Christmas 2015 and New Year’s Day 2016 Bus Services in Tameside

Christmas and New Year service information for bus users in Tameside and surrounding area

Image: ‘It’s Christmas Time’ by Anna & Michal. (Creative Commons License – Some Rights Reserved).

Ladies and gentlemen, it is that time again. With Christmas drawing near, here is the lowdown on our Yuletide buses within the Tameside area.

As with the last three Christmases, Stagecoach Manchester and First Greater Manchester will be operating a skeleton service on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day along trunk routes. For Tameside’s football fans, the first fixtures of 2016 will fall on a Saturday. Which is a good thing given that normal services will resume.

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Bus Service Summary:

21 – 23, 29 and 30 December 2015: normal weekday service, ran to summer holiday schedules on Stagecoach Manchester routes. Expect normal weekday services on all other operators’ routes.

Christmas Eve: normal weekday services, enhanced Saturday service or standard Saturday service with most routes finishing around 1800 hours. Some may continue till 1900 or 2000 hours. Please note that tendered evening journeys, such as Stagecoach Manchester’s journeys on the 343 service, will not operate.

Christmas Day: no service outside Manchester City Council boundaries, where only service in operation is the 43 from Manchester to Manchester Airport (hourly timetable: 0805 – 1905 southbound, 0910 – 2010 northbound).

Boxing Day: some trunk routes may be in operation throughout Greater Manchester. In Tameside, it has been confirmed by Stagecoach Manchester that the following services in operation will be:

• 201 (Piccadilly – Hattersley): every half hour from 0831 to 2101 hours, eastbound; 0727 to 1957 hours, westbound;
• 204 (Piccadilly – Haughton Green – Hyde): every half hour from 0821 to 2051 hours, eastbound; 0729 to 1959 hours, westbound;
• 216 (Piccadilly – Droylsden – Ashton-under-Lyne): every 20 minutes from 0840 to 2100 hours, eastbound; 0840 to 2020 hours, westbound;
• 219 (Piccadilly – Higher Openshaw – Ashton-under-Lyne): every 20 minutes from 0850 to 2110 hours, eastbound; 0850 to 2030 hours, westbound;
• 330 (Ashton-under-Lyne – Dukinfield – Hyde – Stockport): every half hour from 0910 to 1710, southbound; 0925 to 1725, northbound.

All times are the same as last year’s timetable. First Greater Manchester will also be operating a small number of services on Boxing Day too. In Tameside, this will be the 409 service from Rochdale to Ashton-under-Lyne. The times are as follows for the route:

• Rochdale – Ashton-under-Lyne: 0816 from Thornham [Summit] then 0835 from Rochdale to Ashton-under-Lyne. Every half hour till 1705, then 1735 from Rochdale to Oldham;
• Ashton-under-Lyne – Rochdale: 0824 from Oldham bus station, then 0835 from Ashton bus station to Rochdale. Every half hour till 1735.

27 December 2015: standard Sunday service.

28 December 2015 (Bank Holiday Monday in lieu of Boxing Day): standard Bank Holiday service.

New Year’s Eve: weekday services, enhanced Saturday service or standard Saturday service with most routes finishing around 1800 hours. Some may continue till 1900 or 2000 hours.

Stagecoach Manchester will also be operating a number of night buses (special fares apply). In Tameside, the following Night Services will be the:

• 201 (Piccadilly – Hyde): every hour from 1916 to 2316 then 0116 to 0316, westbound: 1930 to 2230 then 0030 to 0330, eastbound.
• 219 (Piccadilly – Higher Openshaw – Ashton-under-Lyne): every hour from 2030 to 2330 hours then 0100 to 0300, westbound: 2000 to 2300 hours then 0030 to 0330, eastbound.

It is also worth noting that special fares will apply on the above services (£3.00 single, £5.00 rover ticket) from 2000 – 0400 hours. However, System One day savers and Stagecoach Manchester day savers will be valid till midnight.

After midnight, the full complement of System One and Stagecoach Manchester season tickets, along with concessionary passes will also be valid. Unlike previous New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day operations, there will be no night buses on the 216 service. However, there is one consolation; Metrolink tram services on the East Manchester Line will be running till 1am.

New Year’s Day 2016: no services. In Tameside, these are the following routes which will be operated by Stagecoach Manchester:

• 201 (Piccadilly – Hattersley): every half hour from 1050 to 1820, eastbound: 0951 to 1721, westbound.
• 216 (Piccadilly – Droylsden – Ashton-under-Lyne): every half hour from 1055 to 1825 hours, eastbound: 1005 to 1735 hours, westbound;
• 219 (Piccadilly – Higher Openshaw – Ashton-under-Lyne): every half hour from 1040 to 1810 hours, eastbound: 1020 to 1750 hours, westbound.

02 January 2016: normal services resume.

Furthermore, there will also be details of last buses on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve at Shudehill Interchange, Ashton-under-Lyne and Hyde bus stations, and at the TfGM Travelshop on Piccadilly Gardens.

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Important Numbers:

If you have any queries, it may be worth telephoning your local operator as well as using Traveline’s service [0871 200 2233] or the internet to plan your journey with. The telephone numbers are as follows:

• First Greater Manchester: 0845 788 1155 (local rates, Monday – Friday during office hours) or 0161 627 2929;
• Stagecoach in Manchester: 0161 273 3377;
• Stott’s Tours (Oldham) Ltd: 0161 624 4200;
• Checkmate Coaches: 01457 833040;
• MCT Travel: 0161 946 9255.

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Finally…

As always, If there’s any additions to the above article, feel free to add them to this post. Details of variations to trams and trains will appear in another posting on East of the M60.

S.V., 17 December 2015.