Over 2 years of building work on the £135m new Stockport Interchange completed this week and was opened today (Sunday 17th March). Reaction online from the public seems quite positive. There’s a 2-acre garden on the roof, and it keeps in with the rest of the ‘TfGM’-era bus station rebuilds with lots of concrete, fully enclosed spaces, departure screens etc. The 191/192 don’t use it though. Meanwhile, Middleton bus station reopened today a week late after delays to its resurfacing works.
2 weeks ago the Stand E bus shelter at Oldham Mumps was destroyed when a First B9 careered into it. Local mumblings reckon the bus was left unattended on the Metrolink side of the station and some kids let themselves in the cab and released the handbrake, letting gravity take it on an off-side roll back into the shelter. Gladly, I don’t think anyone was hurt.
Meanwhile at the depot, works on its EV upgrades are complete. They’ve gone for the over-head drop-down style owing to lack of floor space for the footprint of bulky traditional chargers. The power cables roll down from gantries installed just under the roof metal work, operated by pressing a button along side the marked bay. The architects involved in the project, Janus, who also designed Warrington’s new depot and a has been a long-time client of First’s, filmed some promo video after commissioning by flying a drone through the new charging bay. Very, very impressive. But it seems there won’t be many vehicles to use such clever gadgets. Strikes at Alexander Dennis’s Falkirk factory have disrupted the delivery of the 50-strong EV fleet, with “26 to 32” expected to be delivered ready for “Bee-day 2”.
Passenger Transport speculated at the start of the month at what news there’ll be from the T3 awards in 4 days time, suggesting Stagecoach are on track to winning just one large franchise, with First and Diamond doing well with the small SLSCs (Diamond maxing out all the SLSC’s it could in T1 and winning the sole T2 SLSC) and a “newcomer to the region” clinching “some or all of the remaining large contracts”. They also seemed to reckon there was a third Rochdale SLSC which I’m guessing was thrown in with the Oldham large (First won Rochdale 1&2). They report that plans for Oldham and Queens Rd include upgraded toilet facilities and roof repairs at Queens Rd (which TfGM “admit” will eventually need a complete new roof – I think that’s one to watch for as a possible reason to dispose of the depot for it’s “retirement” and “reprovisioning for further development and regeneration” – see “Nooks and Corners pt. 4”).
Just over the border and Warrington’s Own Buses has revealed what it’s doing with its ZEBRA funding. In July lat year it ordered a diesel replacement fleet 105 Volvo BZL EVs – painted in black and, er, the same shade of yellow as the Bee Network! That shouldn’t be too confusing for some. The first example arrived this week and a showcase event held. EO Charging are providing the chargers. Of it’s BSIP element, it’s improving shelters, keeping the £2/£1 cap (extending the £1 to 19-21 year olds) and removing the morning peak-time concessionary charge.
The UK’s largest waste of time, sorry, largest “live indoor entertainment arena” (taking the crown from the nearby AO Arena – why Manchester needs another concert venue is anyone’s guess) the “Co-op Live” opens on the 23rd April with a 2-day opening courtesy of Peter Kay. In order to appease traffic concerns (it was plonked over a large area of Etihad stadium’s car parking after all), and to persuade people that it’s easy to get to, it’s giving concert goers free tram travel for 2 months in all 4 zones until 30th June. The validity window opens 4hrs before doors, and closes 4hrs after curtains, all you have to do is show your concert ticket. Metrolink have also upped the frequency of services to Etihad Campus to every 6 minutes all day. As part of the “considered approach” they’ve also upgraded the walking route from Holt Town stop to the Etihad Campus which was “designed to create a vibrant pre-event experience”.
As part of this “pre-event experience” they’re also laying on free shuttle buses for the period between the arena and Piccadilly. “Upto 10” buses “varying by event profile” will run, from what I can see, only AFTER the show. This has all come about after some spectacular mud flinging between the AO Arena and Co-op Live at a 2-day licensing hearing. Better reported by the LDRS in the MEN. AO Arena basically had issues with the late license of the venue (midnight and 2am for it’s restaurants at weekends), the ‘limitations of concrete transport options’, and ‘the absence of existing methods of dispersal in the early hours of the morning without disturbing residents or endangering public safety’. I wonder what will happen when the introductory 2 month travel option finishes and memories of it slowly fade away. It’s needed to appease licensing for opening, but not needed for continued operation? Will the buses still run after the 2 months? There’s hopes that the venue will host overnight events with 24/7 opening (televised UFC for American audiences, for example).
