Bus spotting in Manchester

[Deleted]

Please can any tell me where the best place in Manchester for bus & tram spotting in the centre just started spotting again after 30yrs break thanks

[sid]

May 22, 2018 19:11:26 GMT @kelvin said:

Please can any tell me where the best place in Manchester for bus & tram spotting in the centre just started spotting again after 30yrs break thanks

Piccadilly Gardens seems a good starting point for buses and trams and Oxford Road is good for the intensive levels of service.

[snoggle]

May 22, 2018 19:11:26 GMT @kelvin said:

Please can any tell me where the best place in Manchester for bus & tram spotting in the centre just started spotting again after 30yrs break thanks

I'm a bit out of date in Manchester but as Sid says Piccadilly Gardens will give you a lot of trams. A fair number of buses stop there or in side streets. There is a bus station at Shudehill which will give you a lot more routes. Portland Street, Deansgate and Chorlton Street (for the coach station) also offer opportunities.

www.tfgm.com/public-transport/city-centre-map

Personally if I was "doing" Manchester I would try to get to places like Bury, Bolton or Rochdale as they all have bus stations which concentrate the bus services in those places and offer a bit of variety.

Unfortunately Transport for Greater Manchester have ceased providing network bus maps in printed form or on their website. This is a massive backwards step as you can't see what route links where. The old GM maps were extremely good as they showed bus stop locations and local interchange points. Now all gone.

[Deleted]

thanks for replys

[wirewiper]

Let us know how you get on!

If you have time, I can commend the excellent Museum of Transport Greater Manchester in Cheetham, about a mile out of the City Centre (use the 135 bus towards Bury). It is largely bus-based and will give you a fascinating insight into the complex history of the various operators in what we now call Greater Manchester. Extensive co-operation and joint services were common, and eventually it was all swept into the co-ordinated uniformity of SELNEC then Greater Manchester PTE, only to be dismantled by privatisation and damaging on-road competition. The real success story of Manchester's transport in recent years, the excellent Metrolink tram system also has a small display.

www.gmts.co.uk/

[MetrolineGA1511]

You might find Bolton interesting. They have First, Stagecoach, Arriva, Transdev, (Rotala) Diamond and independent Vision Bus. A new bus station opened there last September too.

In nearby Bury Transdev Rosso run a few ex-London double-decks.