Bee Network Service/Route Discussion

[BeeBus]

I am wondering if anyone knows more about the 356's diversion away from High Grove Road in Grasscroft? It keeps being referred to as an "operational issue" which is unusual wording. It has been affected by roadworks but not all the time it has been diverted, but there is no activity at present on any part of the route and the job that was causing disruption is completed.

I always thought the Enviro 200s were a bit chunky for the route (although that is not based on any knowledge of dimensions), but assumed there was no issue with the Fiat Ducatos. Talking to a friend who has more relevant experience of that section I also wonder whether one of the issues is with the current timetable? In theory buses shouldn't pass on that section but due to the inevitable perturbances they do occasionally, which can cause real problems as there few points at which one bus can pass another. Maybe it needs the timetable adjusting to move the notional passing point further away to reduce the risk of this happening?

Any information greatfully received.

 

[Tim33160]

I am wondering if anyone knows more about the 356's diversion away from High Grove Road in Grasscroft? It keeps being referred to as an "operational issue" which is unusual wording. It has been affected by roadworks but not all the time it has been diverted, but there is no activity at present on any part of the route and the job that was causing disruption is completed.

I always thought the Enviro 200s were a bit chunky for the route (although that is not based on any knowledge of dimensions), but assumed there was no issue with the Fiat Ducatos. Talking to a friend who has more relevant experience of that section I also wonder whether one of the issues is with the current timetable? In theory buses shouldn't pass on that section but due to the inevitable perturbances they do occasionally, which can cause real problems as there few points at which one bus can pass another. Maybe it needs the timetable adjusting to move the notional passing point further away to reduce the risk of this happening?

Any information greatfully received.

Someone has asked the question of Simon Dunn on the Rotala Management - Questions & Answers website
He is the CEO of Rotala the parent company of Diamond Buses who run the 356

Quote from: TheKLT on April 06, 2025, 08:02:46 PM
Hello,

I've got a few questions/concerns about the 356 service (Oldham-Ashton through the Saddleworth Villages)

Since around the 2nd week of diamond running this service it hasn't served High Grove Road in Grasscroft, which means a viable community is being left without a bus service, now they are saying this is due to an Operational Issue, now how long are they are looking at till they will get a service resumed again?

Also, the fiats are too small for the 356s coming out of Oldham in the week, which is often meaning some people who are living up in the villages where the 356 only serves aren't being able to get on the service, but obviously they need to take in account it is a tight route, when Nexus ran it the strata's they used on it never had any issues however it seems the strata's are being prioritised onto the 385 which could probably take an MMC around it, while 356 struggles with them.

Also are they any more stratas due for the 356, or are the fiats new permanent vehicles?

Thank you.

He replied:

We are at present short of "Mellor vehicles" in Manchester. It is 6 in total. At present this 6 vehicle gap is being plugged by some older Solo's and 2 New E200's in stock white. 4 of the vehicles are coming from re-assignment from another Bee Network operator and 2 are on order. I am advised the impact on being short of these smaller buses is that this route is being diverted.
I understand all this has been agreed and discussed with TfGM.

https://wmbusphotos.com/forum/index.php?topic=2074.msg341922#msg341922

 

[BeeBus]

Thank you for the swift and very useful reply. I did wonder about that sort of issue, but of course when you see buses of a particular type running on a service you find it harder to think there's a shortage of them!

Does anyone know where the additional vehicles are coming from and, crucially, when?

 

[mayneway]

Thank you for the swift and very useful reply. I did wonder about that sort of issue, but of course when you see buses of a particular type running on a service you find it harder to think there's a shortage of them!

Does anyone know where the additional vehicles are coming from and, crucially, when?

I suspect it’s the 4 Mellors from Queens road, however they won’t be released until the depot has been electrified and the E100’s are operational.

It’s a crazy situation when Queens I initially had 4 Solos which were perfect for the bury routes meaning the Mellors could have gone to Diamond but TFGM rejected the Solos and they ended up going to south wales.

Go north west yesterday took over the operation of the 23 Manchester City match day shuttles previously operated by amongst others First Manchester. A comment on Facebook during week suggested it was a last minute thing with routes hurriedly being learned by drivers. Also seems odd to suddenly change operator with so little of the season left?

I seem to remember First ferrying in several of their cascaded B9’s in order to operate the services so I suspect these will now move on.

A decent contract win for GNW though!

 

[Tim33160]

With three days notice, three more MCFC Matchday routes were announced as operating from 12 April. The difference is these are only available to pre-booked customers. One bus departs one hour before kick off with 20 mins journey time on each route. Return after the game is 25mins after fulltime. £2 per journey. One bus with space for an average of 90 fans per bus which must be pre-booked. The booking system can be found at https://tickets.mancity.com/en-GB/categories/travel and tickets can be booked from 11:00 (UK) five days before matchday ie Tues for Sat match.

The bus service is operated and managed by TfGM on behalf of Manchester City and is operated by Go North West using decker school buses from Denton depot.

MC101 Booth Street West Car Park (Higher Cambridge St/Dental Hospital) - Etihad Stadium (Connell College).

MC102 Victoria Rail Station (Corporation St/Printworks) - Etihad Stadium (Ashton New Rd/Darley St)

MC103 Piccadilly Rail Station (Fairfield St) - Etihad Stadium (Ashton New Rd/Darley St)

https://tfgm.com/man-city/bus-network

Re GNW taking over all other MCFC Matchday buses: with usual efficiency the route list on page nine of https://assets.ctfassets.net/nv7y93...us_Network_2024-25_FAQs_-_Feb_2025_Update.pdf has not been updated regarding change of operators

 

[mayneway]

With three days notice, three more MCFC Matchday routes were announced as operating from 12 April. The difference is these are only available to pre-booked customers. One bus departs one hour before kick off with 20 mins journey time on each route. Return after the game is 25mins after fulltime. £2 per journey. One bus with space for an average of 90 fans per bus which must be pre-booked. The booking system can be found at https://tickets.mancity.com/en-GB/categories/travel and tickets can be booked from 11:00 (UK) five days before matchday ie Tues for Sat match.

The bus service is operated and managed by TfGM on behalf of Manchester City and is operated by Go North West using decker school buses from Denton depot.

MC101 Booth Street West Car Park (Higher Cambridge St/Dental Hospital) - Etihad Stadium (Connell College).

MC102 Victoria Rail Station (Corporation St/Printworks) - Etihad Stadium (Ashton New Rd/Darley St)

MC103 Piccadilly Rail Station (Fairfield St) - Etihad Stadium (Ashton New Rd/Darley St)

https://tfgm.com/man-city/bus-network

Re GNW taking over all other MCFC Matchday buses: with usual efficiency the route list on page nine of https://assets.ctfassets.net/nv7y93...us_Network_2024-25_FAQs_-_Feb_2025_Update.pdf has not been updated regarding change of operators

Any idea why the sudden change of operator?

 

[Andyh82]

There are loads of minor service changes again, from 27th April

They seem to just sneak in now quite frequently

Services effected are 8, 10, 15, 33, 35, 87, 132, 163, 343, 406, 435, 440, 456, 457, 458, 511, 525, 561, 562, 571, 572, 607, 608, 609, 615, 630 & 639

https://tfgm.com/travel-updates/travel-alerts?active_tab=bus&date=Tomorrow&route_and_timetable=true

A notable one is that the 33 will be extended to RHS Bridgewater over the summer months

 

[mangad]

There are loads of minor service changes again, from 27th April

They seem to just sneak in now quite frequently

Services effected are 8, 10, 15, 33, 35, 87, 132, 163, 343, 406, 435, 440, 456, 457, 458, 511, 525, 561, 562, 571, 572, 607, 608, 609, 615, 630 & 639

https://tfgm.com/travel-updates/travel-alerts?active_tab=bus&date=Tomorrow&route_and_timetable=true

A notable one is that the 33 will be extended to RHS Bridgewater over the summer months

Easter has long been one of the "fixed" points for timetable changes (along with start of January and start of September) so in that respect, so not that unexpected!

 

[mayneway]

A notable one is that the 33 will be extended to RHS Bridgewater over the summer months

Brilliant idea from TFGM. 33 is one of the most unreliable services going with traffic delays on regent road and in Monton, so they decide to extend it.

 

[Tim33160]

Buses to the RHS Bridgewater were run as an extension to the X50 from Trafford Centre last year - presume was subject to traffic problems on M60 over Barton High level bridge

 

[mayneway]

Buses to the RHS Bridgewater were run as an extension to the X50 from Trafford Centre last year - presume was subject to traffic problems on M60 over Barton High level bridge

Guessing it will just be certain journeys rather than ALL 33’s?

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Brilliant idea from TFGM. 33 is one of the most unreliable services going with traffic delays on regent road and in Monton, so they decide to extend it.

Still a nice idea for passengers from that area who wish to visit the RHS Bridgewater site on a direct bus service..

 

[Andyh82]

Guessing it will just be certain journeys rather than ALL 33’s?

Every journey during the off peak period

https://assets.ctfassets.net/nv7y93idf4jq/3PyPSH1Fc88m8TOSvRVfRj/79208eb885251f819ca0b5744741d653/33__33B_25-SC-0095.pdf

Seems to result in a 25 minute layover at RHS Bridgewater

 

[johncrossley]

Still a nice idea for passengers from that area who wish to visit the RHS Bridgewater site on a direct bus service..

It is only direct for people who happen to be on route 33.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

It is only direct for people who happen to be on route 33.

My posting was made in answer to a posting that made reference to two specific areas on that route.

 

[daodao]

Brilliant idea from TFGM. 33 is one of the most unreliable services going with traffic delays on regent road and in Monton, so they decide to extend it.

Extending route 33 is shorter (just from Worsley) than the previous extension (from the Trafford Centre on route X50) operated in 2024 and is likely to be cheaper to run. Connections with Metrolink will be possible at Eccles. The long layover time at RHS Bridgewater will permit timely departures from the venue on the return journey. However, until 19th July it only runs until 2pm on weekdays. There are regular existing buses on routes 126 and 132 from the Trafford Centre that stop on Leigh Road, about 10 minutes walk from the RHS Bridgewater entrance. Visitors receive a 30% discount on garden entry when travelling to the garden by bus.

 

[WibbleWobble]

The 35 from Manchester (and Leigh) also stops on Leigh Road, so there's a longer span of operating day on that service.

Seems unnecessary to extend a route when there are others available, unless it is solely to provide a more accessible option by having a route stopping by the front door.

 

[Bungle965]

Does anyone know where the additional vehicles are coming from and, crucially, when?

Just a guess but perhaps First?

TfGM Bee Network - fleet discussion

At least there’s an attempt to rehome them and not just leave them to rot away completely then pay for someone to drag them off for scrap True but considering what TFGM actually got out of them compared to the B9’s many would ask was it really worth buying them.

www.railforums.co.uk

However at risk of derailing the Service/Route discussion thread if we could continue this conversation in said thread that would be more appropriate

 

[Class 466]

Despite having only just taken them on from a number of other operators, Go North West have ditched all the MC football routes with other operators picking them up so fans can still actually get to the game.

 

[Park47515]

Despite having only just taken them on from a number of other operators, Go North West have ditched all the MC football routes with other operators picking them up so fans can still actually get to the game.

Do we have a clue why they got them in the first place and then abruptly dropped them?

Seems very strange that the contracts weren't all just for the full football season.

 

[mangad]

Do we have a clue why they got them in the first place and then abruptly dropped them?

Seems very strange that the contracts weren't all just for the full football season.

Do we actually have any evidence they did get them? Because there's nothing online to confirm it that I could see.

 

[Class 466]

Do we actually have any evidence they did get them? Because there's nothing online to confirm it that I could see.

They operated them all at the last Man City Game…