Wilmslow Road bus corridor

Bus deregulation in October 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 (GMPTE).

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.^[1] They were soon followed by other operators including 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.^[2][3] Larger operators also operated competing services along Wilmslow Road during the 1990s, including Bee Line and MTL Manchester.

The southern half of GM Buses was sold to Stagecoach Holdings in February 1996,^[4][5] which 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.^[1] Competition eventually reduced by the end of the 2000s; UK North ceased operations in 2006, after an investigation into their safety records by the North West Traffic Commissioner,^[6] whilst Bullocks sold their bus services to Stagecoach in 2008.^[7]

Stagecoach Manchester introduced 30 new Alexander Dennis Enviro400H double-decker hybrid electric buses on services 42 and 43 in September 2010. The vehicles were funded through the Department for Transport's Green Bus Fund.^[8] 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.^[9][10]

On 1 August 2013, First Greater Manchester announced that it had agreed to purchase Finglands Coachways.^[11] The deal was concluded on 9 February 2014.^[12] 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.^[13]

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 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.^[14] From September 2015, the service was amended to terminate in West Didsbury.

Wilmslow Road is often claimed to be the busiest bus corridor in Europe;^[15][16] 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 during 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 it's the frequency of buses or total passengers carried and when.

The 3.7 mi (6.0 km) 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 terms. 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 (TfGM) under the Bee Network brand. Frequent services were run in the corridor; the half mile stretch of route in the city centre between the Royal National College of Music 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:^[15]

"The Wilmslow Road corridor, although enjoying a level of service that no other route in England has in terms of the frequency of buses, is chaos. This is because many companies are running the same route and competing for passengers. Various estimations of patronage have been suggested from research, one as low as 3.5 passengers per bus on average. In actual fact, the exact figures are not available to us because of commercial sensitivity. Stagecoach prices along this route are high and smaller companies buy up cheaper, older and dirtier buses and carry passengers for as little as a third of the Stagecoach price. Some of them still carry London posters because they are rejected stock from London, where standards are higher. Observations reported to us suggest that they will wait to fill up with as many passengers as possible rather than sticking to a timetable and there have been reports of some companies waiting at a stop until another company's bus is just behind and then pulling off. Although one has to wait literally seconds for a bus, the congestion at certain junctions because of too many buses and the unwillingness of these buses to stick to timetables makes travelling on this route an unpleasant and stressful one."

TfGM has developed bus priority measures along Wilmslow Road, in order to enable the provision of cross-city 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,^[19] with the project officially completed in September 2017.^[20]

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  A Finglands Coachways Wright Eclipse Gemini-bodied Volvo B7TL on route 41, July 2008
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  A Stagecoach Manchester Northern Counties Palatine-bodied Volvo Olympian on route 41, July 2008
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  A Bullocks Northern Counties Palatine bodied Leyland Olympian on route 42, July 2008
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  A Magic Bus Northern Counties Palatine-bodied Scania N113 DRB on route 142, July 2008
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  A Magic Bus-branded Alexander Dennis Enviro400H on route 50, November 2024
• 
  Another Magic Bus-branded Alexander Dennis Enviro400H on route 142, November 2024
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  Stagecoach Manchester buses awaiting departure, October 2024
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  A Go North West MCV EvoSeti-bodied Volvo B5LH on route V1, December 2024
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  A Stagecoach Manchester Alexander Dennis Enviro400 on route 42 at East Didsbury, October 2024
• 
  Metroline Manchester buses awaiting departure at Parrs Wood bus station, June 2025
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  A Metroline Manchester Wright StreetDeck Ultroliner on route 50 at Parrs Wood, December 2025
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  A Metroline Manchester MCV-bodied Volvo BZL battery electric bus on route 142 at Piccadilly Gardens, August 2026