The Student Room Group

Manchester Guides: Public Transport

Buses

For most of the university areas the main mode of public transport is the bus. One question which often pops up is what bus pass to buy. This depends where you live and how much you intend to travel in Manchester. If you never venture of Oxford/Wilmslow Road I would say get a UK North/Finglands/R Bollucks/MagicBus weekly as they tend to be cheap. However you will be limited to buses operated by that company, UK North and MagicBus are the most frequent.

If you intend to travel across all of Manchester then a GMPTE System 7 pass is worth buying but they cost about £10 a week, they do allow you to get on any bus in Greater Manchester regardless of the bus company though.

Some links to bus company sites which operate in the university areas. You should have an idea which areas they go to by the areas I have put in brackets the areas they tend to operate in.

http://www.stagecoachbus.com/manchester/ [South and East Manchester,- Wilsmlow Road, Stockport, Chorlton, Trafford Centre, Stretford, Old Trafford, Northenden, Wythenshawe etc[

http://www.bullockscoaches.net/ [Oxford Road, Fallowfield, Withington, East Didsbury, Cheadle]]

http://www.finglands.co.uk/ [Oxford Road, Fallowfield, Withington, East Didsbury]

http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/northwest/manchester/home/index.php [Salford and North Manchester - University of Salford, Swinton, Bolton, Wigan, Oldham, Rochdale etc]

http://www.arrivabus.co.uk/ [South Manchester – Stretford, Sale, Altrincham, Cheadle, Macclesfield, Wythenshawe]

www.gmpte.gov.uk – This is the main government body which controls transport in Greater Manchester, this has a great route planner if you are unsure which bus to get. There is also information about GMPTE travel passes.

Which bus? Manchester is a huge place so this guide will concentrate on some of the more major routes.

MMU and Manchester University from Piccadilly Bus Station (PBS) – 15, 42, 43,45, 85*, 86*, 142, 143, 145

Fallowfield, Withington, Didsbury, East Didsbury from PBS – 42, 142, 45

Fallowfield, Withington, Northenden from PSB – 43, 143

Chorlton Cum Hardy from PSB – 85 from the east of Chorlton, 86 from the North, the 86 covers more of the centre of Chorlton

Trafford Centre – 23, 23A Stagecoach) from Didsbury or Chorlton, 250 from Oxford Road or Booth Street West(not Rushulme, Fallowfield etc run by Stagecoach and UK North), 100 (Firstbus) from Cross Street (will be the new interexchange at Victoria station from Jan 2006)

Stockport – 23, 23A from Chorlton or Didsbury, 42 from Oxford/Wilmslow Road or 192 from Piccadilly.

*RNCM and MMU only

Trains

Most Manchester trains depart from Victoria or Piccadilly but if you're unsure Piccadilly is the safer option. Some trains stop at Oxford Road, e.g the Liverpool, Southport and Blackpool ones.

Some trains also stop at Salford Crescent but if you're going to Salford University from Manchester city centre its easier to get the bus.

All London, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Southern England services depart from Piccadilly.

Please see www.gmpte.gov.uk for information on local trains and www.trainline.co.uk for intercity services.

Trams

Manchester has an extensive tram system, however it dosn't operate in the main university areas. This map shows where it currently operates, beware only the green lines currently exist, the rest is planned for the future.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/travel/images/tram_network.gif

The trams are great if traveling from some where like Bury or Altrincham. The Tram is also ideal for Salford Quays. Its expensive however.

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If you intend to travel across all of Manchester then a GMPTE System 7 pass is worth buying but they cost about £10 a week, they do allow you to get on any bus in Greater Manchester regardless of the bus company though.


where can you get these from cos ive been restricting myself to a 'first week' ticket and now thats gone up to £11 from £10 ??
Reply 2
Go to the travel desk in University House on the Peel Park campus (its in the main entrance hall), some local post offices sell them, or you can go to the GMPTE travel shop in Piccidilly Gardens.

For students it costs £9.45 a week, and you can use any bus regardless of the bus company, I think the monthy one is £35 a month, much cheaper than Firstbus but you can still use all the Firstbuses plus any other bus that operates in the county.
Reply 3
also the 100 goes to the trafford centre from city centre/salford uni every 20 mins or so
Reply 4
It's a 1, not a 7...

Though I'd point that out, because I know most people haven't heard of em, that typo might confuse em
Reply 5
do you know when the rest of the tram lines will be completed?


and just to get an idea on how big manchester is...how long does it take to get from the university of manchester to the city centre(if there is one) in Boston there are a lot of "Squares" and neighborhoods but I don't know if Manchester is set up that way :/

and on that tram map you put up, what station(existing or not yet) is the university of manchester closest to just for a reference?
Reply 6
The university is about ten minutes away from the city centre, by bus. The nearest tram station is St Peter's Square, but "nearest" is relative - it's at the bottom of Oxford Road (ie, *in* the city centre). Also, the tram is expensive, and doesn't actually go near the university or student areas.
Reply 7
The university is really in the city centre though, just the south part of it, the campus is essentialy a city one. For a real idea of the size of Manchester try going from Wigan to Stockport, both are within Greater Manchester and its about 25-30 miles in distance.

With regards to the Metrolink completion date it was originaly 2000, then this got put back to 2006, then 2008 now if we get it all its likely to be 2010 or later.

Public transport wise the bus is king, with the the most frequent bus routes in Europe and some of the most modern buses in the country.

The nearest railway station to the university is Oxford Road however Piccidailly is the main station in Manchester. The university is about 15 minutes walk from this station.

Why not try using Google Earth you can get a really good idea about the cities size form that.
Reply 8
haha i did look at google earth, but it looks so small when i compare it to boston(which i already consider small....probobly because i've been everywhere...) and to london :/ but, it's not about size, it's about how you use it, hahaha i hate my horrible innuendos...damn.

yea but i'm going to visit a bunch of uni's before i make a decision. i'll be going to london, birmingham, manchester, edinburgh, and dublin.
Reply 9
Manchester is a lot bigger than both Edinburgh and Dublin, Birmigham is a funny one, I think Manchester city centre is certainly bigger but the city itself is not. However Manchester city centre serves as a centre for the same population as Birmingham (2.5 million - the population of Greater Manchester).
Reply 10
...that's also the same population of boston

weird
Reply 11
Another strange thing, Boston has a Croma pizza restuarent, the other two are in Manchester city centre, and Chorlton Cum Hardy a suburb of Manchester. What made Pizza Express decide on opening their two other outlets in Boston and Chorlton I don't know.

Just some random bizzare thing.

That 2.5 million includes, Manchester, Salford, Stockport, Bolton, Oldham, Trafford, Bury, Rochdale, Wigan and Tameside and all the suburbs within them towns and boroughs.

The population of Manchester itself is 400,000 but all the other places share the infrastrcuture as Manchester such as trams, buses, trains and the same police, fire service and ambulance service in that makes them all the same city in my opinion. Wigan is actually nearer to Southport than Manchester though!
Reply 12
Just a quick question, if anyone can help. I'm going to be travelling from Stockport to Manchester on friday at about 12, heading to a few shops, and then going to the university library (Manchester that is). I have a car, but I have no idea where I would park it, so I'm thinking of getting the train from Stockport to Man Picc, doing my shopping, and then getting a bus from Picc to the library. But which bus should I get? I know there's some listed in the post as above, but I've heard that one type of bus is much cheaper than the other, but I'm not sure which one it is that is supposedly cheaper.

If anyone could help it would be much appreciated, I'm rubbish with public transport! x
Reply 13
BombShell
Just a quick question, if anyone can help. I'm going to be travelling from Stockport to Manchester on friday at about 12, heading to a few shops, and then going to the university library (Manchester that is). I have a car, but I have no idea where I would park it, so I'm thinking of getting the train from Stockport to Man Picc, doing my shopping, and then getting a bus from Picc to the library. But which bus should I get? I know there's some listed in the post as above, but I've heard that one type of bus is much cheaper than the other, but I'm not sure which one it is that is supposedly cheaper.

If anyone could help it would be much appreciated, I'm rubbish with public transport! x


Finglands (white) is the cheapest, 50p. Magic bus (all blue) and UK North (red) are 60p. Stagecoach are stupidly expensive. However, if you get the Stagecoach bus from Stockport to Manc, you can buy a day ticket, and it will cost less (£2 something for a whole day's travel on Stagecoach buses).
Reply 14
Brilliant, thankyou, thats very useful. Is there any particular numbers of the Finglands, Magic Bus or UK North buses that I should get from Picc gardens, or do most of them head by Oxford Road?
Reply 15
BombShell
Brilliant, thankyou, thats very useful. Is there any particular numbers of the Finglands, Magic Bus or UK North buses that I should get from Picc gardens, or do most of them head by Oxford Road?


The 14* and the 4* series all go there (replace * with digit of your choice). For those buses, it's most likely to be 41, 42, 43, 140, 142, or 143. There are other buses as well, but the one's I've mentioned are the most frequent :smile:
Reply 16
If you want a cheap ticket avoid stagecoach, if down Oxford Road anyway you might as well just get the 42 back to Stockport rather than mess about going back into Picciddilly. It is about 25-30 minutes on the bus from Manc Uni to Stockport.
Reply 17
Hi, i am going to be staying at mill point accommodation but will have to travel to the Hollings campus. Which buses and what types of tickets etc do you reccommend?
Reply 18
Hi, il be staying at Wilmslow Park. Will I need to catch a bus everyday to the Aytoun Business School (MMU) or will I be alright walking. Here in Bradford I didnt mind walking 15-20 mins to college in mornings, if its going to take longer than 20-25 mins then il be best using public transport, if not then il be walking like usual. Plus I quite enjoy a walk early in the mornings where I can breath in all that fresh air and look forward to the day ahead.

So how long will it take me to walk to the MMU business school from Wilmslow park halls. Roughly......?
Reply 19
SOUNDBWOY
Hi, il be staying at Wilmslow Park. Will I need to catch a bus everyday to the Aytoun Business School (MMU) or will I be alright walking. Here in Bradford I didnt mind walking 15-20 mins to college in mornings, if its going to take longer than 20-25 mins then il be best using public transport, if not then il be walking like usual. Plus I quite enjoy a walk early in the mornings where I can breath in all that fresh air and look forward to the day ahead.

So how long will it take me to walk to the MMU business school from Wilmslow park halls. Roughly......?

How quickly do you walk?

You could probably do it in that time - and, since the 147 bus will take you from the hospitals to Sackville Street/Piccadilly, you could always hop on that if it was raining. There are other buses that go that way from Wimslow Park (the 140 does, as I think does the 47?), but they're not that common, so you'd be walking there from Oxford Road anyhow, I think.