Oldham Bus Station
Encyclopedia
Oldham bus station is a bus station located in the town of Oldham
in Greater Manchester
. The bus station is found on Cheapside at the junction of West Street. The bus station opened in January 2001 and replaced the previous bus station at Town Square and the bus stops on Cheapside and West Street. The bus station is run by Transport for Greater Manchester.
(formerly GM Buses/GM Buses North) services, as the depot is located at Mumps Bridge. When the bus station opened, all services terminating in the town (with the exception of some First service which terminate at Mumps Bridge) would terminate at the new bus station.
The new station opened in January 2001 and within the first two years of opening, it won two awards. Originally, there were eight stands in the bus station, A to H. Due to the number of buses arriving in Oldham every hour, plus National Express
coaches which also uses the bus station as a stopping place, it was decided, to avoid congestion, that some services would use bus stops on West Street, which is around the corner from the bus station. After complaints from passengers waiting for buses on West Street of suffering from the elements, GMPTE decided to build a smaller bus station, based on the one on Cheapside for West Street. This opened in September 2006 at a cost of £2.2m. Now, there are, in total, 12 stands, from A to H and J to M.
, Checkmate Transport
, First West Yorkshire
, JPT
, Speedwellbus
, Stagecoach Manchester
and Stotts
.
There are frequent buses running to Manchester
, Rochdale
, Ashton-under-Lyne
and Middleton
plus several parts of the Oldham area including Shaw
, Royton
, Chadderton
, Saddleworth
, Rushcroft, Holts Estate, Fitton Hill, Waterhead
, Sholver, Lees
, Grotton, Hollinwood and Failsworth
. Buses also run from Oldham to Stalybridge
, Hyde
and Huddersfield
.
The bus services that use Oldham Bus Station and its Stand Letter are:
(Places in bold are where services terminate)
Notes:
newspaper that shows potentally fatal flaws at the two crossings at the ends of the bus station, one being near the entrance to the Travelshop and the other near the junction of St Mary's Way, it had led to the family of Ann Kerridge to demand that the crossing should be closed.
The problem with the two crossings is that bus drivers approach the crossing on a 90 degree bend, which would restrict the view of both the driver and the pedestrian, sometimes approaching the crossing slightly too fast. Also some drivers have been known to have stopped at the junction waiting to turn right out of the bus station, blocking the crossing, making it harder and more dangerous for pedestrians to cross over. Following the report from GMPTE, the pedestrian crossings have been re-allocated to the sides of the bus station next to stands G and H.
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
in Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
. The bus station is found on Cheapside at the junction of West Street. The bus station opened in January 2001 and replaced the previous bus station at Town Square and the bus stops on Cheapside and West Street. The bus station is run by Transport for Greater Manchester.
History
In the past, there were three termini in Oldham, West Street, Town Square and Mumps Bridge with services terminating in Oldham, arriving from western areas, at West Street and services arriving from eastern areas terminating at Town Square. Mumps Bridge is used as a terminus for First ManchesterFirst Manchester
First Manchester is one of the bus companies serving Greater Manchester, a metropolitan county in North West England. It forms part of FirstGroup, a company operating transport services across the British Isles and in North America...
(formerly GM Buses/GM Buses North) services, as the depot is located at Mumps Bridge. When the bus station opened, all services terminating in the town (with the exception of some First service which terminate at Mumps Bridge) would terminate at the new bus station.
The new station opened in January 2001 and within the first two years of opening, it won two awards. Originally, there were eight stands in the bus station, A to H. Due to the number of buses arriving in Oldham every hour, plus National Express
National Express
National Express Coaches, more commonly known as National Express, is a brand and company, owned by the National Express Group, under which the majority of long distance bus and coach services in Great Britain are operated,...
coaches which also uses the bus station as a stopping place, it was decided, to avoid congestion, that some services would use bus stops on West Street, which is around the corner from the bus station. After complaints from passengers waiting for buses on West Street of suffering from the elements, GMPTE decided to build a smaller bus station, based on the one on Cheapside for West Street. This opened in September 2006 at a cost of £2.2m. Now, there are, in total, 12 stands, from A to H and J to M.
Services
There are plenty of buses that use Oldham Bus Station. The majority of services are run by First Manchester with the remainder of services run by BluebirdBluebird Bus & Coach
Bluebird Bus and Coach is a bus operator based in Middleton in Greater Manchester. The company was formed in 1988 by three members of the Dunstan family)...
, Checkmate Transport
Checkmate Transport
Checkmate Transport is an independent transport operator, situated in Mossley, Greater Manchester. They currently own 4 buses, mainly Optare Solo's with a Plaxton Beaver used for a school route and as a spare for public services, and along with the school service they operate a mix of tendered...
, First West Yorkshire
First West Yorkshire
First West Yorkshire is the trading name of the four First bus companies serving the area of West Yorkshire, England. It forms part of FirstGroup, a company operating transport services across the British Isles and in North America...
, JPT
JP Travel
JP Travel, sometimes known as JPT or Jpt Bus Company, is a bus company based at Middleton in Greater Manchester, England. The company is owned by Janet and Peter Walsh and runs local services in the North Manchester area. The JP in JP Travel forms the initials of their first names.-History:The...
, Speedwellbus
Speedwellbus
Speedwellbus is a bus operator based in Hyde, Greater Manchester, England. It operates a fleet of 25 buses on commercial and contracted services. Operations commenced in 2002 with a service between Glossop and Tintwistle, and were expanded with the addition of contracts from Derbyshire County...
, Stagecoach Manchester
Stagecoach in Manchester
Stagecoach in Manchester is the trading name of Greater Manchester Buses South Limited, and is a major operator of bus services in Greater Manchester....
and Stotts
Stotts Tours (Oldham)
Stotts Tours , or Stotts for short, is one of the bus companies serving the area of Greater Manchester, England. The company, based in Oldham, operates within the area covered by Transport for Greater Manchester.-1986 to 1997:...
.
There are frequent buses running to Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, Rochdale
Rochdale
Rochdale is a large market town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines on the River Roch, north-northwest of Oldham, and north-northeast of the city of Manchester. Rochdale is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan...
, Ashton-under-Lyne
Ashton-under-Lyne
Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. Historically a part of Lancashire, it lies on the north bank of the River Tame, on undulating land at the foothills of the Pennines...
and Middleton
Middleton, Greater Manchester
Middleton is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Irk, south-southwest of Rochdale, and north-northeast of the city of Manchester...
plus several parts of the Oldham area including Shaw
Shaw and Crompton
Shaw and Crompton is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Beal at the foothills of the South Pennines, north of Oldham, southeast of Rochdale, and to the northeast of the city of Manchester...
, Royton
Royton
Royton is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies by the source of the River Irk, on undulating land at the foothills of the Pennines, north-northwest of Oldham, south-southeast of Rochdale and northeast of the city of Manchester.Historically a...
, Chadderton
Chadderton
Chadderton is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England, historically a part of Lancashire...
, Saddleworth
Saddleworth
Saddleworth is a civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. It comprises several villages and hamlets amongst the west side of the Pennine hills: Uppermill, Greenfield, Dobcross, Delph, Diggle and others...
, Rushcroft, Holts Estate, Fitton Hill, Waterhead
Waterhead, Greater Manchester
Waterhead , is an area of Oldham, and an electoral ward of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England...
, Sholver, Lees
Lees, Greater Manchester
The village consists of a small cluster of shops and businesses on either side of the A669 Lees Road, surrounded by some terraced houses and some small estates...
, Grotton, Hollinwood and Failsworth
Failsworth
At Failsworth lies north-northwest of London. It shares common boundaries with Manchester and Oldham, on its west and northeast respectively. Failsworth is traversed by the A62 road, from Manchester to Oldham, the heavy rail line of the Oldham Loop and the Rochdale Canal, which crosses the...
. Buses also run from Oldham to Stalybridge
Stalybridge
Stalybridge is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside in Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 22,568. Historically a part of Cheshire, it is east of Manchester city centre and northwest of Glossop. With the construction of a cotton mill in 1776, Stalybridge became one of...
, Hyde
Hyde, Greater Manchester
Hyde is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2001 census, the town had a population of 31,253. Historically part of Cheshire, it is northeast of Stockport, west of Glossop and east of Manchester....
and Huddersfield
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a large market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England, situated halfway between Leeds and Manchester. It lies north of London, and south of Bradford, the nearest city....
.
The bus services that use Oldham Bus Station and its Stand Letter are:
(Places in bold are where services terminate)
| No. | Operator | Destination | Stand | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday-Saturday Daytime | Evenings & Sundays | |||
| 58 | First Manchester | Middleton via Chadderton and Mills Hill | B | Service 59 |
| Rochdale via Shaw and Milnrow | E | Service 59 to Shaw | ||
| 59 | First Manchester | Manchester Piccadilly via Chadderton, Middleton and Cheetham Hill | B | B |
| Rushcroft via Shaw | E | E | ||
| 64 | First Manchester | Manchester Shudehill via Royton, Stottfield, Mills Hill, Boarshaw, Middleton and Dam Head | F | - |
| Middleton via Royton, Stottfield, Mills Hill and Boarshaw | - | F | ||
| 76 | Stagecoach Manchester | Manchester Piccadilly via Limeside, Failsworth and Brookdale Park | J | Service 78 |
| 78 | Bluebird | Manchester Piccadilly via Limeside, Hollinwood, Failsworth and Brookdale Park | Service 76 | J |
| 81 | First Manchester | Derker | C | C |
| Manchester Piccadilly via Werneth, Moston and Collyhurst | M | M | ||
| 81A | First Manchester | Waterhead | C | C1 |
| 82 | First Manchester | Waterhead | C2 | C3 |
| Uppermill via Waterhead and Delph | C2 | Service 350 | ||
| Manchester Piccadilly via Hollinwood, Failsworth and Newton Heath | H2 | H3 | ||
| 83 | First Manchester | Sholver via Moorside | G | G |
| Manchester Piccadilly via Hollinwood, Failsworth and Newton Heath | H | H | ||
| 149 | First Manchester | Manchester Piccadilly via Hollinwood, Moston and Cheetham Hill | K | K |
| Holts Estate via Glodwick, Alt and Abbeyhills | - | L | ||
| 159 | Bluebird | Middleton via Chadderton, Hollinwood, Woodhouses, Failsworth and New Moston | B | - |
| 180 | First Manchester | Manchester Piccadilly via Hollinwood, Failsworth and Newton Heath | F | F |
| Greenfield via Lees and Grotton | G | G | ||
| 183 | First Manchester | Limeside via Chamber Road | J | Service 78 |
| 184 Greater Manchester bus route 184 Greater Manchester bus route 184 is a frequent bus route, operated by First Manchester with journeys between Huddersfield and Manchester jointly run by First Manchester and First West Yorkshire. The service runs hourly Monday-Saturday daytime on its full route and also runs hourly to Diggle via... |
First Manchester First West Yorkshire |
Manchester Piccadilly via Hollinwood, Failsworth and Newton Heath | F | F |
| Huddersfield via Uppermill, Diggle and Marsden | G4 | G4 | ||
| 343 | Weekday daytime:Speedwellbus Saturday daytime: JPT |
Hyde via Lees, Mossley and Stalybridge | G | - |
| First Manchester | - | G | ||
| 344 | Speedwellbus | Hyde via Waterhead, Lees, Mossley and Stalybridge | G5 | Service 343 |
| 350 | First Manchester | Ashton-under-Lyne via Delph, Uppermill, Greenfield, Hey Farm and Mossley | C | C |
| 402 | Bluebird | Royton via Royal Oldham Hospital | C | - |
| 406 | Bluebird | Mills Hill via Royal Oldham Hospital and Parkway | C | - |
| JPT | Middleton via Parkway and Mills Hill | - | C3 | |
| 407 | Stotts | Denshaw via Moorside and Pennine Meadows | C | C3 |
| 408 | First Manchester | Buckstones via Royton, High Crompton and Shaw centre | E | - |
| Shaw, Wren's Nest via Royton, High Crompton, Shaw centre and Buckstones | - | E | ||
| Stalybridge via Abbeyhills and Hurst Cross | F | F | ||
| 409 | First Manchester JPT |
Rochdale via Royton and Thornham | A | A |
| Ashton-under-Lyne via Hathershaw | D | D | ||
| 410 | First Manchester | Waterhead Circular via Glodwick, Clarksfield, Derker and Higginshaw | M | - |
| 411 | First Manchester | Waterhead Circuar via Higginshaw, Derker, Clarksfield and Glodwick | M | - |
| 415 | First Manchester | Middleton via Butler Green and Alkrington | B | B |
| Not Sunday evenings: First Manchester Sunday evenings: JPT |
Holts Estate via Greenacre and Lees | L | L | |
| 418 | Checkmate Coaches | Heyside via Royal Oldham Hospital | K | Service 409 to Hospital |
| Austerlands via Lees and Springhead | L | Service 180/184 to Springhead | ||
| 425 | First Manchester | Fitton Hill via Hathershaw | M | M |
| Holts Estate via Glodwick, Alt (Not Evenings/Sundays) and Abbeyhills | L | L | ||
| 428 | First Manchester | Buckstones Circular via Royton & High Crompton | E6 | Service 408 |
| Coaches | National Express | National Express services | C | C |
| Ring & Ride | TfGM | Ring & Ride services | M | - |
Notes:
| 1 | Monday-Saturday evenings |
|---|---|
| 2 | Peak time journeys only |
| 3 | Sunday daytime only |
| 4 | 184 Greater Manchester bus route 184 Greater Manchester bus route 184 is a frequent bus route, operated by First Manchester with journeys between Huddersfield and Manchester jointly run by First Manchester and First West Yorkshire. The service runs hourly Monday-Saturday daytime on its full route and also runs hourly to Diggle via... terminates at three different places: |
| Uppermill: 4 journeys per hour (Monday-Saturday daytime); Hourly (Evenings and Sundays) | |
| Diggle, via Dobcross: Hourly (Monday-Saturday daytime) plus daily journey at 2251 | |
| Huddersfield: Hourly (Monday-Saturday daytime); Every 2 hours (Sunday daytime) | |
| 5 | One weekday morning journey |
| 6 | Monday-Friday off-peak only |
Safety Concerns
One problem with Oldham bus station is the safety of the crossings. In January 2007, 56 year old Ann Kerridge was killed after being knocked down by a bus on a crossing at the bus station with husband Brian dying shortly afterwards, which the family believed was caused by a broken heart. Following another accident at the same crossing in September 2007 and a report by GMPTE obtained by the Oldham Evening ChronicleOldham Evening Chronicle
The Oldham Evening Chronicle is a daily newspaper published each weekday evening. It is a local newspaper which serves the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England...
newspaper that shows potentally fatal flaws at the two crossings at the ends of the bus station, one being near the entrance to the Travelshop and the other near the junction of St Mary's Way, it had led to the family of Ann Kerridge to demand that the crossing should be closed.
The problem with the two crossings is that bus drivers approach the crossing on a 90 degree bend, which would restrict the view of both the driver and the pedestrian, sometimes approaching the crossing slightly too fast. Also some drivers have been known to have stopped at the junction waiting to turn right out of the bus station, blocking the crossing, making it harder and more dangerous for pedestrians to cross over. Following the report from GMPTE, the pedestrian crossings have been re-allocated to the sides of the bus station next to stands G and H.