TfGM-website, timetable updates and general news concerning TfGM bus stations.

[Deerfold]

Nope, they probably won't. It's just an easy way to cut services saying that DRT is in place.

Most ENCTS passes will pay half fare instead of being free.

Local Link shared minibuses

tfgm.com

You can buy single and weekly tickets from the driver in cash. If paying with cash, try and have the right amount.

System One and Get Me There AnyBus tickets are accepted on Local Link.

You must hold an igo card to travel using a child ticket.

Children under five and holders of a travel plus pass for disabled people travel free.

Adult single £2.65
Adult weekly £21.20
Child single £1.30
Travel pass for older people concession single before 09:30 £2.65
Travel pass for older people concession single after 09:30 £1.30
Travel pass for older people concession weekly anytime £10.60
Travel pass for disabled people concession single anytime £1.30
Travel pass for disabled people concession weekly anytime £10.60

They seem to require a lot of information if you want to register - I don't see why they need my date of birth so I can order a bus - certainly not in line with ICO guidelines about only collecting required information.

If your address is not in Greater Manchester you have to ring up to create an account, so a certain amount of pre-planning is required.

If you want to take a mobility scooter you have to give at least 7 days' notice when booking.
However, you can only book up to 7 days in advance.
Does that mean you have to book with a mobility scooter exactly 7 days before you travel?

 

[py_megapixel]

The vehicle requirements for TfGM tenders specify a minimum capacity figure, not a minimum seated capacity figure. It would be strange if they were specifying figures that required a double decker for an evening contracted service. For a daytime route that might get high loadings on one or two specific services around school starting and finishing times I could consider that, most of the day the many of the seats will be unoccupied and when the bus is almost full, most of the passengers aren't paying the adult fare. While TfGM have cut budgets for contracts, I would guess Stagecoach have relocated vehicles following contract changes, maybe if they have fewer evening contracts they have more spare vehicles?

Maybe, though what's been appearing generally seems to be Enviro 200s. Double deckers were overkill, but those evening services could really do with full length deckers (i.e. 300s or 200MMCs) bearing in mind that they are every 20 mins for most of the day but go down to hourly in the evening.

Stagecoach Manchester has loads of rather short buses, loads of deckers, and virtually nothing in between, and I do feel that it's worse off because of that.

 

[M60lad]

How reliable is Local-Link? I've heard stories recently of people ordering/booking a trip on Local-Link and then the bus doesn't show up when they've got to get to work or somewhere else.

 

[lincman]

How reliable is Local-Link? I've heard stories recently of people ordering/booking a trip on Local-Link and then the bus doesn't show up when they've got to get to work or somewhere else.

As a frequent visitor to Greater Manchester, and the Rochdale area in particular, I do think that if this is a foretaste of what is to come is does not bode well for the future.

 

[northwichcat]

As a frequent visitor to Greater Manchester, and the Rochdale area in particular, I do think that if this is a foretaste of what is to come is does not bode well for the future.

As someone who lives in Cheshire but close to the Greater Manchester boundary if I tried to find a journey from my home to the Wythenshawe area on a journey planner it would suggest a change at Altrincham or a change at Wilmslow and those options are limited to certain times of the day. It appears Local Link provides an option, as the A538 is included in the operational area and the 88 bus stops there. However, does a pre-booked minibus work when you need to make a journey on another bus to connect to it? Would I need to allow a lengthy connection time or can I rebook if the 88 bus gets delayed?

 

[DelphDonkey]

As a frequent visitor to Greater Manchester, and the Rochdale area in particular, I do think that if this is a foretaste of what is to come is does not bode well for the future.

The change to these evening services (the R9/10 was only introduced last month) is a desperate attempt to provide *something* in the absence of the scheduled journeys, which are mainly not running, thanks to Rosso's continuing and chronic driver shortage. (Why are Rosso so badly affected, anyone know? Every operator is short of drivers, but Rosso are dropping half the schedule most days).

 

[Bungle965]

How reliable is Local-Link? I've heard stories recently of people ordering/booking a trip on Local-Link and then the bus doesn't show up when they've got to get to work or somewhere else.

I used to use the old Rochdale one (preceding this) for about a month, it was exceeding difficult to book a trip and I found often the drivers would turn up at the designated stop early and then just leave, marking you down as not turning up.
It would be interesting to see how they’re doing now, especially compared to the increasingly popular DRT that is app based.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I used to use the old Rochdale one (preceding this) for about a month, it was exceeding difficult to book a trip and I found often the drivers would turn up at the designated stop early and then just leave, marking you down as not turning up.

Did you make a formal complaint and if so, what response did you receive?

 

[Bungle965]

Did you make a formal complaint and if so, what response did you receive?

I didn’t, around the same time I had made one to TfGM about the fact that they had introduced a tendered service from Rochdale-North Manchester General hospital (16) run by Stotts and they were using faulty ticket machines.
I was essentially told to take it up with the bus operator and it wasn’t their problem, the route was withdrawn a short time later.

I wonder if it is Nexus Move operating them still?

 

[Deerfold]

I used to use the old Rochdale one (preceding this) for about a month, it was exceeding difficult to book a trip and I found often the drivers would turn up at the designated stop early and then just leave, marking you down as not turning up.
It would be interesting to see how they’re doing now, especially compared to the increasingly popular DRT that is app based.

Early, as in more than 10 minutes before the requested time?

Local Link Conditions of Carriage

Local Link Conditions of Carriage

tfgm.com

Once a trip has been booked you must be ready to travel from 10 minutes before and up to 10 minutes after the agreed trip time, unless you requested otherwise at the point of booking. The vehicle may arrive at any point during this 20 minute window. If you are not ready at this time, our driver will have to leave without you to be on time for the next passenger.

 

[Bungle965]

Early, as in more than 10 minutes before the requested time?

Local Link Conditions of Carriage

Local Link Conditions of Carriage

tfgm.com

Yes, you can see why after a few times of waiting these sort of times I gave up. I must stress that this was around 5/6 years ago now, hopefully it has improved.

 

[WatcherZero]

If you want to take a mobility scooter you have to give at least 7 days' notice when booking.
However, you can only book up to 7 days in advance.
Does that mean you have to book with a mobility scooter exactly 7 days before you travel?

You have to give them at least 7 days notice of the mobility scooter you own so they can assess if it can be carried by the vehicles, this may include a home visit to visually inspect the vehicle. Once youve registered it once they will have on record its dimensions/weight so they dont need to repeat the assessment, just have as much notice as possible to ensure a suitable vehicle booked that day.

 

[Deerfold]

You have to give them at least 7 days notice of the mobility scooter you own so they can assess if it can be carried by the vehicles, this may include a home visit to visually inspect the vehicle. Once youve registered it once they will have on record its dimensions/weight so they dont need to repeat the assessment, just have as much notice as possible to ensure a suitable vehicle booked that day.

They could make that clearer.

 

[geoffk]

I have just looked on the TfGM website to see the V1/V2 timetable and in that, the stop is shown as Tyldesley, Astley Street.

OK right, thanks. But perhaps the actual stop is still signed just as Astley Street.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

OK right, thanks. But perhaps the actual stop is still signed just as Astley Street.

Drawing a comparison with the Metrolink system, on the Ashton Line, there is a tram stop just called Cemetery Road on its boards.

 

[northwichcat]

Stagecoach have been very unlucky this week

Officer injured after police car collides with double decker bus | ITV News

A police officer was taken to hospital with minor injuries after a car crashed into a bus in north Manchester | ITV News Granada

www.itv.com

Road closed after crash involving two buses

A man was taken to hospital for 'precautionary checks'

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

It looks like in the first instance the police car was at fault and in the second the driver of the Little Gem bus was at fault.

 

[M60lad]

Unless someone can prove me wrong it seems that apart from the Schoolbus variants the TfGM Hybrids are now withdrawn from various operators fleet as Vision's haven't been used since 13th May.

 

[py_megapixel]

Unless someone can prove me wrong it seems that apart from the Schoolbus variants the TfGM Hybrids are now withdrawn from various operators fleet as Vision's haven't been used since 13th May.

I thought Go Goodwins ended up with a couple when MCT closed down, but maybe I'm wrong

 

[northwichcat]

I thought Go Goodwins ended up with a couple when MCT closed down, but maybe I'm wrong

Little Gem did have TfGM Versas. However, these seemed to have left their fleet in the past few weeks with two additional Enviro 200s replacing them.

 

[py_megapixel]

Little Gem did have TfGM Versas. However, these seemed to have left their fleet in the past few weeks with two additional Enviro 200s replacing them.

That's a pretty big downgrade for the passenger

 

[323235]

The evening 199 journeys after 1930 are to be axed by High Peak in July with no replacement planned by TfGM.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The evening 199 journeys after 1930 are to be axed by High Peak in July with no replacement planned by TfGM.

A good percentage of the route of the 199 service lies exterior to the area of Greater Manchester.

 

[gnolife]

A good percentage of the route of the 199 service lies exterior to the area of Greater Manchester.

True, but it's also a valuable link from the Airport to Stockport and Hazel Grove for airport workers

 

[daodao]

The evening 199 journeys after 1930 are to be axed by High Peak in July with no replacement planned by TfGM.

It is only the section of route 199 from Ringway Airport to Stockport that is to be withdrawn in the evenings, not the core route from Stockport to Buxton.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

It is only the section of route 199 from Ringway Airport to Stockport that is to be withdrawn in the evenings, not the core route from Stockport to Buxton.

Will the 313 service still run in the evening times from Manchester Airport to Stockport?

 

[Redmike]

Will the 313 service still run in the evening times from Manchester Airport to Stockport?

Yes, the 313 takes a different route to the 199 but will still run hourly through the evening.

 

[Bletchleyite]

True, but it's also a valuable link from the Airport to Stockport and Hazel Grove for airport workers

Can't be that valuable or it would be commercially viable. There is still the Stagecoach 313 which while slower would serve more intermediate places where people live, most people don't live in central Stockport, so tendering it wouldn't seem sensible use of money.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Is the 199 bus non-stop using the motorway network between Manchester Airport and Stockport town centre?

 

[LOL The Irony]

Is the 199 bus non-stop using the motorway network between Manchester Airport and Stockport town centre?

Yes

 

[GusB]

Could we all please remember that links to any external sources should be provided, along with a relevant quote from your source.

Thanks

("cba", whatever that means, is not a valid excuse)