New guided buses to Leigh from April

[TheGrandWazoo]

Ah, so it's going that way. I can see there might be a minor time improvement from Atherton to Leigh (although I'm not convinced there are that many travellers between the two) but isn't Leigh to Wigan via Tyldesley a bit indirect?

Would perhaps reflect different shorter passenger flows than end to end traffic?

 

[nerd]

Is that likely to attract many passengers given there's already a good train service to Atherton and Wigan?

Train service is quick, and reasonably frequent - 2 tph.

But the station is more than half a mile from Atherton town centre; arguably too far walking for a regular commuter. Great if you live out along Newbrook Road, not so good if you live around Central Park. And at the other end, the buses will be running through Manchester city centre to the Education Precinct; so saving on walking from Victoria or Salford Central.

It will be interesting to see whether the busway can take Atherton commuter business away from the rail service; in the way that the South Manchester line trams certainly have taken business from the counterpart rail service at East Didsbury.
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Ah, so it's going that way. I can see there might be a minor time improvement from Atherton to Leigh (although I'm not convinced there are that many travellers between the two) but isn't Leigh to Wigan via Tyldesley a bit indirect?

Arguably; there is no direct route.

 

[WatcherZero]

No the branch they were investigating didn't go to Leigh, it was an extension of services coming from Manchester leaving the guided busway at Tyldsley and run up to Atherton then on to Wigan. Essentially transferring the 32 bus route over to the same busway branding and quality standards and extending it out the other side of Manchester City centre. The only difference through Wigan is that between Atherton and Hindley it would follow the new A road being built for North Leigh Park running east-west just north of Howe Bridge Crematorium.

 

[yorksrob]

No the branch they were investigating didn't go to Leigh, it was an extension of services coming from Manchester leaving the guided busway at Tyldsley and run up to Atherton then on to Wigan. Essentially transferring the 32 bus route over to the same busway branding and quality standards and extending it out the other side of Manchester City centre. The only difference through Wigan is that between Atherton and Hindley it would follow the new A road being built for North Leigh Park running east-west just north of Howe Bridge Crematorium.

So very much a duplication of the railway. This seems an odd development for TfGM to consider.

 

[WatcherZero]

It doesn't really duplicate the railway as that runs to the north of all the communities whereas the bus route runs through their centres, also rail route doesn't help if your not near a rail station.

 

[yorksrob]

It doesn't really duplicate the railway as that runs to the north of all the communities whereas the bus route runs through their centres, also rail route doesn't help if your not near a rail station.

If its following the old railway that branches off of the Leigh loop, it's as far south of those settlements as the existing railway is north.

I regularly walk from Atherton to the station and its fifteen minutes max.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

If its following the old railway that branches off of the Leigh loop, it's as far south of those settlements as the existing railway is north.

I regularly walk from Atherton to the station and its fifteen minutes max.

I guess there's a fair chunk of people who, unlike you, won't or can't make that 15 min walk. Especially given the prevailing weather in that part of the world. Would think that's who it's aimed at.

 

[yorksrob]

I guess there's a fair chunk of people who, unlike you, won't or can't make that 15 min walk. Especially given the prevailing weather in that part of the world.

Indeed. It looks to me as though those people would be better served by a bus along the main road (in the middle of the settlements).

If this was a railway re-opening proposal, even I would be sceptical.

 

[nerd]

Indeed. It looks to me as though those people would be better served by a bus along the main road (in the middle of the settlements).

If this was a railway re-opening proposal, even I would be sceptical.

Bus will go throught the middle of Tyldelsey, Atherton an Leigh; and if extended Wiganwards, through the middle of Hindley too. None of which are well served by the current railway.

 

[yorksrob]

Bus will go throught the middle of Tyldelsey, Atherton an Leigh; and if extended Wiganwards, through the middle of Hindley too. None of which are well served by the current railway.

Well, it can't be going along the railway alignment because that doesn't go through the middle of Hindley, it goes to the south of it.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

At one time at the start of the 20th century, the railway maps of "South Lancashire" showed a very large number of lines, junctions, etc, but this was because there were numerous rail-served collieries on the major coalfield.

Does anyone know if any former railway line sections in parts of Mosley Common were used, when the old railway lines were cleared to reuse on the line of the Leigh Guided Busway?

 

[nerd]

Well, it can't be going along the railway alignment because that doesn't go through the middle of Hindley, it goes to the south of it.

I think you mean 'north of it'? Hindley station is pretty badly located to be accessed from anywhere meaningful.
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Does anyone know if any former railway line sections in parts of Mosley Common were used, when the old railway lines were cleared to reuse on the line of the Leigh Guided Busway?

Only the former mainline rail alignment used, I think.

There is no direct access to the busway from Mossley Common - a sore point for some.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I am not sure if this has been mentioned on the thread, but because it is a somewhat different entity that is entirely situated within the TfGM administered area (or "empire" as I have been known to refer to it on SSC), can the holders of TfGM-issued ENCTS passes obtain the same type of free travel on the Leigh Guided Busway as buses, trams and trains in the approved time periods for such use?.

 

[radamfi]

I am not sure if this has been mentioned on the thread, but because it is a somewhat different entity that is entirely situated within the TfGM administered area (or "empire" as I have been known to refer to it on SSC), can the holders of TfGM-issued ENCTS passes obtain the same type of free travel on the Leigh Guided Busway as buses, trams and trains in the approved time periods for such use?.

There is no difference in validity between guided buses and normal buses. Trams, metros, trains and (probably) trolleybuses are not classed as "buses".

 

[yorksrob]

I think you mean 'north of it'? Hindley station is pretty badly located to be accessed from anywhere meaningful.

No, the disused railway route most likely to be used by a busway is to the South of Hindley. Quite a bit.

 

[telstarbox]

I am not sure if this has been mentioned on the thread, but because it is a somewhat different entity that is entirely situated within the TfGM administered area (or "empire" as I have been known to refer to it on SSC), can the holders of TfGM-issued ENCTS passes obtain the same type of free travel on the Leigh Guided Busway as buses, trams and trains in the approved time periods for such use?.

Yes. It's the same as any other bus service, it just happens to benefit from Zil lanes dedicated guideways

 

[nerd]

No, the disused railway route most likely to be used by a busway is to the South of Hindley. Quite a bit.

I think you may be be confusing two longer-term aspirations of Wigan Borough for service extensions to the Leigh-Salford-Manchester busway.

The Leigh service - which will terminate at the Leigh bus station from April, is evaluated for extension into the 'Lowton Loop'; basically to run southwest along the St Helens Road towards Lowton, and then around Pennington Flash to return through Firs Lane and Twist Lane. I understand that this route is indeed envsiaged as exploiting a series of former rail alignments.

The Atherton service, on the other hand, is being evaluated for possibly running along the Northleigh link road into Hindley Green. This road route might then carry on long-term immedately south of Hindley; effectviely replacing the curent A577 for through traffic, and the Hindley Green busway could follow this alignment - to the north of the new road - and on through to Wigan, or back along the current A577 though the middle of Hindley.

see the map at page 58

https://www.wigan.gov.uk/Docs/PDF/C...rt-Strategy/05-Chapter7-Chapter8-Chapter9.pdf

 

[nerd]

http://www.firstgroup.com/greater-m...ntroducing-vantage-our-new-service-starting-3

service to start on 3rd April. Initially running Leigh/Atherton to Stevenson Square - not all the way through to MRI until the Oxford Road works have been completed.

Leigh to Manchester 60 minutes peak; 50 minutes off-peak; 45 minutes evening,

services running through from 4.00 a.m to midnight.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Services running through from 4.00 a.m to midnight.

Those times should cater for those on a very early start time in the morning.

 

[gnolife]

http://www.firstgroup.com/greater-m...ntroducing-vantage-our-new-service-starting-3

service to start on 3rd April. Initially running Leigh/Atherton to Stevenson Square - not all the way through to MRI until the Oxford Road works have been completed.

Leigh to Manchester 60 minutes peak; 50 minutes off-peak; 45 minutes evening,

services running through from 4.00 a.m to midnight.

Stevenson Square!? That's an pretty damn poor place for them to choose, given that it's just a bus shelter with a remarkable lack of connectivity - buses don't stop there on the way to Piccadilly Gardens from Harpurhey and Ashton, buses to Shudehill don't go near it, and it's not particularly close to where buses South go from. No connection to any of the stations, heavy rail or Metrolink.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Stevenson Square!? That's an pretty damn poor place for them to choose, given that it's just a bus shelter with a remarkable lack of connectivity - buses don't stop there on the way to Piccadilly Gardens from Harpurhey and Ashton, buses to Shudehill don't go near it, and it's not particularly close to where buses South go from. No connection to any of the stations, heavy rail or Metrolink.

Stevenson Square is only a temporary measure as a terminus until as nerd states, the works on Oxford Road have been completed. However, it is no great distance at all from Stevenson Square to Piccadilly Gardens, where a veritable plethora of buses and trams can be found.

 

[randyrippley]

the road works have caused chaos on the eastern section of the East Lancs road for the last year, and losing a carriageway each way to make room for the bus lane has contributed to some of the worst queues ever seen trying to get in/out of Manchester
Added to the delays caused by the M60 "managed motorway" upgrade together the works have almost made Manchester a "no go" zone for anyone coming from the northwest

 

[nerd]

the road works have caused chaos on the eastern section of the East Lancs road for the last year, and losing a carriageway each way to make room for the bus lane has contributed to some of the worst queues ever seen trying to get in/out of Manchester
Added to the delays caused by the M60 "managed motorway" upgrade together the works have almost made Manchester a "no go" zone for anyone coming from the northwest

The works certainly created delays; but then any upgrade of the East Lancs road would have had the same result; and the bus lane works (even delayed a couple of months due to unmapped under-road services) will have taken much less time to implement than would have been the case for major carriageway or junction reconfiguration.

But no permanent capacity is lost with the insertion of the bus lanes; as the key choke points travelling east are the light-controlled junctions - especially where the A580 and A572 merge - and the reserved bus lanes stop 100m or so short of these; with the final stretch shared between buses and general traffic filtering left. I have driven this route recently, and the traffic delays now are much the same as those before the bus lane works were done.

And of course; any increase in the proportion of road users travelling by bus or bike will increase the overall number of road users able to benefit from the road - which is after all the key point of any upgrade. How big an increase in bus use there may be, remains to be seen.

 

[telstarbox]

The timetables for the V1 and V2 routes are now on the TfGM website:

http://www.tfgm.com/journey_planning/Pages/bus_times_leaflet_library.aspx

 

[317 forever]

It seems that the section from Tyldesley to Atherton on route V2 will just be conventional roads, not guided busway.

 

[M60]

Manchester's guided busway opened today. The service will link Atherton and Leigh to Ellenbrook via a busway then onwards to Stephenson Square via the A580 East Lancashire Road and A6 Chapel Street.

http://www.tfgm.com/buspriority/Pages/website/default.html

http://urbanitymcr.wordpress.com/20...-busway-will-the-critics-finally-be-silenced/

http://twitter.com/urbanitymcr/status/716549342111404032

 

[leet19790]

The timings are generous, I live in Leigh now and it took 34 minutes from Leigh to Manchester this evening on it.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Amongst two consecutive days of celebrations for me (41st wedding anniversary today and 71st birthday tomorrow), I am hoping to make a visit from Stevenson Square to Leigh on the new V1 service.
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REPORT ON FIRST JOURNEY

Well, there was chaos on King Street in Manchester caused by a large number of contractors vans parked on either side of the roadway lay-by's, which meant that buses in either direction could not pass each other as normal and long tail-backs thus ensued.

The frequency of V1 and V2 buses passing us in the Stevenson Square direction was quite impressive and it was interesting to use a bus on the East Lancs Road as we had not been on one that did this for more years than I care to remember.

No problems encountered on the actual guided Busway from Ellenbrook to Leigh bus station, but there were large numbers of workmen completing works on the surrounding embankments and pathways that run parallel to the bus way.

 

[WatcherZero]

The feedback from various people so far seems to be the timings are generous on the guided busway but its generally losing a couple of minutes in Manchester city centre.

Also apparently after one year they are allowed to increase the speed limit on the busway with it initially being limited by planning conditions.

 

[AB93]

The feedback from various people so far seems to be the timings are generous on the guided busway but its generally losing a couple of minutes in Manchester city centre.

Also apparently after one year they are allowed to increase the speed limit on the busway with it initially being limited by planning conditions.

Unfortunately, TfGM/MCC have timed the first week of Vantage with the closure of Princess Street for nine months for tram works, and roadworks affecting Great Ancoats Street until 21st April, which has caused absoloute carnage in the city centre for the past three days.