First Greater Manchester Set to Close Rusholme Depot

Cost-cutting measures will see South Manchester operations moved to Queens Road depot

Cross Connect: one of First Greater Manchester’s early attempts at trying to break into the lucrative South Manchester corridor.

Five years after purchasing the bus operations of Finglands Coachways, First Greater Manchester is set to rationalise its operations in South Manchester. As well as pulling out of the 42 route to East Didsbury, their Rusholme depot will be closed.

Oldham and Saddleworth Bus Service Changes, Winter 2018

Hallowe’en horrors await Oldham bus passengers

• Sweeping changes made to 74 and 76 routes’ evening journeys;
• 415 slashed from half hourly to once hourly;
• Cuts made to 24 route.

Whereas Tameside bus passengers got off lightly with this month’s service changes, the same couldn’t have been said with our friends in Oldham and Saddleworth.

Oldham and Saddleworth Bus Service Changes, Autumn 2018

School day times are back up town

Back to school: school days times will be reinstated on the 409 and other key routes in Oldham and Saddleworth.

For many Oldham and Saddleworth passengers, this autumn’s timetable changes affect seasonal timetables. Yes, as the nights get longer, the school day times are back on the agenda.

Tameside and Glossop Bus Service Changes, Autumn 2018

Timetables revert to schoolday times

System Restore: timetables revert to pre-School Holiday times.

Throughout the borough, most of this autumn’s service changes entail the reversion of summer timetables to schooldays timetables. For once, a fairly quiet autumn.

First Greater Manchester Goes Contactless

New Ticketer machines ushers in start of contactless travel on First Greater Manchester routes

In line with other FirstGroup subsidiaries across the UK, contactless payments will be available on First Greater Manchester bus routes. From the first weekend in September, all First buses will be able to accept contactless credit and debit cards as a payment option.

Now You Know What I Did This Summer: Weston-super-Mare’s Bus Routes

A look at present-day bus operations in Weston-super-Mare

Virtual Monopoly: First Bristol, Bath and The West run most of Weston-super-Mare’s bus routes. Seen here is the decaying yet iconic Birnbeck Pier with an open-top bus on the 1 seafront service to Weston.

Thanks to the wonders of S.S. Great Britain, Isambard Kingdom Brunel and the West Somerset Railway, yours truly returned to Weston-super-Mare. Which of course explains my recent absence of posts on East of the M60. 

Oldham and Saddleworth Bus Service Changes, Summer 2018

More summertime tweaks

• Exactly what it says on the tin;
• MCT Travel gains 418 from M Travel;
• CityZap zapped.

The 409: one of a few First Greater Manchester services falling under the summertime timetables. This oldie, seen at Royton, was previously owned by First Bradford.

Once again the summertime changes are a quiet one for Oldham and Saddleworth bus passengers. Apart from the usual adjusted summer times, there has only been four notable service changes.

Tameside and Glossop Bus Service Changes, Summer 2018

All the usual summertime tweaks

• Waterton Lane link severed to improve reliability of 353 and 354 service;
• Summertime bus times in operation on First Greater Manchester and Stagecoach Manchester routes;
• Slight tweaks to some tendered services.

Retimed? the 340, alongside other Stagecoach journeys operated from Middleton depot, is down as retimed on the Stagecoach Manchester website. In fact, there are no differences to the timetable seen in TfGM’s Bus Guide on the 340 and 343 routes.

The summertime changes are usually quieter than the spring and autumn service changes. This summer’s no exception with the bulk of changes being the adoption of School Holiday Timetables.

In Pictures: Where ‘It’s Coming Home’ Means Returning to a Stagecoach Depot

Stagecoach Manchester’s novel way of sending buses back to the depot

Many buses returning to the depot tend to have a slightly curt ‘Sorry Not In Service’ on the front indicator. Sometimes a more blunt ‘Not In Service’ or ‘Engaged’. The Bee Line Buzz Company’s minibuses opted for ‘Buzzing Off to the Depot’ for their depot transfers. Stagecoach Manchester, due to the World Cup have gone a step further thanks to the wonders of modern technology.