Life on the buses leads to complaints

OLDHAM’S first Monday without the train got off to a bumpy start yesterday as commuters criticised the replacement express bus service.

The Chronicle was contacted by several fed-up commuters with tales of delays and longer journeys.

One disgruntled passenger said: “Well, day one of having to use the bus to get to work and it turned up 20 minutes late.

“Then took one hour and 20 minutes to get into work instead of my usual 40 minutes. So much for the so-called ‘express’ service — a great start to the next two-plus years I’d say.”

Another said: “This will add an extra two hours to my day — that’s 10 hours per week for two years. Unbelievable. Why couldn’t the line be kept open?”

Trains stopped running from Oldham to Manchester Victoria and Rochdale on Saturday after more than 140 years of service.

The line will now be converted for the arrival of Metrolink but services won’t start until autumn, 2011, leaving commuters relying on buses to get to work.

But a Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive spokeswoman said there had been no official complaints and that staff stationed in Milnrow, Shaw and Derker, who are out all week to help customers with the switch, had not reported any problems.

GMPTE has organised additional services in the evenings and at weekends as well as more regular and direct buses during the day.

Councillor Keith Whitmore, chairman of Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority (GMITA), said: “GMPTE will take into account feedback from passengers.

“When the new Metrolink route is complete, we will be able to offer passengers a modern, integrated, high-quality service providing more frequent connections to more locations.”

Oldham Council leader Howard Sykes said: “We fully understand that the next couple of years will be a difficult period for commuters.

“We’ve secured extra evening and weekend buses during the conversion work, but will continue to monitor the situation, listen to residents and press for additional or different service provision if it is required.”

The 181 and 182 Monday to Saturday evening and weekend services will increase from hourly to half-hourly.

A new late service has also been introduced, leaving Manchester Piccadilly at 11.30pm and arriving at Milnrow at 12.20am.

From this weekend, Sunday daytime bus services will double from hourly to half-hourly and have been re-routed to operate via Rochdale railway station to enable passengers to access connecting rail services into Manchester. During Monday to Saturday daytimes, the 181 service will also call at that station.

When the trams arrive they will run from Shaw and Crompton every six minutes, and every 12 minutes from Rochdale.

Full details of the new replacement bus services can be found online at www.gmpte.com/trains/ oldham_loop.cfm or by calling Traveline on 0871 200 22 33.

To find out more about the enhanced bus services and to download timetables, visit www.gmpte.com.