#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 83 to Sholver. They run due north out of the city centre, along the A62 Oldham Road, the fastest and most direct to the town of Oldham.
In 2000, the route received a huge upgrade, with a fleet of brand new first-generation Mercedes-Benz Citaros, accompanied by a large-scale marketing campaign focusing on the new ‘chauffeur-driven’ Mercs. The Citaros were replaced in 2006 with Overground ‘Orange Line’ branded Volvo B7RLEs, and these days, is usually ran with double decker Enviro400s and Volvo B9TLs.
The 82 no longer exists with the only the 83 now running every 10 minutes on full route. Stagecoach previously did a night route on 82 until recently.