Leigh-Salford-Manchester Bus Rapid Transit | |
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Overview | |
Owner | Transport for Greater Manchester |
Locale | Wigan Salford Manchester |
Transit type | Guided busway and Bus rapid transit |
Annual ridership | 3 million |
Website | TfGM - Bus Priority - Guided Busway |
Operation | |
Began operation | 3 April 2016 |
Operator(s) | Go North West (under the Bee Network) [1] |
Technical | |
System length | 22 kilometres |
The Leigh-Salford-Manchester Bus Rapid Transit scheme in Greater Manchester, England provides transport connections between Leigh, Atherton, Tyldesley, Ellenbrook and Manchester city centre via Salford. The guided busway and bus rapid transit (BRT) scheme promoted by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) opened on 3 April 2016. Built by Balfour Beatty at a total cost of £122 million to improve links from former Manchester Coalfield towns into Manchester city centre, the busway proposal encountered much opposition and a public enquiry in 2002 before construction finally started in 2013. A branch route from Atherton, and an extension to the Manchester Royal Infirmary have been added to the planned original scheme.
Twenty-five purple-liveried Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 bodied Volvo B5LH hybrid double-decker equipped with CCTV and next stop audio and visual announcements operate the service. Stops on the guided busway section have level-boarding from platforms equipped with passenger information display screens.
From Leigh, the V1 limited-stop bus service joins seven kilometres of guided busway to Ellenbrook, six kilometres of bus lanes on the East Lancashire Road and sections of reserved bus lanes through Salford and Manchester city centres. The V2 service from Atherton to Manchester joins the guided busway at Tyldesley. Both services run via the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University before terminating at Manchester Royal Infirmary. [2]
Leigh, one of the largest towns in Britain without a railway station after the closure of the Tyldesley Loopline in 1969, suffered from poor transport connections to neighbouring towns. A guided busway scheme using a kerbed concrete track was proposed and constructed using the former railway trackbed from Leigh to Ellenbrook to improve access to Manchester city centre from Leigh, Tyldesley and Ellenbrook and regenerate areas of the former Manchester Coalfield.
When proposed, the busway was controversial and encountered much local opposition. [3] It was branded the 'Misguided Busway' by a Salford councillor. [4] Critics contested claims by TfGM that the creation of within-carriageway bus lanes would not reduce general traffic capacity along the East Lancashire Road, a heavily congested radial route for traffic heading towards Manchester and Salford city centres; but instead increase it. [5]
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The BRT route begins at Leigh bus station, and joins the guided section at East Bond Street. It proceeds through Leigh and along the converted rail alignment via Tyldesley to Newearth Road in Ellenbrook. An improved bus route from Atherton joins the route at Astley Street, Tyldesley. From Ellenbrook the route continues via bus lanes alongside the A580 East Lancashire Road, serving Worsley and Swinton before joining the A6 at Irlams o' th' Height. All stops along the A580 bus lanes are bus bays so that conventional stopping services can be overtaken by limited-stop expresses. It passes the University of Salford/Salford Crescent railway station before continuing through Manchester city centre and along bus-only lanes on Oxford Road to Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester University and the Central Manchester Hospitals. [9] [10] Buses use Bolton Road in Salford when Broad Street is congested. [11]
The guided section has stops at East Bond Street, Holden Road in Leigh and Cooling Lane between Higher Folds and Squires Lane in Tyldesley, Astley Street, Hough Lane and Sale Lane in Tyldesley and Newearth Road in Ellenbrook. The multi-user path for walkers, horse riders and cyclists alongside the guided section provides access for emergency vehicles and maintenance. [12] For cyclists the path from Tyldesley to Ellenbrook is part of the National Cycle Network Route 55. [13]
The route from Leigh to Central Manchester Hospitals has 36 stops and the connecting route from Tyldesley to Atherton has five. [6] Park and ride facilities are provided at East Bond Street, Astley Street and Wardley (where the A580 road passes under the M60 motorway). [14]
First Greater Manchester runs the service under a 10-year contract from TfGM, [15] branded Vantage. [16] Service V1 operates from Leigh and V2 from Atherton; with additional V4 services from Ellenbrook in the weekday morning peak period that does not use the guided section of the route. [17] Timetabled journey times are 55 minutes from Leigh and Atherton to Albert Square, Manchester at peak periods; 45 minutes daytime off-peak and 40 minutes in evenings and early mornings. [18] In daytime operation from Monday to Saturday at least eight buses per hour run in each direction on the guided section, four on the Leigh to Tyldesley section and four from Atherton joining the Tyldesley to Ellenbrook section. [19]
The earliest weekday departures from Leigh/Atherton are at 04:00/04:29 respectively; and last trips from Manchester Royal Infirmary at 00:00/23:45. [20] Two additional V1 services run from Leigh into Manchester in the weekday morning peak; three additional services return to Leigh in the weekday evening peak. Four further additional V4 services run into Manchester in the morning peak, starting from Ellenbrook. [21]
The introduction of the Vantage services resulted in the withdrawal of a number of services by operator First. [22] Others were amended to join the A580 bus lanes east of Boothstown. [23]
The services were amongst those set to transfer to Go North West when it took over First's Cheetham Hill depot in 2019, [24] but it was later announced that First will continue to operate the service. [25]
After light-controlled junctions along the East Lancashire Road were upgraded with SCOOT adaptive signalling in July 2016, TfGM reported in the October that traffic journey times on this section had returned to pre-construction levels in the morning peak while accommodating significant additional traffic. [26]
In the first six months of operation, more than 900,000 passenger journeys were made. A survey of users published in October 2016 revealed that 20% of passengers had switched from using their cars for the same journey, and nearly all respondents would recommend the service. [27] [28] More than a quarter of busway users walked or travelled more than a kilometre to reach the busway. [29] By the third year of operation, it was being estimated that 580,000 car trips per year along the BRT route had transferred to bus ridership. [30]
The service attracted about 28,000 passengers per week when it started in April 2016 rising to 45,000 by the autumn and 55,000 in the run up to Christmas 2016. [31] In the first year more than 2.1 million passengers were carried; increasing to approximately 2.6 million in the second, [32] and 3 million in the third. [33] By December 2017, weekly ridership had increased to 62,000. [34] This has further increased to a record 71,626 weekly passengers in December 2019. [35]
Services were initially operated by 20 Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 bodied Volvo B5LH hybrid double-decker buses in purple-livery. They are equipped with CCTV and next stop audio and visual announcements, USB charging points and free Wi-Fi. [36] Five more buses were purchased in January 2017 to provide extra capacity at busy times and facilitate the extended service to Central Manchester Hospitals. [11] [37] It is required that buses that operate the busway service are replaced after 5 years of service. Further buses are scheduled to enter service in September 2018. These will operate the V4 service from Ellenbrook, and will be standard vehicles not adapted for busway running. [38]
In February 2019, TfGM were successful in bidding for funding support in buying an additional 10 electric buses for busway operation, to enter service in March 2020. [39] These will be Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC double-deckers with BYD Company battery power. TfGM intend that eventually all Vantage services will be operated by electric buses; to be purchased and owned by TfGM themselves, rather than by the service operator. Five of the existing fleet of Volvo B5LH buses will be transferred to other services in Greater Manchester; and so total fleet will increase to 30, allowing increased daytime frequency on V1 services from Leigh. [40]
Stops along the guided busway section provide level-boarding from platforms and are equipped with passenger information display screens. The guided busway crosses local roads on level, light-controlled junctions at which busway services have priority. [41] Standard First Greater Manchester fares include travel on Vantage services. [42]
The scheme won the Transport Policy, Planning and Implementation award at the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport North West Awards [26] and the award for sustainability at the 10th annual North West Construction Awards in 2016. [43] The launch of the Vantage service won the Transport Project of the Year category and the Leigh to Ellenbrook Guided Busway section was the winner in the Construction and Engineering category at the National and the North of England Transport Awards in December 2016. [44] Greater Manchester's Bus Priority Package won the National Transport Award for improvements to bus services in October 2017. [45]
A long legal process preceded the busway's construction, including a public inquiry in 2002. [46] The decision of the public inquiry was delayed because of great crested newts occupying a site on the route. The Department for Transport granted powers to build the busway in 2005 and it was projected to be built by 2009 but preliminary work only started in 2012. [47] Powers to build it are set out in the Greater Manchester (Leigh Busway) Order 2005 in the Transport and Works Act. [48] The Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive estimated in 2005 that the busway would generate around 2 million passenger trips per annum. [49] After the public inquiry, a branch bus route from Atherton to Tyldesley and an extension from Manchester city centre to the Manchester Royal Infirmary were added to the scheme.
Site clearance for the dedicated busway section between Leigh and Ellenbrook took place between November 2012 and March 2013. [50] Balfour Beatty began its construction in September 2013. [51] A short section of the busway west of Newearth Road was completed in early 2015 and in the April was used for a trial of the construction method and the bus guidance system. Following delays due to bad weather and other problems, the busway works were rescheduled to be completed before the end of 2015. The service began on 3 April 2016 [36] to coordinate with associated road and tram works in Manchester city centre. [52] [53]
TfGM spent £122 million on bus priority investment of which the guided busway track and infrastructure cost £68 million and the rest was spent upgrading associated local roads, bus lanes and junctions. The Greater Manchester Transport Fund provided most of the funding and the Department for Transport contributed £32.5 million. [36]
In November 2020, local MP James Grundy suggested the system should be integrated with the Manchester Metrolink light rail system. [54]
From 24 September 2023, the busway became part of the Bee Network, a London-style integrated transport system. [55] [56]
Leigh is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, on low-lying land northwest of Chat Moss.
The Metropolitan Borough of Wigan is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It is named after its largest town, Wigan but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Atherton, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Golborne, Hindley, Ince-in-Makerfield, Leigh and Tyldesley. The borough also covers the villages and suburbs of Abram, Aspull, Astley, Bryn, Hindley Green, Lowton, Mosley Common, Orrell, Pemberton, Shevington, Standish, Winstanley and Worsley Mesnes. The borough is also the second-most populous district in Greater Manchester.
Boothstown is a suburban village in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England. Boothstown forms part of the Boothstown and Ellenbrook ward, which had a population at the 2011 Census of 9,599. The village is within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, west of the City of Salford, bordered to the north by the East Lancashire Road A580 and to the south by the Bridgewater Canal. Historically, it was a hamlet partly in Worsley township in the parish of Eccles, and partly in Tyldesley in the parish of Leigh.
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is a local government body responsible for co-ordinating transport services throughout Greater Manchester in North West England. It is an executive arm of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), the city region's administrative authority. The strategies and policies of Transport for Greater Manchester are set by the GMCA and its Greater Manchester Transport Committee (GMTC). The committee is made up of 33 councillors appointed from the ten Greater Manchester boroughs, as well as the Mayor of Greater Manchester.
Guided buses are buses capable of being steered by external means, usually on a dedicated track or roll way that excludes other traffic, permitting the maintenance of schedules even during rush hours. Unlike railbuses, trolleybuses or rubber-tyred trams, for part of their routes guided buses are able to share road space with general traffic along conventional roads, or with conventional buses on standard bus lanes.
Astley is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it is crossed by the Bridgewater Canal and the A580 East Lancashire Road. Continuous with Tyldesley, it is between Wigan and Manchester, both 8 miles (13 km) away. Astley Mosley Common ward had a population of 11,270 at the 2011 Census.
Free bus is a zero-fare bus system that operates in Greater Manchester. The system was first introduced in Manchester city centre in 2002, with three routes linking the city's major thoroughfares and stations with its main commercial, financial and cultural districts.
Tyldesley is a market town in Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it is north of Chat Moss near the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, 8 miles (12.9 km) southeast of Wigan and 9 miles (14.5 km) northwest of Manchester. At the United Kingdom Census 2001, the Tyldesley built-up area subdivision, excluding Shakerley, had a population of 16,142.
The Manchester–Southport line is a railway line in the north-west of England, operated by Northern Trains. It was originally built as the Manchester and Southport Railway. The section between Wigan and Salford is also known locally as the Atherton Line.
First Greater Manchester is a bus operator in Greater Manchester. It is a subsidiary of the FirstGroup, operating franchised Bee Network bus services on contract to Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM). The operator was once dominant in the northern areas of Greater Manchester, competing against Stagecoach Manchester, which was dominant in southern areas of the county; however in recent years it has scaled back its operations, now primarily serving the metropolitan boroughs of Oldham and Rochdale.
Walkden is a town in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, six miles northwest of central Salford, and seven miles of Manchester.
Ellenbrook is a suburb of Worsley, in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England. Ellenbrook is 6.8 miles (10.9 km) west of Manchester, 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Salford and 4.6 miles (7.4 km) south of Bolton. Historically a part of Lancashire, it is close to Astley, Mosley Common and Walkden, by the East Lancashire Road.
GM Buses was a major bus operator serving the ten metropolitan districts of Greater Manchester in North West England. The company was formed in February 1986 by the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive prior to deregulation on 26 October. In December 1993, it was split into GM Buses North and GM Buses South in order to increase competition for services in the area, before they were sold to the FirstGroup and Stagecoach respectively.
The Wilmslow Road bus corridor is a 5.5-mile-long section of road in Manchester that is served by a large number of bus services. The corridor runs from Parrs Wood to Manchester city centre along Wilmslow and Oxford Roads, serving Didsbury, Withington, Fallowfield and Rusholme.
Tyldesley railway station is a closed railway station in Greater Manchester. It was situated within the historic county of Lancashire.
The Tyldesley Loopline was part of the London and North Western Railway's Manchester and Wigan Railway line from Eccles to the junction west of Tyldesley station and its continuance south west via Bedford Leigh to Kenyon Junction on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The line opened on 1 September 1864 with stations at Worsley, Ellenbrook, Tyldesley, Leigh and Pennington before joining the Liverpool and Manchester Railway at Kenyon Junction.
Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive was the public body responsible for public transport in Greater Manchester between 1974 and 2011, when it became part of Transport for Greater Manchester.
The South Lancashire trolleybus system once served towns in South Lancashire, England, including Atherton, Bolton, Swinton and Leigh and St Helens. Opened on 3 August 1930, it replaced the South Lancashire Tramways network.
This is a list of confirmed or proposed future developments of the Manchester Metrolink light rail system in Greater Manchester, England.
The Bee Network is an integrated transport network for Greater Manchester, comprising bus, tram, cycling and walking routes. Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is expected to have the network operational by 2025, with commuter rail services expected to be joining the network in 2028. Initially revealed in 2018, the project is aiming to create a London-style transport system, to encourage more people to take public transport instead of cars.