Greater Manchester's mayor, Andy Burnham, says plans for a tram-train service via Atherton that would connect Bolton and Leigh to the Metrolink could be published next month.
The tram-trains, which can operate on both tram tracks and existing rail lines, are seen as the key to extending Metrolink services to these towns.
During a phone-in on BBC Radio Manchester's 'In The Hotseat', listener Alison challenged the mayor about the lack of mention of Bolton in the recent £2.5bn extra transport funding announcement for Greater Manchester by chancellor Rachel Reeves.
She asked: "Has Bolton been forgotten yet again? When, when, when will Bolton be linked to the Metrolink?"
Mr Burnham responded: "We're just working up now the next Greater Manchester strategy and will be publishing that in the early part of July.
"We will be looking at a tram-train scheme via Atherton which could potentially link to Bolton and to Leigh.
"The reason why it's not as firm as yesterday with the other schemes is that they are more viable at this moment in time. It's not the case that Bolton is cut out of the picture or forgotten."
"Bolton will see some big transport improvements in pretty short order.
""We want all our boroughs to be connected by a Metrolink style service.
"Tram-train via Atherton is the way in which Bolton and Leigh would be connected.
The mayor also mentioned that rail passengers in Bolton would soon see other non-infrastructure changes.
"Two rail lines which connect via Bolton are coming into the Bee Network by 2028," he said. "That means Bolton will all of a sudden be a very attractive place from a travel point of view. Passengers will be able to tap in at Bolton station and they'll be in the Bee Network cap.
"That's going to be a change that comes quicker than any new infrastructure."
"In effect, those services will be like Metrolink, they'll be quicker and passengers will be in the same system. ".
