Manchester Buses

Autumn of disruption beckons

There's a brand new dance in fashion for the autumn.  It's called 'Disrupt the Transport' and you may well be learning it soon.

Yes, an autumn of delays and diversions is on the cards for Manchester's public transport users.  Heading up the trouble is the first phase of Metrolink track replacement in the city centre.  This will see Piccadilly Gardens and Piccadilly Metrolink stations closed and the entire spur of track from Piccadilly Gardens to Piccadilly Station out of use.  Replacement bus services will be introduced, running between Fairfield Street and Market Street.  The disruption begins from the 27th of September for eight weeks.

This work is part of a programme to replace most of the city centre track.  We reckon this means Moseley Street will be closed at some point in the future.  That will most definitely not be fun.  Damage to a window in the Beetham Tower caused afternoon peak hour delays in Manchester city centre today as roads around Deansgate were closed.  We hate to think how the closure of such a major bus thoroughfare as Moseley Street will affect city centre traffic over a much longer period.

Meanwhile, this Monday (15th September) sees the beginning of three weeks of gas main works on Oldham Street.  Buses that usually run from Stand B will be moved to start from/run to Stevenson Square.

Outside Manchester, Wigan is joining the disruption party as Wallgate Bridge closes for five weekend in a row from this Sunday.  Many by services will be affected by the work.  See GMPTE for more information.

Saddleworth gets in on the action with the temporary closure of Dobcross New Road.  Major diversions will be in place for local bus services.  Check here to see if your service is affected.

Hopefully there'll be nothing more to add to that list and we can have a winter of smoothly running services (ha!).

Oldham West Street reopens

A few months back, some hooligan with nothing but crime on his mind set fire to a bus at Oldham's West Street bus station.  While people were on it.  Luckily, everyone got off safely, but the bus and adjacent stand didn't fare so well (see the photo here).

Well, it's taken a while (as these things do, what with surveyors and insurance and whatnot) but finally the main bulk of the work to repair the stand is complete and West Street bus station reopens tomorrow.  This means that all bus services that used to use West Street until the fire will do so again, albeit with some stand changes.  There's still a few final bits of work to complete, but these will apparently be done during quiet periods.

Government stumps up cash for new Rochdale Bus Station

Transport Minister Rosie Winterton has announced that the government will provide  £10 million towards the new bus station planned for Rochdale.

The new Smith Street facility, which will replace the current rather dark and dingy bus station, will feature a cafe, an enclosed central waiting area and toilets.  Pretty basic things you may think, but then you obviously haven't been to the present bus station!

If the TIF Bid is successful the new site will become a fully-fledged transport interchange, with the planned Oldham and Rochdale Metrolink line extended to terminate there.  Current funding will see the line run only as far as Rochdale railway station.

The funding, along with the remaining £1.5 million having been provided by Rochdale Development Agency, means that final preparations for the project can begin.  GMPTE and Rochdale Council hope building will begin early next year.

United Utilities see the Sunnyside in Droylsden

We reported earlier in the week on the sewer works on Sunnyside Road in Droylsden that have led to a number of bus services being rerouted.  Now GMPTE have announced that United Utilities have launched a new hail and ride shuttle bus in the area to help alleviate travel woes.

The service will run every 15 minutes between 7.30am and 10.30pm (8.30am to 10.30pm on Sundays) and will serve Greenside Lane, Springfield Road, Cypress Road, Gloucester Road, Hampshire Road, Cypress Road and Sunnyside Road.  The affected bus services (168, 169, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235) are diverted via Moorside Street, Medlock Street, Chappell Road and Greenside Lane, with some turning at the Clock House circle and rejoining Greenside Lane, before continuing with their normal routes.  These arrangements will run from the start of the works on Monday right through til June.

See our map below for an idea of how it all works...

Not-so-sunny diversion for Droylsden

There's no doubt that Sunnyside Road is a nice name for a road.  The outlook won't be so sunny for bus passengers on the aforementioned thoroughfare between February and June.  Sewer works between Shrewsbury Road and Greenside Lane mean that services 168, 169, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234 and 235 (plus some school buses) will be diverted via Moorside Street, Medlock Street, Chappell Road and Greenside Lane from the 4th of February.

Oldham's Clegg Street Bus Station to (finally) bite the dust

We're surprised it's taken so long but Oldham's out-of-favour Clegg Street Bus Station is finally in line to be torn down this year.  Clegg Street was the town's main bus station until the much nicer facilities at Cheapside and West Street were completed a few years ago.  The new bus station may be split over two sections (meaning a cold walk at this time of the year) but those two sections are a lot more comfortable and warmer than Clegg Street's stops.

Many buses still use Clegg Street on their way through the town centre, and it's certainly in a handy location.  However, plans are afoot to redevelop the area around the old Town Hall meaning bus stops will move to High Street and Greaves Street.  We imagine this will mean a redesign of the town's one-way system.  More detail of the changes can be found in this article from the Oldham Advertiser.