Manchester Buses

JPT's Vale teething problems solved?

When, earlier this week, we brought you an update on how ex-Vale of Manchester services were being covered we featured an update from James Frisby who told us that JP Travel were operating the 276 (Wythenshawe Hospital - Trafford General Hospital).  He did, however, tell us that some journeys appeared not to be running.  Well, James came back to us yesterday evening with an update.

"I have found out why the 14:22 didnt operate...its because JP Travel are only using two buses for a service with a PVR of 3!! They acquired three buses from Vales specifically for the 276 service (Merc Vario / Plaxton Beaver 2's S737/8/9 RNE) but have put one on their own 268 service, thus leaving only two for the 276!
 
I have been informed everything should be back to normal on the service from tomorrow as I believe JP have told the PTE that they have another vehicle to operate the full PVR, so fingers crossed!".

So, there you go.  It appears all duties should be covered as of today.  We actually saw a Mercedes Vario / Plaxton Beaver 2 operating the 276 in Northenden yesterday.  Hopefully low-floor buses will return to the service as soon as possible as step-entrances on a hospital service isn't an ideal situation.

[Photo credit: Ingy the Wingy on Flickr]

Trafford Centre shuttlebus ML1 - future secure

You may remember that back in December we reported on a question mark over the future of the bus service that links Stretford Metrolink station with the Trafford Centre.  GMPTE had removed its share of the funding for the ML1 service, operated by Arriva.  This left Peel Holdings (owners of the Trafford Centre) as the sole funders of the service.

Well, having heard nothing since (except that the extension of the service to The Chill Factor ski centre was being withdrawn), we decided to ask The Trafford Centre for an update.

The good news is that the ML1 is not being withdrawn and will continue to be funded solely by Peel Holdings.  However, with no-one involved in Metrolink now funding the service, all references to it have been removed from the Metrolink map.  Previously, the service was shown on Metrolink publicity as part of the network, linking Stretford with the Trafford Centre.  Here at Manchester Buses we think that is to the detriment of an integrated public transport system - something that GMPTE should surely be trying to promote.

Still, it's good news that the service will continue to operate.  "Be assured the ML1 is very much here to stay" the Trafford Centre's Travel Plan & Transport Co-ordinator, Andrew Douglas, told us.

Bury-to-Barrow buried

Stagecoach North West's X1 service, linking Bury with Barrow-in-Furness via Bolton, Adlington, Chorley, Preston, Milnthorpe and Ulverston, runs for the final time today.

This Wednesday-only service was launched just 7 weeks ago, meaning Stagecoach must have given notice of its demise just a week after it first started.  Giving a service like that no time to bed-in does seem a little strange, but we can't see many people being too bothered.

In days gone by services from urban areas to the countryside or coast were popular for summer excursions.  These days car ownership is much higher meaning there's less need for special bus services.  Maybe if the service had gone somewhere more picturesque (a direct link to the Lake District perhaps) it would have been more popular, but Barrow?  That's just depressing!

Special bus services within the city centre are a different thing altogether though.  The Manchester Sightseeing Tour, run by Blackpool Transport Services, begins operation again on Friday.

[Image credit: MaxDATNorth on Flickr]

More night bus improvements on the way

As we reported a couple of weeks ago, First's night bus services are being rerouted to run via Shudehill Interchange from the 6th of June.  Now GMPTE's Service Changes page has been updated to show that Stagecoach are getting in on this new late-night love for Shudehill too.

From next weekend (6th June) the following journeys are introduced (Friday and Saturday late nights only):
82: Shudehill to Oldham via Hollinwood at 0200 and 0310
86: Shudehill to Stretford via Chorlton at 0200 and 0310
143: Shudehill to Northenden via West Didsbury at 0200 and 0310
192: Shudehill to Stockport via Levenshulme at 0200 and 0310
201: Shudehill to Hyde via Denton at 0200 and 0310
237: Shudehill to Ashton-under-Lyne via Droylsden at 0310.

These are all in addition to Stagecoach's existing night services from Piccadilly.

These changes, along with First's revisions, bring more night bus connections to an area that's currently thriving as the destination for a night out.  So, if you go out on a Friday or Saturday night make sure you support these services so they continue.

[Image credit: hugovk on Flickr]

Vales update

So, our spies (AKA our readers) have been out and about looking for what operators have taken over the ex Vale of Manchester routes following last week's drama (see here and here).

Reader Stuart Vallantine reports: "Spotted outside The Globe Hotel in Dukinfield at about 0735 this morning: one of First Manchester's Optare Solos on the 345 toward Ashton".

Meanwhile James Frisby has the following observations: "Concerning the 276, just thought I would e-mail the site to say JPT have taken over this service, along with the 54 and 272 (which then go onto the 276 after the am duties) using mainly ex Vales Merc Vario's, and also ex Vales drivers!
 
However, at least one journey was missing from todays diagram (the 14:22 from Wythenshawe Hospital) and another journey was missing last Thursday when I was out and about (the 11:55 from Withington Hospital) so clearly not everything has settled down yet! However, one plus is that I always found the Vales drivers to be quite friendly so glad they are sticking around!".

We'd already heard the 512 and 513 were being covered by JP Travel (the photo above shows a JPT 512 at Bolton bus station) and the 521 by Blue Bus.

So, there you go.  Just that commercial 514 (Bury - Trafford Centre) to sort out now!

[Image credit: Ian Roberts via Flickr]

Call for better training after driver assaults passenger

And we thought it was only First who were blighted by drivers who make the news for the wrong reasons when it comes to disability issues.  The Manchester Evening News yesterday reported that an 18 year-old man with a rare muscular condition was physically thrown off a Stagecoach 256 service in Flixton recently because the driver didn't believe he was really disabled.

Mark Winstanley's condition, myotonia congenita, was triggered due to nerves when his disability pass was challenged by the driver, leaving him unable to moves his arms and legs.  The driver then pushed him off the bus and onto the ground, leaving him with bruises and grazing.  The driver has reportedly since resigned from Stagecoach and is expected to be cautioned by police.  Stagecoach told the MEN "We are working with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), who the Winstanleys have already referred this to, and will work with them to resolve this issue."

Bus drivers have a stressful job but a physical altercation is no way to deal with a situation like this.  With better training on both the different types of passes that are available and on how to deal with disagreements with passengers, situations like this can be avoided.

Here's Channel M's report on the story in which Mark calls for better training for drivers.

Vale of Manchester confusion continues

So to recap; Vale of Manchester, the small independent operator, informed GMPTE on Monday that they could no longer offer bus services.  That's as much as we knew at the start of the week and that's pretty much all we know today.  The operator has disappeared from our roads and the details of its demise are still unknown.

The good news is that we have reports that at least some of the services they ran are getting back to normal.  Manchester Buses reader Ian Roberts reports that by late Tuesday the 512 and 513 were being operated by JP Travel and the 521 by Blue Bus.  Meanwhile, in south Manchester the 0745 272 service from Northenden to Trafford Park didn't appear to be running (unless it was very early or very late).  Also, we haven't seen a 276 (Wythenshawe Hospital - Trafford General Hospital) in the past few days, although that may well be running and we've missed it.  It seems too important a service to not run for four days.  Anyone else got any ex-Vale services back in service to report?

On the commercial side of things, it seems unlikely anyone will begin operating the 66 (Clifton - Hope Hospital), especially as Vale of Manchester were dropping the service at the end of the week anyway.  Service 514 (Bury - Trafford Centre) is a different beast altogether though.  That really did seem to fill an obvious gap in the network, linking many parts of Salford with the Trafford Centre for the first time.

We've heard that the Trafford Centre management are rather frustrated with the disappearance of this service and are likely to start talks with other operators to get it running again.  In any event, it'll be a good two months before any operator can get the service running, thanks to the '56 day rule' governing commercial bus service registrations.

Update: Emergency registrations are apparently allowed in circumstances such as this so we may not be waiting quite so long.  That is if an operator decides to give the service a go.  (Thanks, anonymous commenter!)

[Image credit: Ingy The Wingy on Flickr]

Vale of Manchester disappears from the roads

Yesterday we had a huge influx of people visiting the site searching for information on Vale of Manchester.  Today the reason has become apparent.  The company has withdrawn all its services without notice or reason.  That includes all eight of the routes they run under contract for GMPTE as well as commercial services 66 and 514.

So, are they in financial trouble?  It would seem the obvious reason but we can't be sure.  The Manchester Evening News has been attempting to contact the operator to no avail.

Meanwhile, GMPTE has announced it is offering emergency contracts to other operators to get bus services running again as soon as possible.  As a result, services on routes 72 (Clifton - Pendleton), 276 (Wythenshawe Hospital - Trafford General Hospital), 512/513 (Bury - Bolton) and 521 (Little Lever - Blackrod) as well as some journeys on routes 54 (Cheetham - Trafford Park), 272 (Northenden - Trafford Park) and 345 (Ashton-u-Lyne - Denton) will be non-existent or unreliable for the next few days.

Commercial service 66 (Clifton - Hope Hospital) was being withdrawn from Saturday anyway.  Service 514 (Bury - Trafford Centre) is one of the most popular services that lead people to this site (we covered its launch a few months ago) so we imagine some people will be frustrated to see it go.  It provided a useful link between many parts of Salford and the Trafford Centre.  Hopefully another operator will step in to run this service.

That's all we know for now.  If you have any more information on the disappearance of Vale of Manchester, let us know by commenting below.

First improve access to night buses, "24 hour city" no closer

It's been a while since we've seen any changes to the night bus services that run out of Manchester.  Now we get news that as of the 6th of June First are to reroute their 8, 17, 39, 67 and 135 Friday and Saturday late night services to run via Shudehill Interchange.  This provides an opportunity to capitalise on the growing popularity of the area around Shudehill as the place for a night out.  There are a number of fancy (and not so fancy) bars in the Northern Quarter just a stone's throw from the Interchange, as well as The Printworks just round the corner.

A smart move from First, then.  We just wish it wasn't only a small part of south Manchester that benefited from night buses through the week.  Unless you live on the Wilmslow Road or Stockport Road corridors you haven't a hope of getting a night bus on a weeknight.  All other night buses (including all of First's) are Friday and Saturday only.  Many parts of Greater Manchester have no night buses at all.

People talk of Manchester being a "24 hour city", but if there's no public transport in most places after midnight, how can we truly have a hope of living up to that aspiration?

Manchester's transport system struggles through the UEFA storm

And to think that a couple of days ago we were worried about how Manchester's transport infrastructure would cope with what we called "several thousand" Rangers fans.  In reality, an estimated 200,000 of them descended on the city centre and the infrastructure certainly did struggle.

Such a large amount of people were crammed onto the city's streets that by the afternoon peak many bus services were suffering significant delays (we waited 40 minutes on Princess Road for a service with a timetabled 5 minute headway).  The Metrolink, meanwhile, avoided the city centre completely with Altrincham and Eccles services terminating at G-Mex and Bury services at Victoria.

We avoided the city centre yesterday and we were glad we had when reports started filtering through via Twitter that the the big screen in Piccadilly Gardens had failed and trouble was brewing.  The trouble turned into an all-out riot as some of the Rangers fans vented their frustration on the police.  This CCTV footage from Newton Street will show you what we mean.  For a look at how the day descended from good-natured fun into violence, this blog is the place to go (it's best to view the posts from the bottom up, even though the timestamps on the posts are wrong).

So, how did the buses cope with the trouble?  To be honest, we don't know.  If you were in the city centre last night, fill us in!