Author Archives: James McCollom

About James McCollom

Web geek and public transport user

Maytree replacements start to arrive

Posted on April 6, 2013

TfGM has announced that replacement operators for most Maytree Travel services have now been found. As most services they operated were contracted rather than commercial, this must have made life a little simpler as existing timetables will be used. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Buses | Tagged , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Recap: all going on at the Salford Hub

Posted on April 5, 2013

No, it’s not an April Fool: the new footbridge at Salford Crescent really did come into use on Monday 1st April 2013 Forget the Northern Hub: it’s specifically Salford which appears to be the centre of activity on our railways … Continue reading →

Posted in Trains | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Maytree Travel bus services suspended

Posted on April 4, 2013

A quick trip to Bolton Bus Station after work this evening confirmed the reports that started to appear this afternoon: Maytree Travel, which has over 80 staff and operates around 40 contracted bus services in the Bolton, Bury and Wigan … Continue reading →

Posted in Buses, Politics | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

High Speed 2 preferred option to Manchester revealed

Posted on January 29, 2013

We’ve been somewhat ambivalent to High Speed 2 here at Manchester Transport blog. Construction on the northern sections to Manchester and Leeds isn’t planned until the latter half of the 2020′s, so it could be 2033 before the project is … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Trains | 10 Comments

Then two come along at once…

Posted on November 7, 2012

Hot on the heels of the Wigan depot transfer, Stagecoach today announced their plan to purchase local independent Bluebird of Middleton for £2 million. Along with the leased depot site, the acquisition will include around 40 vehicles and 80 members … Continue reading →

Posted in Buses | Tagged , , | 13 Comments

Stagecoach to acquire First routes in Wigan

Posted on October 31, 2012

Wigan has always been out on a limb from the rest of Greater Manchester county: indeed, its municipal bus service was never part of SELNEC PTE and only joined as part of GMPTE in 1974. After deregulation and sundering, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Buses | Tagged , , , , | 18 Comments

A tale of two X41s (and a 41X)

Posted on October 5, 2012

When SELNEC PTE took over the combined bus operations of the Greater Manchester municipals in 1969, there were no fewer than seven routes numbered “1″ – in Salford, Bolton, Bury, Leigh, Rochdale, Ashton and Oldham. Many services were renumbered into … Continue reading →

Posted in Buses | Tagged , , | 17 Comments

West coast rail bid hits legal buffers

Posted on October 3, 2012

In a surprise move, the Government last night pulled the plug on the competition to run the West Coast Main Line franchise from December 2012. As you no doubt read elsewhere, the winning bidders were FirstGroup, who offered to pay … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Trains | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Cross-city bus route to replace Salford QuaysLink

Posted on July 31, 2012

It doesn’t seem too long ago that I took a trip down to Salford Quays to view the new shuttle bus service between Salford Crescent and MediaCityUK, just over a year ago. News has emerged that the route is to … Continue reading →

Posted in Buses | Tagged , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Oldham gains its first tentative Metroshuttle

Posted on July 31, 2012

Over at East of the M60, Stuart took a trip on a new Metroshuttle service for Oldham beginning this week: a daily half-hourly service 400 to link to the rather remote temporary Metrolink stop at Mumps.

Posted in Buses, Trams | Tagged , , | 10 Comments