First Manchester Strike Starts Tomorrow

‘Reasonable offer’ not good enough for drivers set to strike

This coming Monday, First Manchester’s drivers are set to go on strike over pay and conditions. Over the last two years, Britain’s bus drivers have been at the sharp end of the pandemic through staff absences, sickness and deteriorating pay and conditions. This has been exacerbated by more favourable pay and conditions in the haulage industry.

Time for a Cross-Boundary Bus Strategy?

Could affordable cross-boundary express routes be a missing link in improving the attractiveness of our bus routes?

England’s deregulated bus network has a fair few cross-boundary routes. Many are conventional stage carriage services where the travel-to-work area happens to be a county or unitary authority away. One example is the 237 route from Ashton-under-Lyne to Glossop via Stalybridge. Another one is the 125, a Stagecoach Gold route between Preston and Bolton.

Tameside and Glossop Bus Service Changes, 31 October 2021

A pithy set of changes for Halloween

If the latest set of service changes for Tameside and Glossop bus passengers were a horror film, it gives us great pleasure to say it is Andy Pandy Takes the Ghost Train instead of Night of the Living Dead or Threads. This autumn’s set of changes are minor one – mainly the retiming of existing routes.

Stalybridge Bus Station: A 2030 Vision

The shape of things to come with an all-singing and all-dancing bus/train/tram interchange

It has been a while since you could transfer from three modes of transport in Stalybridge town centre. 90 years ago to be precise. If you count trolleybuses as a third mode, that was 61 years ago.

Tameside and Glossop Bus Service Changes, 05 September 2021

All the latest back to school bus times and the usual changes

• Stagecoach Manchester routes revert to winter timetable;
• New Sheffield connection for Hyde passengers;
• Late night 409 journeys to Ashton restored.

For the first time in a while, Tameside’s latest service changes make for more positive reading. Evening journeys will be boosted on one of our trunk routes and Hyde is going to get direct bus links to Manchester Airport, Sheffield and Macclesfield.

A New Era Begins for Stockport Bus Station

1980 version of bus station to close this weekend

This Saturday sees the end of one era for Stockport bus station, and the start of another one. By midnight on the 29th August 2021, the 1980 version of Stockport bus station will be gone for good.

Tameside and Glossop Bus Service Changes, 25 July 2021

Summer times, and the changes are minimal (and somewhat predictable)

• Summer times on Stagecoach Manchester;
• Diggle link ditched from 356 route;
• Peak hour duplicates nixed after scrapping of social distancing requirement on buses.

Within a week of HM Government’s Freedom Day®, some degree of normality is restored on our bus routes. Firstly, with it being summertime (and the schools breaking up for the five-week or six-week holidays), we shall be seeing the faster summer times on many of Stagecoach’s routes. Secondly, with the requirements for social distancing scrapped, our peak hour duplicates on trunk routes have gone the same way.

TfGM’s Paperless Bus Timetable Trials

Better Bus Rides on Paperless Bus Guides in Oldham and Stockport

The days of the dead tree bus timetable could be numbered in years to come as smartphones and tablets become the norm for today’s passengers. Instead of rows and rows of bus timetables, passengers could scan a QR code for their desired service.

Greater Manchester’s Yellow Buses Through The Ages

From Bee Line Buzz Company to the Rochdale Runners

As we know that Greater Manchester’s franchised buses will be in yellow and black, it is worth noting that yellow buses are far from novel in our City Region. Historically, they have orange and white, white, orange and brown, and several other colours before then. None of them being in yellow till The Bee Line Buzz Company came on to the scene.

The Future’s Yellow: 2024 Start for Greater Manchester’s Publicly Controlled Buses

Bus Franchising Scheme to begin a year earlier than expected

Greater Manchester’s Bus Franchising Scheme is set to start a year earlier than anticipated. With the pandemic, it was envisaged that franchised operations would begin in Sub-Area A in 2023, with Sub-Areas B and C following suit in 2024 and 2025. This morning [10 May 2021], it was announced that a fully franchised bus network will be in operation by 2024.