Transport bosses give green light to bus cuts
PLANS to cut or curtail more than 30 bus routes across the Greater Manchester network have been given the green light by transport bosses.
Routes spanning north and south Manchester – and taking in Trafford General, Manchester Royal Infirmary , Tameside Hospital and the Trafford Centre – will be hit by the changes.
Services being withdrawn include routes through Gorton, Levenshulme, Stockport, Altrincham, Sale, Stretford, Ashton, Bury, Oldham, Bolton, Wigan.
There is also an impact on buses running through parts of Cheshire including Poynton and Northwich
The changes were noted and approved at the Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) bus network meeting held on Friday.
Many of the changes have been made by operators, while withdrawal of public funding by transport bosses has also had an impact.
While the approval has resulted in some services being axed, transport bosses have salvaged some routes by liaising with the private bus operators involved. Despite public outrage, 88 service through Blackley, Moston, Harpurhey and Manchester city centre has been cut. The number 114 has been rerouted to partially save the route, and Stagecoach will amend the 112 service to run every 15 minutes rather than every 20. Diamond Bus will be taking up the 575, a daily daytime service, between Bolton and Horwich, Old Lord’s Estate. Nick Roberts, representing TfGM at Friday’s meeting, said: “We welcome the opportunity of working with the commercial services.” The bus network in Greater Manchester has shrunk by 8 million miles in just four years. Under the current system, the majority of Greater Manchester’s bus services are run by commercial operators who are free to decide routes, timetables and set fare levels. Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has no say in how these services are run, and is not responsible for planning and coordinating the bus network. TfGM financially supports around 20 per cent of Greater Manchester’s bus services, where there is a social need. The budget for subsidised services has been frozen at £27.11m over the last two years. Nick Roberts, TfGM