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.

Tameside and Glossop Bus Service Changes, 11 April 2021

As one hospital link closes, another one opens

• Renumbered 397 extended to North Manchester General Hospital;
• Little Gem (Mark II) increases Tameside presence on TfGM tendered routes;
• 217 reverts to being Ashton-under-Lyne to Manchester route;
• Timetable changes for Stagecoach routes with cuts to 336, 337 and 389 services.

The Spring 2021 changes are a bit of a mixed bag for Tameside’s bus passengers. A day before non-essential retail reopens, there has been some tinkering around the edges of Stagecoach’s routes, particularly with subtle changes to trunk routes. For some not-so-trunk routes, some not-so-subtle changes, like operator revisions and service cuts.

Oldham, Tameside and Glossop Bus Service Changes, 31 January 2021

Welcome upgrade for local Ashton and Hyde routes

For regular readers used to seeing a separate Oldham and Saddleworth bulletin, this edition covers the Oldham, Tameside and Glossop areas due to fewer service changes in Oldham.

• Sunday journeys added to 335, 342 and 387 routes;
• 41As partially replaced by Sunday and Bank Holiday 335s;
• 394 route suspended, cutting Chisworth off bus network;
• 182 curtailed to terminate at Shaw with Rochdale section served by 408.

As we have mentioned in previous bulletins on Tameside service changes, plans to bolster some local routes have come to fruition. Some might think this is foolish in the middle of a lockdown. That is due in part to the recent extension of the Notice Period that English bus operators have to give to the DVLA if they need to vary, improve or withdraw a bus route.

Introducing the 305: Denton’s Dane Bank Route

East of the M60 looks at North Western’s new 305 route, set to begin operation soon

Stagecoach didn’t renege on its decision to change its 205 route. As of next week, its terminus will revert to being at Dane Bank, after a brief spell of terminating its Piccadilly Gardens route at Crown Point. You could be forgiven for thinking that Denton’s West End would be cut off from its own town centre. This would have ended the story and got the good people of Dane Bank changing at Debdale Park just to get to their own town centre for the first time since 1984.

Tameside and Glossop Bus Service Changes, 26 July 2020

Diamond diversion sees 217 route extended to Wythenshawe Hospital

• Tameside gains direct bus link with Manchester Royal Infirmary and Wythenshawe Hospital;
• Stagecoach takes over evening journeys of Stockport – Ashton 7 route.

For the first time in over a decade, there will be no summertime retiming changes for Greater Manchester’s principal bus routes. Since 2008, Stagecoach and FirstGroup have changed their times to allow for lower traffic levels in the school holidays. Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, no such changes were necessary.

Social Distancing On The Buses, Greater Manchester Style

A look at how social distancing is being upheld on Greater Manchester’s bus routes

Scene One: Gem Travel Luxton depot

Stan Butler Junior has followed in his grandfather’s footsteps by working in the bus industry. He drives the 346 to Cemetery Gates, originally the 11 and 11A before National Bus Company took over Luxton and District. After privatisation, it became part of the Molesway Group, which became part of Easyway in 1995. In 1998, Easyway Luxton was sold to its management before falling into Gem Travel’s hands in 2007.

Oldham and Saddleworth Bus Service Changes, 19 April 2020

A look at the more lasting changes that will affect Oldham and Saddleworth bus passengers

Though Oldham and Saddleworth passengers weren’t as badly affected by MCT Travel’s demise as those in Tameside, there are still a few significant changes. At the sharpest end of these changes will be Royton passengers, particularly with the 402 and 412 routes.

It is also worth noting that the following changes will be effective from the 19 April, in spite of lockdown. Therefore temporary timetables will be in operation, even with newly tendered routes.

Tameside and Glossop Bus Service Changes, 19 April 2020

The latest, more permanent (?) service charges in Tameside and Glossop

• Demise of MCT Travel operations sees Stagecoach gains;
• Withdrawal of 387 route sees severance of north-south connections with Stalybridge – and direct route with Hattersley;
• Super-size 356 given go-ahead.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, you may be forgiven for thinking “Not again” with timetable changes being on a near-weekly basis. This round-up looks at the more lasting service changes that would affect Tameside’s bus users for the foreseeable future.

Please note that the following changes will be effective from the 19 April, in spite of lockdown. Therefore temporary timetables will be in operation, even with newly tendered routes.

Tameside and Glossop Bus Service Changes, 01 September 2019

Spoils of FirstGroup’s Tamexit sees sweeping changes

• Ashton local services rationalised;
• No more post-7pm buses from Stalybridge to Hyde;
• Sunday and Bank Holiday 236s axed.

Most of this September’s changes are affected by FirstGroup’s retreat from the Tameside area. Within the next month, Tameside’s biggest two bus operators will be Stagecoach Manchester and MCT Travel. As for the service changes, not particularly good reading.

Our Network: Tameside’s Future Transport Network in Greater Manchester

Why Andy Burnham has moved one step closer to bus franchising and how this affects Tameside

Greater Manchester is one step closer to seeing off Nicholas Ridley’s free market experiment. A free market experiment that has seen a 45% drop in bus patronage in Greater Manchester. An experiment which has seen swingeing cuts to the city region’s bus routes and the shotgun divorce of GM Buses in 1994.