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…
Category: Public Transport
How Gruffalo and Mouse Entertained Manchester Children’s Hospital Patients
Stagecoach Manchester marks ten years of fundraising with the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital charity You could say that the book and the service bus were made for each other. Some operators have a library on their services where a small selection of books can be borrowed from a luggage hold. Before on-board WiFi became the…
What Can You Do With a Fallen Pacer?
Department For Transport launches scheme to bring new life to withdrawn Pacer units Has April Fool’s Day 2020 been brought forward? The Department For Transport have conjured up a wheeze to bring new life to the Pacer family of trains. What you may be relieved to find is that continued use on our permanent way…
Wired For Sound! Audio Visual Announcement Trial for Stockport Bus Routes
Stagecoach Manchester to experiment with audio visual announcements on 23 and 325 services If you travel by train, tram, or tube, you may be familiar with the sight of audio visual displays on your usual journey. Your friendly LED display might say “Next stop, Cockfosters” or “the next stop is Ashton-under-Lyne where this service terminates”.
A Brief History of Teen Travel in Greater Manchester
Who remembers Greater Manchester’s previous attempts at wooing teenagers onto the bus? Over the last week, details of Andy Burnham’s Opportunity Pass have been revealed in the Manchester Evening News and on the GetMeThere website. From the 01 September, young people aged 16 to 18 years old – so long as they produce a smart…
Greenfield Station Snubbed in Access For All Funding Scheme
Why is Greenfield station – the only railway station in Oldham Council boundaries – still inaccessible for mobility impaired passengers? The Trans-Pennine route via Huddersfield should be given the same level of importance as the West Coast Main Line. Or at least any commuter route in the South East of England. Between Manchester and Huddersfield…
South Pennine Goes Contactless!
South Pennine Community Transport introduces contactless payments on the 29 April 2019 On both sides of the Pennines, Arriva, Stagecoach, and FirstGroup have introduced contactless payments on their buses. Instead of fumbling for change, they offer casual passengers another way to pay for their bus fares. So far, smaller independent operators have begun to add…
The X30 Factor: Stagecoach Manchester’s New Express Service
Ever wondered what became of the 330’s Manchester Airport link? That section has been spun off as a separate service. After the 27 April 2019, the Tameside area will once again be without a direct bus to Manchester Airport. As a consequence, the 330 will revert to being an Ashton – Hyde – Stockport route….
Carry On Up The Fare Stage
An irreverent look at unusual places served by everyday bus routes 11: Cemetery Gates, 125: Doffcocker, 583: Dangerous Corner, 666: Hell… From our disjointed list seen above, could you guess which one of our four bus routes is actually a fictitious one? Well, you may surprised to find that the 11 is a fictitious route….
Oldham and Saddleworth Bus Service Changes, 28 April 2019
First dumps 149 and 415 services whilst Stalybridge lose post-7pm links with Oldham Stagecoach Manchester takes over 149 and 415 services’ daytime journeys; Post 7pm and Sunday 340 journeys withdrawn and replaced by two-hourly Sunday and Bank Holiday journeys of 343 route; Stalybridge loses post-7pm links with Oldham following cuts to 340 and 408 services;…
Tameside and Glossop Bus Service Changes, 28 April 2019
First retreats from evening routes whilst Stalybridge sees post-7pm Oldham links severed Post 7pm and Sunday 340 journeys withdrawn and replaced by two-hourly Sunday and Bank Holiday journeys of 343 route; Stalybridge loses post-7pm links with Oldham following cuts to 340 and 408 services; Manchester Airport link curtailed; Plus the usual slight tweaks and tender…
Crossing the South Pennines By Bus: A Lost Bus Routes Special
The threads left behind by Manchester’s lost bus links with Barnsley and Sheffield The 04 January 2020 will soon be a significant anniversary date in trans-Pennine transport history. That date will be the 50th anniversary of the cessation of passenger services along the Woodhead line. Had the Woodhead line stayed open today, the all-electric route…
