Stagecoach Mark Platinum Jubilee with Special Livery

Two buses painted in Platinum Jubilee livery

As Great Britain and Northern Ireland prepares to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee this weekend, Stagecoach Manchester, has unveiled two platinum jubilee themed buses to mark this unprecedented anniversary.

Tameside and Glossop Bus Service Changes, 24 April 2022

Mottram roadworks and operator revisions main factor behind service changes

More than not, the biggest changes to Tameside’s bus routes occur in springtime. For the last two decades, the biggest cuts and operator changes are made at around that time of year.

Can You Do a Pub Crawl on the 350 Bus Route? A Top Beer Special

Top Beer looks at the must-visit pubs along one of Greater Manchester’s most scenic bus routes

Since 2009, the Rail Ale Trail has highlighted the joys of drinking in Saddleworth’s finest pubs, and one or two in Stalybridge, Mossley, and the Colne Valley villages. One downside of its (pre-pandemic) success was that it became a pain in the proverbials to police. There had had been reports of Marsden and Stalybridge succumbing to Bacchanalian excess.

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.

Greater Manchester’s Most Shocking Bus Service Changes Since 1986: The Not So Perfect Ten

A look at the service changes that have shaken our city region’s bus network forever

We are now 35 years into what Andy Burnham called The Free Market Experiment.  As with any free market experiment, there is a smaller number of winners than losers.  Before the first lockdown, having a bus company and a rail franchise was a licence to print money for some operators.  

Stagecoach Manchester Strike Action Called Off

Revised pay deal for bus workers confirmed

A new pay deal for the employees of Greater Manchester’s largest bus operator has staved off the threat of strike action. Yesterday (19 October), Stagecoach Manchester has confirmed that agreement has been reached on a pay deal for bus workers in Manchester. Local trade union representatives have worked constructively with Stagecoach Manchester on a pay offer that has now been agreed by employees.

Jobseekers’ Discount Scheme Pays Off for Stagecoach

Jobseekers’ bus journeys double on Stagecoach routes as UK vacancies near million mark

• Trips under Stagecoach’s National Jobseekers’ discounted travel initiative up 115% since May;
• Bus travel to find work rises as latest ONS data reveals more than 950,000 UK job vacancies;
• More than 120 people a day applying to work with Britain’s biggest bus and coach operator;
• Job applications up 8.5% on pre-COVID levels as 300 operations and engineering roles on offer;
• Government figures show bus journeys outside London now close to 70% of pre-COVID levels.

The Bus Bus Bus could take us to our Jobs Jobs Jobs as Britons get back to bus. Passenger numbers are beginning to reach pre-COVID levels outside London. For the country’s jobseekers, demand for buses have doubled as individuals look to secure roles among a record number of vacancies in the UK.

Now You Know What We Did This Summer: Bridlington By Bus, Train and Taxi

A look at Bridlington’s public transport offer

Thanks to previous lockdowns and pandemic conditions, it has been two years since we left our last Now You Know What We Did This Summer round-up. The last entry looked at Bournemouth’s buses, which we found were dirt cheap compared with Greater Manchester’s buses.

The last time yours truly went to Bridlington was nearly 12 years ago. I had an overnight stay there and used Lord Tennyson’s favourite resort as a halfway point between Doncaster and Middlesbrough. There, I was supporting the late great Donna Williams at what became her last UK lecture tour. After seeing her Doncaster lecture, I got Northern’s service to Bridlington (via Goole and Hull), then continued to Middlesbrough by bus via Scarborough.

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.