#AYearOfBuses 142: Magic Bus Manchester – East Didsbury
Today’s winner on #AYearOfBuses is magic! It’s an all-time classic – it’s student favourite, Magic Bus 142. Stagecoach’s Magic Bus brand was introduced to Manchester in the 1990s, in an attempt to obliterate competition from Finglands, Walls and Bullocks, amongst others. Initially running near-life expired Leyland Atlanteans and Olympians, Magic Bus was a bargain bucket, […]
#AYearOfBuses 130: Macclesfield – Manchester
One of Manchester and Cheshire’s longest and well-established cross-boundary bus routes is our focus today here on #AYearOfBuses – the 130. Established in 1928 as a joint venture between Manchester Corporation and North Western Road Car, it previously ran from the centre of Manchester, through South Manchester and East Didsbury, and into Cheshire via Handforth, […]
#AYearOfBuses 103: Manchester – World Freight Terminal
Today’s winner on #AYearOfBuses is one of two core bus routes linking Manchester with its Airport. To be honest, we’ve chosen Stagecoach Manchester’s 103 for today because ‘World Freight Terminal’, the official endpoint for the 103 from 28 April, sounds absolutely epic. The 103 is one of two core routes linking the city centre with Manchester […]
#AYearOfBuses 92: Hazel Grove – Manchester
Today’s route on #AYearOfBuses runs only in only direction, only on a weekday morning – because it was too confusing for customers to catch on the way home! Stagecoach Manchester’s X92 is a non-stop, express version of its popular 192 – one of the busiest bus corridors in Europe (and a route which we’ll come […]
#AYearOfBuses 82: Manchester – Waterhead
Day 82 on #AYearOfBuses takes us back to Manchester, for a look at one of the city’s key trunk routes. First Manchester’s 82, along with its sister route, the 83, runs with a combined frequency of around every 5-7 mins between Manchester, Newton Heath, Failsworth and Oldham, with the 82 continuing to Waterhead and the […]
#AYearOfBuses 67: Manchester – Cadishead
Long-established First Manchester route 67 is today’s entry on #AYearOfBuses – and it’s another route which has seen some interesting changes over the years! The 67 takes the good folk of Cadishead, one of Salford’s outlying suburbs, into Shudehill bus station in the heart of Manchester. It loosely follows the route of the Manchester Ship […]
#AYearOfBuses 61: X61 Blackpool – Manchester – Preston
Today’s entry on #AYearOfBuses marks the sadly now-deceased, long-standing former Ribble route linking the city of Manchester with the seaside resort of Blackpool. Blackpool is the ‘go-to’ British seaside resort of choice for most Mancunians, and ever since the 1950s, the city had enjoyed a bus link with the town. The X61 was undoubtedly the […]
#AYearOfBuses 58: Rochdale – Oldham
Today’s winner on #AYearOfBuses isn’t the most scenic route in the world, nor does it run to any particularly interesting places…anymore. First Manchester’s route 58 is one of the main bus routes linking the two Greater Manchester towns of Oldham and Rochdale, calling at Shaw, Crompton and Milnrow along the way. It’s changed very little […]
Go-Ahead buys First Manchester bus depot; soon to rebrand as Go North West
The Go-Ahead Group has announced that it has agreed terms with FirstGroup to buy Manchester’s Queen’s Road bus depot. The sale, which is worth a reported £12m, is due to complete in the next few months, and will take Go-Ahead into Manchester, Britain’s second-largest urban area, for the first time. The deal includes the Queen’s Road […]
#AYearOfBuses 43: X43 Skipton – Burnley – Manchester
Another long-established interurban route, The Witchway, from The Burnley Bus Company, is today’s winner on #AYearOfBuses. With a long and distinguished history traceable all the way back to 1948, the X43 is one of Lancashire’s most important bus routes. Today, it’s run by Transdev’s The Burnley Bus Company, connecting Skipton with Colne, Nelson, Burnley and […]