Manchester Chorlton Street coach station or Manchester Central coach station is an

InterCity bus An intercity bus service (North American English) or intercity coach service (British English and Commonwealth English), also called a long-distance, express, over-the-road, commercial, long-haul, or highway bus or coach service, is a public t ...

and

coach station A bus station, bus depot, or bus interchange is a structure where city buses or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. A bus station is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the roadside, where buses can st ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The station is operated by

National Express Coaches National Express, also abbreviated NX, is a Intercity bus service, long and medium-distance intercity coach operator operating services throughout Great Britain. It is a subsidiary of the British multinational public transport company Mobico G ...

, who provide the majority of services.

History

The station was first opened in 1950 and consisted of three platform islands with long shelters. The station was re-designed in 1963 by Leach Rhodes Walker with the addition of a

multi-storey car park A multistorey car park (Commonwealth English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistorey, parking building, parking structure, parkade (Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck, or indoor parking, is a building designed fo ...

and was reopened in 1967. Similar to the original station, it had three platform islands and had a semi-open concourse. The station had a reputation for being a miserable station, with the semi-open concourse making conditions feel cold and windy. The station underwent a major re-build and was reopened in 2002.

Services

The station is staffed by

National Express Mobico Group, formerly National Express Group, is a British multinational public transport company with headquarters in Birmingham, England. Domestically it currently operates bus and coach services under brands including National Express. Th ...

who operate the majority of services from the station.

Eurolines Eurolines is a brand of intercity bus service owned by an international non-profit organisation formed under Belgian law. Using the Eurolines brand, partner bus companies operate service in Europe and Morocco. History Eurolines was founded in ...

also operates coach services to the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. Prior to 2018, High Peak operated the Transpeak service to

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak, Derbyshire, Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, in the East Midlands region of England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Alston, Cumbria also claims this, but lacks a regu ...

, Matlock and

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

, a service previously operated by

Trentbarton Trentbarton (stylised in all lowercase) is a bus operator providing both local and regional services in Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire, England. It is a subsidiary of the Wellglade Group. History In October 19 ...

with a fleet of coaches, but was operated with standard buses by High Peak. From 22 July 2018, this service was curtailed at Buxton, and no longer served Manchester or

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

. National Express's rival company, Megabus used to operate services from outside the coach station on Chorlton Street but moved across the city to

Shudehill Interchange Shudehill Interchange is a transport hub between Manchester Victoria station and the Northern Quarter in Manchester city centre, England, which comprises a Metrolink stop and a bus station. History The tracks through the site were opened in 1 ...

in April 2009.

Connecting services

A number of scheduled bus services depart from the bus stops directly outside the station including Bee Network's Free bus around the city 1, while a number of local bus services stop around the corner on Portland Street. Longer distance limited stop services Burnley Bus Company's Witchway X43 and Blackburn Bus Company's Red Express X41 used to depart from stops outside the station. The majority of these services, save for a few Monday to Friday peak hour arrivals / departures moved to

in September 2024.

Piccadilly Gardens Piccadilly Gardens is a green space in Manchester city centre, England, on the edge of the Northern Quarter. It takes its name from the adjacent street, Piccadilly, which runs across the city centre from Market Street to London Road. The ga ...

is a three-minute walk away from the coach station, from where many bus services run to destinations across

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, along with Metrolink tram services. Piccadilly railway station is a five-minute walk away, from where the majority of regional ( Northern and

East Midlands Railway East Midlands Railway (EMR; legally Transport UK East Midlands Limited) is a British train operating company owned by Transport UK Group, and is the current operator of the East Midlands franchise. Originally owned by Abellio (transport compan ...

) and national (

Avanti West Coast First Trenitalia West Coast Rail, trading name, trading as Avanti West Coast, is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership. In November 2016, the Department for Tra ...

CrossCountry CrossCountry (legal name XC Trains Limited) is a British train operating company owned by Arriva UK Trains, operating the current CrossCountry franchise. The CrossCountry franchise was restructured by the Department for Transport (DfT) in 2006, ...

TransPennine Express TransPennine Trains Limited, trading as TransPennine Express (TPE), is a British train operating company that has operated passenger services in the TransPennine Express franchise area since May 2023. It runs regional and inter-city rail ser ...

and

Transport for Wales Rail Transport for Wales Rail Limited, branded as Transport for Wales and TfW Rail ( and ), is a Welsh State-owned enterprises of the United Kingdom, publicly owned train operating company, a subsidiary of Transport for Wales (TfW), a Welsh Governme ...

) services depart.

References

{{reflist

External links

Manchester Coach Station National Express page
Bus stations in Greater Manchester Transport in Manchester Buildings and structures in Manchester