First Bus Greater Manchester Landing Page

From Sunday 24 March 2024, First Manchester will operate services in Rochdale and Bury as part of the phase two rollout of franchised bus services by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM).

We’ll also be delivering services to six schools in the region. These are: St Monica’s High School in Prestwich, Co-op Academy and Co-op Academy North in Blackley, St Cuthbert’s School in Rochdale, Waterhead Academy in Oldham and St Matthew RC High School in Moston. There will be no changes to the service numbers of buses used on the routes. 

Our absolute priority will be to deliver a reliable service in partnership with TfGM with a best-in-class, customer-first approach to support journeys.

Our depot operations

Buses in the distinctive Bee Network yellow livery will operate from our Rochdale depot on Corporation Road, where we are investing £750,000 with a focus on enhanced engineering facilities, including a new double height workshop bay for vehicle repair and maintenance. The yard area will also be improved to provide better space for operations.

The depot will manage more than 30 routes in the Rochdale and Bury area together with six school services using a fleet of over 60 buses and capacity to expand this to 90 vehicles.

Service 590  Halifax – Todmorden – Rochdale

Please note this service into Greater Manchester will not be part of the Bee Network as it is operated from the First Bus depot in Halifax and will continue as normal.  The timetable can be viewed here