The busway will provide a high quality, fast and reliable public transport link connecting Leigh and Atherton to Tyldesley, Ellenbrook, Salford and Manchester. It will go:

From Leigh

• Through Leigh town centre from Leigh bus station, along Spinning Jenny Way to the guided section;
• along a 7km guided track on the old railway alignment between East Bond Street in Leigh and Newearth Road in Ellenbrook

From Atherton

• On the A577 (Tyldesley Road) between Atherton and Tyldesley, joining the guided section at Astley Street in Tyldesley and continuing to Newearth Road in Ellenbrook

Combined services

• On the A580 between Ellenbrook and Manchester where the buses will use dedicated lanes for the majority of the route and will have enhanced priority at junctions where they cross existing roads.
• Through Manchester city centre and on to Oxford Road, past the University and on to a dedicated waiting facility within the Central Manchester Hospitals site.

All the communities along the 21km route will benefit from the busway. It will directly serve Leigh, Atherton, Tyldesley, Ellenbrook, , Worsley, South Walkden, Swinton, as well as people living in Manchester city centre.

The three Park & Ride sites that are proposed along the route at Leigh, Tyldesley and Worsley will also enable car users who live further afield to benefit from the busway service.

The guided section allows specifically adapted buses to run along a dedicated track which is not used by any other traffic, therefore providing a more reliable service which is not affected by congestion.

There are several reasons why this part will be guided, as opposed to building a bus-only road:

• A guided busway requires less land width than a normal road as buses can travel in opposite directions closer together. This means that the busway can generally be accommodated within the constraints of the former rail line, and therefore leave more space for the path that can be used by walkers, cyclists and horseriders.
• The track is unsuitable for other vehicles, and specially designed access features make it impossible for other vehicles to use the guided section.
• The guided section keeps the bus horizontally balanced (as rail tracks do with a train). This provides a smoother journey for passengers.
• The guided section enables buses to draw up level with bus stops, making it easier for people with mobility difficulties to get on board the buses.

The guided part of the busway is 7km long and consists of concrete tracks that allow specially adapted buses to run along them, and therefore avoid busy traffic. The tracks can't be used by any other vehicles.

Grass will be planted between the concrete tracks on the guided section of the busway, and there will be gaps in the tracks where public footpaths cross the guided section. There will also be a break in the tracks where the busway crosses an existing road. These gaps will not affect the smooth running of the buses.

Alongside the guided section will be a dedicated path for walkers, cyclists and horseriders to use.

An artist's impression of what this will look like is available here

Wherever possible the cycleway/horseway will be separated from the footway via a verge. In some locations, where there is a constraint on the width of the path, it is not proposed to segregate the different users. These sections and possible alternatives will be explored during the 'detailed design' of the busway, which will take place in 2012/13.

The bus stops along the guided part of the busway will be fully lit and be fitted with seats, covered shelters, CCTV, a public address system, emergency contact points, and passenger information.

The introduction of fast, frequent and reliable services along the busway route will significantly increase the number of passengers using bus services. Past experience of improving public transport services, such as the Greater Manchester wide Quality Bus Corridor Programme, has shown that where bus use increases on key routes, commercial bus operators are likely to maintain and enhance services on 'feeder routes' to meet the increased demand.

There are two park and ride sites associated with stops on the guided section of the busway, providing a total of approximately 140 spaces. These are proposed for at East Bond Street, Leigh and Tyldesley Interchange.

A third park and ride site is also proposed under the M60/61 Junction with the A580 in Worsley.

Please be aware that the park and ride sites on the route map are indicative and are not the precise location of the proposed sites. The final detail of the exact sites will be agreed in conjunction with Wigan Council, Salford City Council, and will be subject to local consultation.

Transport for Greater Manchester will continue to work with both Wigan Council and Salford City Council to identify areas where park and ride facilities could be expanded, should there be additional demand.

The majority of the busway costs will be met locally from the Greater Manchester Transport Fund (GMTF). This is a guaranteed source of funding and is not subject to any funding decisions made by Government. GMTF has allocated £68 million to the busway scheme.

The busway service will also benefit from the improvements that are funded by Transport for Greater Manchester's Cross City Bus package. These funds are guaranteed too.

The vehicles running on the full length of the busway route will be modern, high quality vehicles and will result in an improvement in quality compared to current standards experienced by bus passengers on these routes. The final specification of the vehicles will be decided by Transport for Greater Manchester in conjunction with commercial bus operators, and will benefit from the improvements in engine technology to minimise CO2 emissions.

It is proposed that the vehicles used on the busway will comply, as a minimum, with the Euro V level of the European Emissions Standards. European emission standards (or Euro standards) are set by the European Union and give acceptable limits for exhaust emissions of all new vehicles that are sold in the EU, covering oxides of nitrogen (NOX), hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (PM) emissions. The final specification of the vehicles will be decided by Transport for Greater Manchester in conjunction with commercial bus operators to minimise CO2 emissions.

The services that run along the busway will encourage some people to use public transport rather than their car, which is better for the environment. The buses that run along the full length of the route will be modern, high quality vehicles that comply with, as a minimum, the Euro V level of European Emissions Standards to minimise CO2 emissions.

TfGM will be sensitive to the local environment during the construction of the busway. We will work with Wigan Council and Salford City Council to agree the extent of tree clearance to minimise the impact on local residents and to ensure it is carried out in the most efficient and effective manner. TfGM will plant more trees than it removes and all work will be carried out in line with the TfGM Wildlife Habitat and Tree Replacement Policy, in addition to meeting the requirements of local policies. Some of this work has already taken place. For instance, in 2010 a number of great crested newts were relocated to a purpose built pond in an adjacent field in Higher Folds to ensure they are not affected by the busway.

We will also work closely with Wigan Council, Salford City Council and Manchester City Council to ensure that we minimise the disruption to commuters during the works which take place on the existing roads, and therefore minimise the local environmental impact of this.

All the buses that run along the full busway route will be modern, high quality vehicles that will be significantly quieter than older vehicles. The noise will be minimised when the buses run along the guided part of the busway because the smooth concrete tracks will keep the bus horizontally level and able to travel at a steady speed. This will mean that it is quieter than when the bus runs along a normal road.

The fact that the guided part of the busway can only be used by buses also means that the frequency of vehicles along the route will be significantly less than if it is compared with a normal road. The noise levels were considered during the public inquiry, with the independent Inspector concluding that any increase in the level of noise would be acceptable.

TfGM will install screen fencing at certain points along the guided part of the busway. These are adjacent to the houses backing on to the busway between Holden Road and Lilford Park in Leigh, and at two short sections adjacent to Hough Lane and Well Street in Tyldesley.

The footpaths which run along the disused railway line from East Bond Street in Leigh to Newearth Road in Ellenbrook are going to be temporarily closed whilst site clearance work takes place. To minimise the disruption to residents, the paths will only be closed in the area where the contractor is working to enable them to carry out the work safely. This will mean that not all the footpaths will be closed at once, and the footpaths in any one area should not be closed for longer than a few days. Signs will be in place to indicate when a particular stretch of the footpath is closed.

The footpath closures started in January 2012, with the work expected to be completed within two months.

More information is available on the site clearance page of this website.

Towards Manchester - There will be a near continuous bus lane towards Manchester for the 4km between Newearth Road in Ellenbrook and Moorside Road in Swinton. This will be done by widening the A580 to create a new lane for buses. Between Moorside Road and Lancaster Road in Swinton the bus lane will be marked on the existing carriageway, reducing the number of lanes available to general traffic from three to two. The buses will then re-join the general traffic at Lancaster Road, which is two lanes until the Irlams o' th' Heights roundabout before it becomes three lanes up until Frederick Road in Pendleton.

Towards Leigh / Atherton - Between Frederick Road in Pendleton and the Irlams o' th' Heights roundabout the three existing lanes will remain as they are, as will the road between the Irlams o' th' Heights roundabout and Lancaster Road in Swinton, which is two existing lanes. From Lancaster Road to Moorside Road in Swinton there will be a near continuous bus lane marked on the existing carriageway, reducing the number of lanes available to general traffic from three to two. Finally, there will be a near continuous additional lane that can only be used by buses added to the existing road for the 4km route from Moorside Road to Newearth Road in Boothstown.

Both directions - Junctions will be improved to introduce 'green man' controlled crossings for pedestrians and to improve the management of traffic along the road. The bus lane will be set back at junctions to allow vehicles to turn left and to maximise the capacity at junctions for all traffic. The bus stops along the route will also be upgraded.

An overview of these changes can be seen here: Schematic map | Artist impression

Traffic modelling has been carried out which demonstrates that the junction improvements, improved traffic management measures and introduction of bus lanes will have no significant impact on the traffic on the A580.

The introduction of the busway will provide a fast, frequent public transport service that will encourage some people to leave their cars at home or at one of the three proposed park and ride sites and use the new services instead. The changes that will take place on the A580 will improve public transport for residents, whilst being conscious of the needs of other commuters.

TfGM will work with Salford City Council to ensure that the disruption to commuters during the work to improve the A580 is minimised. The work will not be started before the current work on Chapel Street has been completed by Salford City Council.

The site clearance work, which took place along the guided part of the busway route in early 2012, was carried out by UPM Tillhill on behalf of Transport for Greater Manchester. UPM Tilhill are an experienced in site clearance, and have been contracted by Transport for Greater Manchester previously.

The work was done in short sections, so that there was a rolling programme of work along the route during the two months it took to complete. This minimised the disruption to residents as the footpaths were only closed temporarily to enable the contractor to work safely in that area. They did not work in any one area for longer than a few days, and therefore each part of the footpath was only closed for that period.

There have been some isolated instances of fly-tipping since the site clearance work was completed in late February 2012. If you are aware of any fly-tipping that has taken place, please contact TfGM so that we can arrange for it to be removed. You can contact us by calling 0300 123 1177, or emailing busway@tfgm.com