Manchester Buses

On-street ticket machines launched

As we mentioned yesterday, today saw the official launch of Stagecoach and GMPTE's new joint venture - on-street ticket machines.  Transport bigwigs from both organisations posed for our camera on Piccadilly this afternoon. 

The solar-powered machines are now in place in Longsight, Levenshulme and on Piccadilly in Manchester city centre.  Next in line for some on-street payment action are Stockport and Haze Grove. 

This won't mean an end to on-bus payment though, only multi-trip tickets are available from the machines.  At present passengers can buy Stagecoach Dayriders and Megariders along with System One one-day tickets to be used on journeys with other operators.  In addition to cash, payment is accepted by credit and debit cards.

GMPTE's press officer told us that they hoped they would see an increase in the use of System One tickets as a thanks to the machines.  Some passengers, not understanding the deregulated bus system (which, let's face it, has only been in place for twenty two years - people need, er, time to adjust) don't realise all bus tickets aren't interchangeable between different operators.  With the option to buy a multi-operator ticket at the machine, maybe these people will be more likely to buy the right ticket.

If there's one thing that might stop people using these machines, it's the fact that they don't really stand out on the street.  The only reason we spotted them at all was because a Manchester Evening News photographer was stood on a stepladder taking an elevated shot of one when we arrived.  Maybe some sort of brightly-coloured sign above would advertise their existence more effectively?

On a different note, Stagecoach may innovate with on-street ticketing but they apparently haven't embraced blogging culture.  A Stagecoach representative told us she has to use a complicated system of emails to and from their PR department in order to get her fix of Manchester Buses.  The corporate servers apparently block blogs as a matter of course.

With some Hampshire bus operators running their own blogs, it'd be good to see some of our Greater Manchester operators embracing blogging and maybe even running blogs themselves.  Even if the big firms didn't want to get blogging, maybe the bosses at one of the indies could take the initiative?

We reckon the Dunstans over at Bluebird would run an interesting one.  With an increasing number of businesses across many different industries starting corporate blogs it can only be a matter of time before a Manchester operators takes the plunge!

Solar power set to speed up boarding times on the 192

GMPTE and Stagecoach are set to unveil Manchester's first on-street bus ticket machines tomorrow.  The solar-powered machines, situated on Piccadilly, will be officially launched at a press event tomorrow where transport bosses will be trying them out.

On street ticketing, already used on many routes in central London, should speed up boarding times on busy routes such as the 192 (Manchester - Hazel Grove) as drivers won't have to deal with handling as much cash and issuing tickets.  Let's hope use of the machines doesn't become compulsory or the buses will be slowed down just as much by drivers having to tell people to get back off and buy their ticket!

The machines are part of a 12 month trial.  It's good to see experimentation with new ticketing systems and hopefully more operators will take up the idea in the future.  We'll have more for you tomorrow.

[Image credit: Gene Hunt on Flickr]

More service changes on the way for Autumn

Earlier this week we told you about some upcoming service changes (see here and here).  Now GMPTE have updated their Service Changes page with confirmation of some service withdrawals and addition changes for the weekend of 26th October.

The withdrawal of service 25 (Manchester - Swinton), evening journeys on service 70 (Manchester - Clifton Junction) and evening, Sunday and public holiday journeys on service 484 (Salford Royal Hospital - Swinton), as well as a bunch of changes in the Wigan area, are all confirmed by the update.  Some timetable changes to First Manchester services are also announced.  Times on services 36, 37, 68, 88, 89 and 135 will all be altering.  New timetables aren't available yet so it's unclear whether these changes are minor tweaks or significant frequency revisions.

Back in August, publicly funded service 196 was revised to replace withdrawn service 172, running between Withington Hospital and East Didsbury via Heald Green.  That left a bit of confusion for passengers as peak time journeys continued to run via the 196's old route (East Didsbury - Wythenshawe Hospital).  That bug in the system is to be fixed at the end of the month as those peak time journeys will be renumbered 194.

Up in Bury some journeys on JPT's 486 (Bury - Radcliffe) service are withdrawn, while over in Oldham Bluebird's Oldham - Royton 402 service is retimed to run 2 minutes later.  In Rochdale, First Halifax's 589 (Rochdale - Burnley) and 590 (Rochdale - Halifax) services have some timetable changes too.

As always, you can get all the details on these changes from GMPTE's Service Changes page.

[Image credit: Gene Hunt on Flickr]

Cutbacks planned for tendered routes

At GMPTA's Transport Network Committee meeting on Friday, members were presented with the case for withdrawing journeys from several lightly-used publicly subsidised services.

Facing the chop are:

All journeys on service 25 (Manchester - Swinton)

Late Sunday evening journeys on service 313 (Stockport - Grove Lane)

All evening and Sunday journeys on Service 484 (Swinton - Salford Royal Hospital)

Some Sunday evening journeys on Service 610 (Wigan - Hawkley Hall circular)

All journeys on Service 614 (Wigan - New Springs circular)

Short Sunday journeys between Wigan and Robin Park on service 622 (Wigan - Kitt Green)

All journeys on service 631 (Wigan - Highfield Grange circular)

Meanwhile, Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) services in Hulme in Manchester and Milkstone/Deeplish in Rochdale are set to continue while a new DRT service for Kingsway in Rochdale is launched today.

Service 70 (Manchester - Clifton), which has had its head on the chopping block for several months now, was granted another reprieve as GMPTE look into a possible DRT solution for the Clifton area.

Although GMPTA will have made decisions on the future of these routes on Friday, the minutes from the meeting are not online yet.  That means we'll have to wait to find out whether these cutbacks have been approved or not.

While it's always sad to see bus services cut back, these services have incredibly low usage levels and GMPTE has to protect public money from wastage.

Stagecoach plan Tameside route simplifications

It's now over nine months since Stagecoach inherited the former Maynes network of routes between Manchester and Tameside.  Some of those old Mayne route numbers are now to disappear in a reshuffle of Stagecoach's routes in the area.  The GMPTA Transport Network Committee met on Friday and the notes from their meeting reveal the following changes:

- Service 216 (Manchester - Ashton-under-Lyne) sees a Monday - Saturday frequency increase from every 30 minutes to every 15.  Sunday eveing journeys are introduced, operating every 30 minutes, to replace services 236 and 237 on this section of the route.

- Services 217 and 218 (Manchester - Tameside Hospital) are extended from Stalybridge and Ashton-under-Lyne to provide a circular loop around Mossley.

- Service 230 (Manchester - Ashton-under-Lyne) is withdrawn and replaced by an improved service 231.

- Service 231 (Manchester - Droylsden Littlemoss Road) Now runs every 15 minutes between Manchester and Droysden (Littlemoss Road) with alternate journeys extending to Ashton-under-Lyne via Hartshead and Hurst.  All journeys will start from/run to Piccadilly in Manchester, with Shudehill Interchange no longer served.

- Services 232/233/234/235 (Manchester - Mossley circulars) are withdrawn.  The Mossley circular section of route is replaced by services 217 and 218, while Droylsden, Littlemoss, Hartshead and Hurst are now linked by service 231.

- Service 236/237 (Manchester - Glossop) are finally completely banished from Manchester in the evenings.  Over the years these services have had many of their journeys curtailed to run between Ashton-under-Lyne and Glossop.  Now only Monday to Friday peak journeys and the Friday and Saturday night nightbuses run the full length of the route.

All these changes take place on the 26th of October.  Co-incidentally First Pioneer are withdrawing their 387 (Ashton-under-Lyne - Hyde) service on the same day.

[Image credit: Ingy The Wingy on Flickr]

Metroshuttle bolts on to Bolton

GMPTA announced back in June that free Metroshuttle bus services would be extending outside Manchester city centre to other areas of Greater Manchester.  Today GMPTE have announced that Bolton will be the first town to gain a service.

The service is planned to serve Bolton Interchange, Bradshawgate, Deansgate, Bridge Street, St George's Road, Knowsley Street, Deansgate, Black Horse Street and Newport Street.  It will run every ten minutes during Monday to Saturday daytimes and be free to travel on.  If it is successful, the service should eventually be expanded to cover St Peter's Way to the east, Topp Way to the north, Marsden Way to the west and Trinity Street to the south.

Neighbouring region West Yorkshire launched its first 'Free City Bus' in Leeds later than Manchester's first Metroshuttle (originally branded Centreline).  However West Yorkshire's Passenger Transport Executive, Metro, has been quicker to expand the service to other towns such as Huddersfield.  A new service in Bradford launches at the end of the month.

GMPTE's Bolton service will start as soon as the 'i's have been dotted, the 't's crossed and a suitable operator has been arranged.  Let's face it - First or Arriva, with their huge resources and local presence, are the most likely candidate to win the contract but we'll have to wait and see if it turns out that way.  Stagecoach North West could be in the running too.  Maybe a smaller operator may clinch the deal.

As we reported in July, a Stockport service is likely to be announced at some point in the near future.

[Image credit: Gene Hunt on Flickr]

Labour Party Conference adds to Autumn of disruption

Gordon Brown and chums hit Manchester this weekend to hold their two-week-long annual conference at Manchester Central (formerly G-MEX).  The security cordon around the venue means Labour will be inadvertently adding to the Autumn of Disruption already facing Manchester bus users.

This Is Lancashire reports that the number 3 Metroshutte, the 33 (Manchester - Wigan), 63 (Manchester - Brookhouse), 258 (Manchester - Flixton), X40 (Manchester - Great Harwood), X41 (Manchester - Blackburn) and X43/X44 (Manchester  - Nelson), along with the 8, 17, 39, 67 and 135 night buses have been diverted from today.

From tomorrow the 42A (Manchester - Reddish) 46/47 (Manchester - Southern Cemetery), 50 (Manchester - East Disdbury), 191 (Manchester - Middleton) and 197 (Manchester - Stockport) will also be diverted.  In addition various demonstrations are expected to cause delays and more diversions sporadically over the Conference fortnight.

Interesting, the information isn't on GMPTE's website and has only been reported by This Is Lancashire.

[Image credit: tj.blackwell on Flickr]

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!).

The future of bus transport hits Manchester... well, Ringway

The future of bus transport is undoubtedly GPS tracking and real-time information.  While certain parts of the UK are on the way to achieving this, it's limited to certain routes rather than a whole-network or even whole-operator approach.

Manchester is way behind when it comes to these technologies.  There have been signals that there will soon be progress but meanwhile it's taken Manchester Airport (of all places) to bring some technological progress to Manchester's buses.  You just won't see it unless you're taking a flight.

FHR reports that the Aiport has installed software that keeps track of where its fleet of air-side passenger buses are at all times.  This should help improve the reliability of the bus service.  That said, the system runs on Windows XP so the Airport should probably expect vehicles to 'disappear' mid-journey as the on-board computers inexplicably crash.

[Image credit: Ron Layters on Flickr]

Newsbites: Our readers know their stuff

When it comes to interesting tidbits of news, our readers certainly know their onions (if by onions you mean buses, anyway).  In case you don't make a habit of reading the comments left on our posts, here's some of what you've missed.

Stuart Vallantine has spotted that there's been an unpublicised change on the 345 (Denton - Ashton-under-Lyne) route.  Early morning journeys previously run by First Manchester have begun beng run by Checkmate Coaches of Mossley.  Does anyone know the story behind this?

Meanwhile, 'DLC' has been in touch to let us know that he's heard there's been a resolution to the problem of forthcoming Stagecoach changes leaving two different services numbered 147 on the Wilmslow Road corridor.  It seems Stagecoach have decided to leave the soon-to-be-Magic-Bus-ified Southern Cemetery circulars as the 46 and 47 rather than renumbering them 146 and 147.  Good to know that an amicable solution was found in time!