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.

Reply 20

AT82

OP

The 47 is complex and should be avoided for that journey, it dosn't really go that near to Aytown anyway.

The best thing is to get any of the usual Wimslow Road services and get of at Picciddilly then walk down (is 2 mins walk from picc).

It will take me 20 mins to walk that route.

Reply 21

bilaal

i live in hazel grove ( stockport ) .... i am gonna be commuting everyday .... the uni rider is 135 pounds for the year and the train ticket is like 600 pounds ...... i just wanted to know if it is worth it to go on the train everyday just to save ur time .... if so then how much time wud i save on the train? ..... the bus is the 192 .... i know the train takes 20 min ..... how long do u think the bus wud take ? .... and isnt there any special deal for the students comming on the trains ?

Reply 22

AT82

OP

I fail to see how the bus can be so expensive, the 192 is one of the cheaper routes because UK North also run it.

The train to Stockport to Manchester should be less than £2 return with a rail card.

Reply 23

cinderellao9

i will be starting at University of Manchester this year, only coming from rochdale the train goes to Victoria. someone mentioned that there is a bus from victoria train station to the uni, has anyone got any ideas what i should do to get there easily? help.. thank you xxx :smile:

Reply 24

Ana

19

cinderellao9

i will be starting at University of Manchester this year, only coming from rochdale the train goes to Victoria. someone mentioned that there is a bus from victoria train station to the uni, has anyone got any ideas what i should do to get there easily? help.. thank you xxx :smile:

Assuming you mean the Oxford Road campus, you may as well walk to Picadilly Gardens from Victoria, it's only a couple of minute's walk :smile:

If you're feeling really lazy, I think you can get free travel on the trams between Victoria and Piccadilly/Market Street/Mosely Street (which run every 6 minutes) with your season ticket from Rochdale.

Reply 25

cinderellao9

yes oxford road campus, thank you for your answer. i dont mind walking most times.... just when its raining :frown:

(rain?? in manchester?!!..never)

Reply 26

Ana

19

cinderellao9

yes oxford road campus, thank you for your answer. i dont mind walking most times.... just when its raining :frown:

(rain?? in manchester?!!..never)

Ah, well, there's a new-fangled invention for coping with the rain, it's called... uh... an umbrella? :p:

Seriously, I don't think it rains that much here, and statistically the rainfall here is definately much less than where I'm from :biggrin:

Reply 27

HannahD

cinderellao9

i will be starting at University of Manchester this year, only coming from rochdale the train goes to Victoria. someone mentioned that there is a bus from victoria train station to the uni, has anyone got any ideas what i should do to get there easily? help.. thank you xxx :smile:

There's a bus stop outside Victoria, opposite Urbis (big glass building you can't miss). Catch the 197 (most likely Stagecoach) from there and it'll get you to Oxford Road directly. Beware of the traffic at peak times and it'll be costly so best get a System One travel pass.

Reply 28

AT82

OP

Just walk and it loose some weight :smile:

Reply 29

mr_person

1

You might want to remove UK North weekly as an option from the first post as they seem to be dead and buried...

Reply 30

AT82

OP

And now all we have is over crowded Magic buses, Finglands that seem to spend 20 mins at each stop and R *******'s that never turn up. Is it any wonder I have bought a car?

Reply 31

mr_person

1

AT82

And now all we have is over crowded Magic buses, Finglands that seem to spend 20 mins at each stop and R *******'s that never turn up. Is it any wonder I have bought a car?

I agree that the bus situation along the Oxford Road particularly has become horrendous. Magic buses are often to full to pick people up even at non-peak times. There definitely need to be more buses, or at least some attempt at solving the problem.

Reply 32

Jim-ie

14

Can't beat a magic bus, if the smell doesnt put you off, being laid flat against a the window will.

Reply 33

just_tha_bboy

6

U guys are lucky. U don't have to put up with FIRST as i have to travel up 2 Bolton. Plus i was subject to some of the most disgusting and rude customer Service by them in Huddersfield 2. £3.50 for a day ticket!? What a rip-off! Won't be long before you pay S-Yorks prices (£4) :mad:

I'm getting a car or a bike! **** public transport. I never want to use their services or Trans-Pennine Xpress trains again.

Reply 34

KezMar

Okay I'm mildly confused, having lived in the back of beyond for too long, I am unsure of the whole public transport system. I'm looking for a bus that will take me from Daisy Bank Halls, to Hollings, To the city centre (either the Trafford Centre or The Airedale) and then to a train station (preferably picadilly but oxford road will also be fine). Is there any type of termly or annual tickets etc.. that would allow me to do all, or am I better off just getting a Magic bus ticket... but would this let me get to the city centre??! Please Help

Reply 35

drawmeamonkey

1

finglands and magic are now both 70p and a magic bus driver told me that they are stopping single fares soon so everyone will have to buy a £4 pass!

looks like uk north going under has really hurt the competition to win passengers, and now the other companies can force the fares up!

Reply 36

AT82

OP

Fingland's and Stagecoach are in danger of forming a cartel. Both companies have done similar stunts before and both worked in the process to get UK North banned.

Also the 86 bus has now gone to every 5-6 minutes which means they are always packed, I am having to stand half the time by the 4th stop in Chorlton. That is 20 people getting on at each stop at peak times :frown:

. It now sometimes takes 45 minutes for me to get to picciddily by bus. It also takes 45 minutes to walk.

I resent paying £9.50 a week for a Megarider so much :frown:

.

Reply 37

Ana

19

Jonacristel

Hey what do people think of this:

System One

It says you can travel to almost any part of Manchester on most buses, for £11 a week. Will that save me any money, or am I better off getting a Unirider?

The thing is, that the annual unirider cost is £142 and covers from 1st Sept-30th June, which isn't really value for money since uni starts on 17th Sept and ends 6th June. That's like, 4 weeks gone to waste. All other options (Autumn, Spring& Summer term) will cause the same problem. So what do you guys think? I'm asking because I'm trying to budget for weekly travel from Fallowfield-to-uni-to-town. Is there any way I can save? Or am I already gonna be saving a lot by buying the unirider?

It does me fine, but if you won't be stepping off Wimslow road, buy a £5 a week pass from Magic Bus or Finglands.

Reply 38

Ana

19

Jonacristel

Hey thanks for the info.. *does some calculations* but £142 for 38 weeks still costs cheaper at £3.70 a week.

£5 a week for 40 weeks is £200 so.... even if we were to take away 8 weeks of holiday time (is that right, 8 weeks? lol) I'd still end up spending £160 for 32 weeks.

The Unirider, compared to System One (£11/wk) is way cheaper... hmm.. Now all I have to do is get the money for it :P

Ah, yeah, get the unirider then. The prices of a weekly bus ticket only just (literally only just!) went up to a fiver, I've not done the sums to work out how it compares.

Reply 39

Rivaldo_23

Hi.I'd like to ask which bus companies can service me so as to go daily from Oak House,Sycamore Court to the University of Manchester and in various places of the city of Manchester.Which companies have the lowest prices in tickets?I saw something about an offer from Stagecoach for students.About 150 pounds for 1 whole academic year??Is it a good offer?Are Stagecoach buses convenient for the transportation from Oak House to Manchester?

Manchester Guides: Public Transport

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