Greater Manchester Service Changes

[KXW212]

RE: Greater Manchester Service Changes

(18/07/2021 11:04)knutstransport Wrote:  That route is slower according to Google Maps and it also depends whether Hulleys want the bus to serve the airport. Their website indicates they have an arrangement with Thomas Cook (the new company using the name), with anyone booking via thomascook.com getting a 25% discount on their bus services to the airport.

If the X1 does go via Poynton then that just changes the discussion as to whether the 391/392 competes with the X1 instead of the 130. There is also a hybrid option where it could run Macclesfield to Handforth without going through Wilmslow, which is probably the option that would be least likely to be seen as competing with an existing subsided service.

I think D&G will need to keep a close eye on this regardless given they also operate a subsided Macclesfield to Leek service.

Depends what market they are aiming at. Is the airport worth bothering with?, I doubt it. Attempts to serve it from the CEC end have been failures and there's nothing to suggest that has changed.
Running direct between Macc and Hazel Grove serves little except Poynton, which is traffic choked due the the shared space council vanity project. The sensible way is limited stop Macc TC, Hospital, Broken Cross, Alderley Park, Wilmslow, A34, East Didsbury, MRI, Manchester only. May be adjustments to the 130 might be required to provide some sort of balanced service. There's also the 109 issue, which is very lightly used and also provides a 'Town Service' element in Leek. Again adjustments to this might need to be made. Alongside all this, is resource. Assuming an X1 2 hourly service end to end, a 4 hour round trip with 2 buses would be ambitious, a 6 hour round trip with three would be more realistic and allow more useful stopping points and create useful links, plus reliability, something Arriva failed dismally to address when they ran the 130 into Manchester.
Far more 'tidy' and efficient driver duties would also result. I await the TT with interest.