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.

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.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Measures: Changes to Greater Manchester Bus Services

Important information for bus passengers during the Coronavirus situation

Due to concerns with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, there will be a reduced service on Greater Manchester’s bus routes. Generally, the City Region’s bus operators will either run a Saturday service or an enhanced Sunday service. This is in line with new government advice around social contact and non-essential travel to help combat the Coronavirus.

Greater Manchester Bus Fare Changes, January 2020

What’s going up, what’s staying the same, and what’s going down?

This year’s bus fare changes could be fairly grim for some passengers, particularly those in North Manchester. The 02 January 2020 sees the expiration of the Diamond Bus North West/Go North West/First Greater Manchester ticket agreement. Instead of one FirstDay ticket for most of North Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Bury and Bolton, three single operator day saver tickets cover the area.

Thankfully, System One Travelcards’ multi-operator tickets can bridge the gap, though these are going up in price. Stagecoach Greater Manchester will be raising the price of their season tickets but single fares will be frozen.

Greater Manchester Bus Franchising: The Infographic

East of the M60‘s exclusive infographic on how bus franchising could take shape in Greater Manchester

At this time of writing, we only have four days left of 2019. For the people of Greater Manchester, there is less than a fortnight to go till we hit the deadline for GMCA’s Bus Franchising Consultation.

Outside London, the United Kingdom is pretty much alone in having a deregulated bus network. Bus franchising or publicly owned buses is the norm around the world. In the USA as well as the former Soviet Union republics, EU Member States and Asia.

North Manchester Bus Fare Changes: Why Three is a Tragic Number

First/Diamond/Go North West ticketing agreement ends in New Year

For Greater Mancunian bus, train, and tram passengers, there is nothing peculiar about the 02 January 2020. As it is the first working day of 2020, it is at that point of the year when our bus, train and tram fares go up.

Bury and Rochdale Bus Service Changes, 27 October 2019

Special Report: Transdev’s radical renumbering of local buses in Bury and Rochdale

• Bury and Rochdale local services renumbered;
• Plus tweaks to other bus routes in Rochdale and Bury.

For the first time in East of the M60‘s existence, we shall be looking at the service changes affecting Bury and Rochdale passengers. As many of our blog’s regular readers are based in Oldham and Tameside, we mainly focus on bus services in those two areas. Owing to the scale of the service changes in Bury and Rochdale, they are worthy of acknowledgement due to the ramifications this may have on Greater Manchester’s bus network.

FirstGroup Restructuring Update: New Bolton Depot Location

Residual Bolton operations to move to Blue Bus garage

Though there are eleven days to go till Diamond Bus North West takes over First Greater Manchester’s Bolton depot, some of Bolton’s First routes will be operated by First after the 11 August 2019. These concern evening journeys on the 2 and 68 routes and the Vantage family of bus routes.

FirstGroup Restructuring: Sale of Bolton Depot to Rotala

Reorganisation of First Greater Manchester to leave Oldham as its only depot

In the continuing saga of First Greater Manchester’s contraction, FirstGroup have announced the sale of their Bolton depot to Rotala plc. The transfer of its Weston Street garage, over 500 staff and 18 bus routes is expected to be completed within months.