{"id":436716,"date":"2025-09-19T18:43:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T18:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/436716\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T18:43:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T18:43:17","slug":"i-tried-to-commute-into-manchester-city-centre-without-using-buses-i-wouldnt-recommend-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/436716\/","title":{"rendered":"I tried to commute into Manchester city centre without using buses – I wouldn’t recommend it"},"content":{"rendered":"

As bus strikes hit Manchester, Ben Winship explored what a Manchester without buses would look like in the areas that rely on them the most\"ReporterReporter Ben Winship<\/p>\n

It felt like I was the only person walking around Worsley<\/a> Road at 7.30am. It\u2019s day one of the Bee Network bus strike (September 19) and everyone in this part of Manchester seems to travel by road.<\/p>\n

Queues of cars are stacking up and the noise of the nearby M60<\/a> is difficult to get out of your ears. It\u2019s a 40-minute walk to the nearest train stations in Walkden<\/a> or Patricroft, so maybe it shouldn\u2019t be a huge surprise that lots of people here seem to drive.<\/p>\n

This is one of the places in Manchester where, if you don\u2019t have access to a car, the bus becomes a vital mode of transport. But just how important is the bus to areas of Manchester like Worsley?<\/p>\n

Never miss a story with the MEN’s daily Catch Up newsletter – get it in your inbox by signing up here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

This question is raised as more than 2,000 members of the Unite union walk out until Monday (September 22) over a pay dispute, with around two thirds of bus services are expected to be cancelled.<\/p>\n

To understand what a bus-free Manchester could look like, I took on a challenge – to attempt to get from Worsley to the Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) in Chorlton<\/a> without using a bus.<\/p>\n

Leg 1 – Worsley to Patricroft train station<\/strong><\/p>\n

Passing the site of Ryan Giggs\u2019 recently-shut restaurant, the George\u2019s Dining Room and Bar, I noticed the 20 bus service cruise past me, soon followed by the 33. I already felt a bit daft on this bus-free quest through the city and temptation like this didn\u2019t help my spirits either.<\/p>\n

Around one third of bus services were scheduled to run during the strikes, and I wondered how many people knew this. So I made a detour to a busy Liverpool Road bus stop and spoke with passengers waiting to board.<\/p>\n

The first person I spoke to had no clue which bus to get on or whether he would get into work on time – he hadn\u2019t checked online.<\/p>\n

Another passenger described herself \u2018lucky\u2019 that her bus service was operating, and made sure to check online just in case. She also said: \u201cThe situation in general is chaos.\u201d<\/p>\n

As she hopped onto her 67 service, another Bee Network bus with \u2018private\u2019 written on the destination sign flew past.<\/p>\n

\"AA bus on Liverpool Road with a \u2018private\u2019 message on its direction display<\/p>\n

I hopped onto a nippy Lime scooter to get me the rest of the way to Patricroft train station. It didn\u2019t feel like the most grown-up way to travel, but with the wind in my hair I felt like I was really moving.<\/p>\n

I arrived at Patricroft train station after 35 minutes with \u00a37.12 less to my name. Having stopped a few times to speak to people, Lime\u2019s \u00a30.17\/min riding fee soon added up.<\/p>\n

My total journey cost was already above the \u00a35 fee for a 1-day Bee AnyBus adult ticket, which offers unlimited daily bus travel for \u00a35.<\/p>\n

\"LikeLike bikes outside Patricroft train stationLeg 2 – Patricroft train station to Oxford Road train station<\/strong><\/p>\n

I missed the 8.44am train to Oxford Road<\/a> train station – so a 40-minute wait it was. While the train is the quickest way to get around, it doesn\u2019t always offer round-the-clock flexibility.<\/p>\n

I killed some of this time by speaking to a bus driver employed by Diamond bus operators.<\/p>\n

While First, Metroline and Stagecoach bus operators were on strike, this driver had been on shift since 6am and described a \u2018busy morning\u2019 after lots more people from other services got on his 20 service.<\/p>\n

If his bus was busy today, it wasn\u2019t full of customers from Eccles<\/a> and Patricroft. Passengers waiting at bus stops on this section of Liverpool Road were few and far between.<\/p>\n

After a fiddly walk and scoot, I was blitzing through Eccles, Deansgate<\/a> and into Oxford Road on the train. A \u00a34 railcard-free ticket brought the running cost to \u00a311.12.<\/p>\n

Leg 3 – Oxford Road to Manchester Royal Infirmary<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 9.44am train was pretty full for a post-rush-hour service, which made me wonder how many people were also avoiding the buses.<\/p>\n

A train conductor on the platform recalled a fairly standard morning as he held up his dispatch baton. And black cab driver Arjan Singh, 51, revealed a similar story as he leant on his vehicle.<\/p>\n

\"ArjanArjan Singh, 51, had a quiet morning despite the disruption<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cWe\u2019ve had a really quiet morning. I\u2019ve been waiting here outside Oxford Road station for 45 minutes waiting for a customer, and nothing.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I did have someone hail me down on Oxford Road earlier – which never happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arjan may not have been summoned for many emergency rides, and perhaps this reflected a significant amount of people choosing to work from home.<\/p>\n

But Uber driver Nasser Khan, 42, spoke of a busy morning as he stopped for a moment to tuck into a Caff\u00e9 Nero pastry.<\/p>\n

\"UberUber driver Nasser Khan, 41, has been busy getting people across the city during the bus strikes<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI\u2019ve been driving children who have had their school buses cancelled around Newton<\/a> Heath, Failsworth<\/a> and Moston<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I also had one elderly passenger who owned a travel pass for the bus, but because of the strikes they had to pay for an Uber instead.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a not-so-tech-savvy handful of minutes downloading an app and unlocking a Starling Bank bicycle, I cycled up the last stretch towards the Manchester Royal Infirmary.<\/p>\n

By 11.10am, I’d reached my destination. If I’d taken the bus from Worsley at 7.40am, I would have been here at 8.40am – comfortably early for a 9am appointment.<\/p>\n

But after my bus-less trek into the city, I find myself more than two hours late for my fictional engagement. I spent my journey running out of time, running low on cash, and for some parts, just running.<\/p>\n

\"MyMy chariot ahead of the final leg of my journeyFinal thoughts<\/strong><\/p>\n

It took me three-and-a-half hours and 9,000 steps to complete the journey, but let me be clear – it could be done a lot easier. I took the scenic route at times, missed my first train, and stopped along the way to speak to people affected by the strike.<\/p>\n

And with this last leg of the journey costing \u00a31, my final tally came to around \u00a312.12 – more than double the cost of an unlimited day pass for the bus. A taxi would have been far quicker, but more expensive still at around \u00a315.<\/p>\n

Join the Manchester Evening News <\/strong>WhatsApp<\/strong> group <\/strong>HERE<\/a><\/p>\n

The objective of this challenge was not to do it as quickly or cheaply or possible, but rather to try and understand how awkward it can be to get around some areas of Manchester without a bus.<\/p>\n

And when a simple bus journey is broken up into a combination of walking, scooting, training and cycling, you begin to realise how important a bus route is for people in communities like Worsley that rely on it.<\/p>\n

So, can you travel from Worsley to Chorlton without using a bus? Yes, you can. Would I recommend it? Probably not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As bus strikes hit Manchester, Ben Winship explored what a Manchester without buses would look like in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436717,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[15333,748,393,4884,2465,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-436716","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-bee-network","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-manchester","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115232442993094231","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436716\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}