Manchester Chorlton Street coach station


Manchester Chorlton Street coach station or Manchester Central coach station is an InterCity bus and coach station in Manchester, England. The station is operated by National Express Coaches, 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 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 who operate the majority of services from the station. Eurolines also operates coach services to the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Prior to 2018, High Peak operated the Transpeak service to Buxton, Matlock and Derby, a service previously operated by Trentbarton 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.
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 in April 2009.

Connecting services

and Burnley Bus Company bus services X41 and X43 terminate and start from outside the station, with the X41 running to Ramsbottom and Accrington, and the X43 running to Rawtenstall and Burnley every 15 minutes, and then Colne and Skipton every 30 minutes. Between 2017 and 2018, Cityzap Manchester also started outside the station, for Leeds. This was withdrawn in July 2018 due to low passenger numbers.
Stagecoach Manchester service 219 to Ashton-under-Lyne and Metroshuttle service 1 also stop outside the station, while a number of local bus services stop around the corner on Portland Street.
Piccadilly Gardens is a three-minute walk away from the coach station, from where many bus services run to destinations across Greater Manchester, along with Metrolink tram services. Piccadilly railway station is a five-minute walk away, from where the majority of regional and national services depart.