Wilmslow Road bus corridor

Wilmslow Road is often claimed to be the busiest bus corridor in Europe. However, this is difficult to verify because: • No authoritative comparison is available. • The bus frequency on Wilmslow Road varies at different points. This will be true of other corridors and hence the busiest corridor is likely to depend on how short a road can be considered. • Bus frequencies vary over the day so the busiest corridor may depend on whether the peak frequency or average frequency is taken. • No qualifier is given as to what constitutes 'busy' - whether frequency of buses or total passengers carried and when. The 3.7 mile stretch of route between Piccadilly Gardens and Withington has a timetabled average of at least one bus per minute in each direction on Monday to Friday daytimes during university term. However, particularly during rush hour, there are many buses which do not appear on the timetable and rather repeat the journey as frequently as possible. Since 6 January 2025, when the final rollout of franchising in Greater Manchester came into effect, bus services on the corridor have been operated by Stagecoach Manchester, Metroline Manchester and Go North West on behalf of Transport for Greater Manchester under the Bee Network brand. Frequent services were run in the corridor. The half mile stretch of route in the city centre between the RNCM and Oxford Road station has a timetabled average of nearly a bus every 30 seconds in each direction. In 2006, the Parliamentary Select Committee on Transport was told: ==History==

'Picadilly Line'-branded AEC Routemaster in Manchester Piccadilly Gardens bus station on route 143 in September 1988 Bus deregulation in 1986 allowed bus companies to run services wherever and whenever they wanted. Prior to this, most bus services along Wilmslow Road had been operated by publicly owned operator Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive. In 1986, the bus operation was separated into a stand-alone company, GM Buses. Finglands Coachways started operating their own competitive bus services soon after, capitalising on the lack of capacity for students along the route. They were soon followed by other coach operators such as Wall's and Bullocks Coaches. GM Buses fought back by reintroducing conductor-operated buses to the route. Ten AEC Routemasters were acquired from London in 1988 and operated on route 143 to West Didsbury, branded as the "Piccadilly Line" after the London Underground line. They operated until June 1990, when they were replaced with standard vehicles. Larger operators also operated competing services along Wilmslow Road during the 1990s, including Bee Line and MTL Manchester. and Magic Bus services await departure from Parrs Wood terminus on journeys to Piccadilly Gardens in December 2009. The southern half of GM Buses was sold to Stagecoach Holdings in February 1996, who introduced the "no frills" Magic Bus services along the route in competition with their main routes. Intense competition from a new operator called UK North led to lower fares, with Finglands Coachways offering a £2 student weekly ticket in 2001. whilst Bullocks sold their bus services to Stagecoach in 2008. Stagecoach Manchester introduced 30 new Alexander Dennis Enviro400H double-deck hybrid electric buses on services 42 and 43 in September 2010. The vehicles were funded through the Department for Transport's Green Bus Fund. Bullocks Coaches were also awarded similar funding for the delivery of four Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B5LHs for use on Oxford Road Link route 147 in collaboration with the University of Manchester. On 1 August 2013, First Greater Manchester announced that it had agreed to purchase Finglands Coachways. The deal was concluded on 9 February 2014. On 27 April 2014, First Greater Manchester increased service levels and extended some route 42 journeys to North Manchester General Hospital under the Cross Connect banner. In response on 19 May 2014, Stagecoach Manchester introduced route 38 from Farnworth to Rusholme via Salford and the city centre. In September 2014, Stagecoach Manchester and the Manchester Metropolitan University introduced Magic Bus route 141 along the corridor, serving the university's Birley campus and East Didsbury. Vehicles used on the 141 were branded with green Manchester Metropolitan University branding alongside their Magic Bus liveries. From September 2015, the service was amended to terminate in West Didsbury. Future plans Transport for Greater Manchester has developed bus priority measures along Wilmslow Road, in order to enable the provision of cross-city bus services. This scheme includes the section of Oxford Road in the vicinity of the university and Hospitals becoming limited to buses, cycles and hackney carriages only; it also includes a new section of bus lane in Withington and a revised layout at Parrs Wood terminus. The first stage of the bus priority work was completed in June 2016, with the project officially completed in September 2017. ==Bus routes==

Major routes Route 41 Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC at Piccadilly Gardens in January 2025 Route 41 is operated by Stagecoach Manchester, running on Mondays to Saturdays up to every 20 minutes and every 30 minutes on Sundays between Middleton, North Manchester General Hospital, Manchester, Northenden and Sale. The evening 41 service runs every hour. The service was once served by First, Finglands Coachways and Go North West, as well as Stagecoach on its X41 (Altrincham – Manchester) and 143 (West Didsbury – Manchester) services respectively. Routes 42/42A bodied Volvo B9TL at Piccadilly Gardens in January 2025 These services run for the entire length of the corridor and beyond. Service 42, operated by Metroline Manchester, serves the busy Wilmslow Road bus corridor, which includes universities and hospitals, operating via Manchester city centre, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Withington, Didsbury and Stockport. Service 42A operates from Reddish to Manchester every 30 minutes, via East Didsbury, Rusholme and to Manchester; on Sundays and evenings on Mondays to Saturdays, it runs hourly between Reddish and East Didsbury only. Route 42 was historically operated by Finglands Coachways and Stagecoach Manchester between Manchester Piccadilly Gardens bus station and East Didsbury. UK North also operated services in the mid-2000s during its bus war with Stagecoach. Following the sale of the Finglands business to First Greater Manchester on 9 February 2014, From 5 January 2025, the route began to be operated by Metroline Manchester as part of Tranche 3 of Bee Network. Route 42B/42C Route 42B operates every 60 minutes along the entire route from Manchester to East Didsbury and continues on to Woodford via Bramhall. It is operated by Metroline Manchester. Route 42C follows the 42B route from Manchester to East Didsbury before continuing to Handforth Dean via Cheadle. 42B was the updated all-stop replacement for X57/145 which operated morning only Cheadle Hulme to Albert Square one-way. Route 43 branded Enviro400H on route 43 at Manchester Airport in February 2025 Route 43 is operated by Metroline Manchester, running every 10 to 30 minutes, 24 hours a day. It operates from Manchester to Withington, then on to Manchester Airport via Northenden and Wythenshawe. It is the only bus route the runs every day year round, even on Christmas Day and New Year. Along with route 42, it was the first Stagecoach routes to use hybrid Alexander Dennis Enviro400H double-deckers. Routes 23/171/172 Route 23 is operated by Stagecoach Manchester every 20 minutes, and runs from Stockport to the Trafford Centre via Didsbury, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Stretford and Urmston. The 23 route once operated alongside sister routes 24 and 23A, which operated the same route between Stockport and Stretford but then on to MediaCity (24) and via Lostock instead of Urmston (23A) at a combined frequency of every 10 minutes, route 24 was withdrawn in 2017 due to much lower than expected patronage, most likely due to Metrolink connectivity in the areas it served, lowering the combined frequency to every 15 minutes and long running service 23A was withdrawn in April 2019 and the section in Lostock is now served by the 25. Routes 171 and 172 are operated by Stagecoach Manchester, running every 30 minutes to Newton Heath from Chorlton-cum-Hardy (172) and Withington Hospital (171) bus 171 goes via Gorton, Levenshulme and East Didsbury while bus 172 goes via Gorton, Levenshulme and West Didsbury. Route 53 Route 53 is operated by Stagecoach Manchester and runs from Cheetham Hill to Pendleton every 30 minutes via Gorton, Rusholme, Old Trafford and Salford Quays. Other routes Several other routes operate on the route, such as school services, which are unmarked. There are also withdrawn routes 16, 23A, 24, 45, 46, 47, 48, 84, 141, 145, 157, 178, 270, 278, 370, X41 and X57. Routes that have been altered to no longer serve Wilmslow Road include services 17, 130 and 179. ==Gallery==

File:Finglands of Manchester bus YX08 FWG.jpg|Finglands Coachways Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B7TL on route 41 in July 2008 File:Stagecoach in Manchester bus 16087 (R87 XNO), 25 July 2008.jpg|Stagecoach Manchester Northern Counties Palatine bodied Volvo Olympian on route 41 in July 2008 File:R Bullock bus (F238 YTJ) 1989 Leyland Olympian Alexander RH, Manchester Piccadilly, route 42, 25 July 2008 (1).jpg|Bullocks Northern Counties Palatine bodied Leyland Olympian on route 42 in July 2008 File:Stagecoach Magic Bus (Manchester) bus 15316 (H466 GVM), 25 July 2008.jpg|Magic Bus Northern Counties Palatine bodied Scania N113DRB on route 142 in July 2008 File:SCMB 12238 R50.jpg|Magic bus branded Alexander Dennis Enviro400H on route 50 in November 2024 File:SCMB 12108 R142.jpg|Another Magic bus branded Alexander Dennis Enviro400H on route 142 in November 2024 File:East Didsbury Parrs Wood bus terminal (2).jpg|Stagecoach Manchester buses awaiting for departure in October 2024 File:SC 10447 R142.jpg|Magic Bus route 142 Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC at Parrs Wood in November 2024 File:SC 19288 R42.jpg|Stagecoach Manchester Alexander Dennis Enviro400 on route 42 at East Didsbury in October 2024 File:East Didsbury Parrs Wood bus terminal (3).jpg|Metroline Manchester buses awaiting departure at Parrs Wood bus station in June 2025 File:MM 50 WDS317 (1).jpg|Metroline Manchester Wright StreetDeck Ultroliner on route 50 at Parrs Wood in December 2025 File:BNML VMD426 R142.jpg|Metroline Manchester MCV bodied Volvo BZL battery electric bus on route 142 at Parrs Wood in January 2025 ==References==