First Greater Manchester facts for kids
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Alexander Dennis Enviro400 in Bolton with route branding for services 36 and 37 in April 2013
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| Parent | FirstGroup |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Headquarters | Rochdale |
| Locale | North West England |
| Service area | Greater Manchester |
| Service type | Bus services |
| Hubs | Oldham Rochdale |
| Depot(s) | 1 |
| Fleet | 195 (April 2020) |
First Greater Manchester is a bus company that operates in Greater Manchester, England. It is part of a larger company called FirstGroup. This company runs bus services that are now part of the Bee Network, working under a contract with Transport for Greater Manchester. First Greater Manchester used to be a very big bus operator in the northern parts of the county. However, in recent years, it has reduced its operations. Now, it mainly serves the north-eastern areas of Manchester, and the towns of Oldham and Rochdale.
Contents
History of First Greater Manchester
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Before 1986, buses in Greater Manchester were run by the public transport system called Greater Manchester Transport. In 1986, this system changed its name to GM Buses. It was owned by the local councils of Greater Manchester.
Changes and Sales
In December 1993, GM Buses was split into two separate companies: GM Buses North and GM Buses South. The idea was for them to compete, but they mostly stayed in their own areas.
In March 1994, GM Buses North was sold to its own management team. By this time, many other bus companies were starting to run routes that GM Buses used to operate. This happened after a change in rules called deregulation, which allowed more competition.
In March 1996, GM Buses North was sold to FirstBus for £47 million. It was then renamed First Manchester. After trying out a few different looks, the buses were painted deep orange with a blue stripe.
First Manchester also managed two other FirstBus companies for a while: First Potteries and First Pennine. Some older buses even moved between these companies. Eventually, First Pennine and First Manchester merged, adding more routes in the Tameside area to First Manchester.
Depot Changes and Reliability Issues
Over the years, several bus depots (where buses are stored and maintained) have closed. These include Atherton (1998), Bolton Crook Street (2004), Knowsley (2008), Rochdale (2004), and Trafford Park (2005). Some temporary depots were also used for special events, like the Commonwealth Games in 2002.
In February 2012, First Manchester faced problems because many of its buses were not running on time. A survey found that about 26% of their services were late. Because of this, the company was fined £285,000 in March 2012.
Rebranding and Sales
In spring 2012, First Manchester changed its name to First Greater Manchester. In June 2012, FirstGroup announced that it might sell some of its operations, including First Manchester's depot in Wigan. On 2 December 2012, Stagecoach Manchester bought the Wigan operations. This deal included 300 employees, 120 buses, and the Wigan depot.
On 1 August 2013, FirstGroup announced that it would buy the bus operations of a company called Finglands Coachways. This deal included Finglands' depot in Rusholme and its routes in South Manchester. The deal was approved in January 2014, and First took over these services in February 2014.
Scaling Back Operations
Starting in 2017, FirstGroup began to reduce its operations in Greater Manchester to save money. It closed its depots in Bury and Tameside. Buses and routes were moved to its remaining depots in Bolton, Queens Road, and Rusholme. The Rusholme depot also closed in January 2019.
In February 2019, the Queens Road depot in Cheetham Hill was bought by the Go-Ahead Group. This new company became Go North West, which started running buses on 2 June 2019. They took over 25 bus routes and more than 160 buses from First. First's Bolton depot was then bought by Rotala on 11 August 2019. This expanded the operations of Diamond North West with 18 new routes. These sales left First Greater Manchester with only its Oldham depot.
On 24 March 2024, First lost its historic Oldham depot to Stagecoach Manchester for Bee Network operations. However, First had also bought Rosso’s Rochdale Depot a few months earlier. This marked a new chapter for the company and its role in the Bee Network.
Bus Services
First Manchester mainly operates bus services under Bee Network contracts in Oldham and Rochdale and the areas around them.
First also runs some services in the Wigan area. After selling its Wigan depot to Stagecoach Manchester in 2012, First only serves Astley, Atherton, Leigh, and Tyldesley. These services are called V1 and V2 and use the Leigh Guided Busway and the A580. These services are known as Vantage. As of September 2023, Go North West operates these services as part of the Bee Network.
Metroshuttle Services
First Greater Manchester used to operate the three Metroshuttle services. These buses ran around Manchester city centre and were free for passengers. These services were later taken over by Go North West in June 2019. In early 2024, Stagecoach Manchester took them over for Bee Network operation.
Night Bus Services
First Greater Manchester used to run several night bus services across Greater Manchester on Friday and Saturday nights. These routes mostly followed the same paths as their daytime versions. They ran every 30 minutes or every hour from midnight to 3:30 am. Passengers paid a single, flat fare.
Until December 2012, First Greater Manchester also operated the Nightbus network in Wigan town centre. These services provided late-night transport to various areas across Wigan. When First Greater Manchester sold its Wigan operations, the Wigan Nightbus network moved to Stagecoach Manchester.
In January 2015, First Greater Manchester stopped six night bus journeys that served Rochdale, Bury, and Eccles. In spring 2016, First's remaining night bus services were stopped due to not enough passengers using them.
Vantage Bus Services
On 3 April 2016, First Greater Manchester started operating services on the 4.5-mile North West Guided busway. These services run between Leigh and Ellenbrook and are known as the Vantage brand.
Bus Fleet and Branding
As of April 2020, the First Greater Manchester fleet (all its buses) had 195 buses.
Before the Bolton and Queens Road depots were sold in 2019, First Greater Manchester had a fleet of 583 buses. Most of these were Wrightbus-bodied Volvos and Alexander Dennis Enviro400s. Up to 160 buses from Queens Road were sold to Go North West. Another 125 buses from Bolton were moved to other parts of the FirstGroup.
First Greater Manchester plans to make its remaining Oldham fleet electric. They tested a Mellor Sigma 10 electric bus in March 2023.
Route Branding for Buses
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First Greater Manchester used to brand its frequent services as Overground. This idea was similar to the London Underground network, where each frequent service has a special colour. Each Overground service also had its own colour line. These colours were shown on maps and on the buses themselves. However, this branding has mostly been stopped.
Usually, the colours were chosen randomly. But the 180/184 route was given the Purple line when it became an Overground route in 2004. This was because the 184 route was extended to Huddersfield, where other routes (like 348, 350, and 352) were already branded as the Purple line.
Today, most Overground services do not have special branding. Only the 180/184 and 409 routes still have significant branding. Some former routes, like Route 100, were branded as "unmissable," and routes X34 and X35 were called "Spinning Jenny" and "Flying Shuttle."
Heritage Bus Liveries
In 2013, First Greater Manchester repainted eight of its buses to look like old buses from previous transport companies. This was done to create a "heritage fleet" that celebrated the history of bus services in the area. These older companies eventually became part of First Greater Manchester.
Three Volvo B7RLE buses were painted in the colours of Bolton Corporation Transport, Oldham Corporation, and Ramsbottom Urban District Council. Five Volvo B9TL buses were painted in the colours of Bury Corporation, Manchester City Transport, Rochdale Corporation, Salford City Transport, and Lancashire United Transport.
See also
- Timeline of public passenger transport operations in Manchester
