look at possible routes for extending the network to Bolton and Wigan.

But there are a number of difficulties to be overcome if the trams are to come to Bolton. It might involve securing the agreement of the Railway Inspectorate for light rail trams to operate on the same lines as trains.

This dual use is rare, but it already happens on a railway line between Sunderland and a station near Newcastle.

Cllr Harkin would like to see trams terminating outside Bolton Town Hall.

He believes it would be possible to build a Metrolink spur from the railway line -- possibly somewhere near Weston Street -- which would run along Nelson Street, Thynne Street and Newport Street.

One alternative might be to have the trams operating along Manchester Road, Bradshawgate, Great Moor Street and Newport Street.

Another would use the route of the disused rail line from Radcliffe to Bolton.

Cllr Harkin is well aware that extending the Metrolink to Bolton and Wigan would cost hundreds of millions of pounds and present numerous practical problems.

But he added: "I think there is a political will to have a Metrolink system which is comprehensive for the whole of Greater Manchester."