Oldham bus station

History

In the past, there were three termini in Oldham, West Street, Town Square and Mumps Bridge with services terminating in Oldham, arriving from western areas, at West Street and services arriving from eastern areas terminating at Town Square. Mumps Bridge is used as a terminus for First Greater Manchester (formerly GM Buses/GM Buses North) services, as the depot is located at Mumps Bridge. |access-date=3 September 2011

The new station opened in January 2001 and within the first two years of opening, it won two awards. |access-date=3 September 2011 |access-date=3 September 2011 |access-date=3 September 2011 |access-date=1 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140113022909/http://www.tfgm.com/buses/Documents/Departures/Oldham.pdf |archive-date=13 January 2014 |url-status=dead

Services

The majority of bus services are run by Stagecoach Manchester with other services run by operators including Metroline Manchester, Diamond North West and Go North West.

There are frequent buses running to a large number of surrounding areas of Oldham and Greater Manchester including Manchester, Middleton, Rochdale, Saddleworth and Tameside, with one local bus service running out of the region into Huddersfield in West Yorkshire. National Express serves Oldham Bus Station twice per day on their 540 route from London to Burnley.

Safety concerns

One problem with Oldham bus station is the safety of the zebra crossings. In January 2007, 56-year-old Ann Kerridge was killed after being knocked down by a First Manchester single-deck bus while using a crossing at the bus station, with husband Brian dying shortly afterwards, which the family believed was caused by a broken heart. Following another accident at the same crossing in September 2007 and a report by GMPTE obtained by the Oldham Evening Chronicle newspaper, showing potentially fatal flaws at the two crossings at the ends of the bus station, one being near the entrance to the Travelshop and the other near the junction of St Mary's Way, it had led to the family of Ann Kerridge to demand that the crossing should be closed.

The problem with the two crossings is that bus drivers approach the crossing on a 90 degree bend, which would restrict the view of both the driver and the pedestrian, sometimes approaching the crossing slightly too fast. Also some drivers have been known to have stopped at the junction waiting to turn right out of the bus station, blocking the crossing, making it harder and more dangerous for pedestrians to cross over. Following the report from GMPTE, the pedestrian crossings were reallocated to the sides of the bus station next to stands G and H, however calls are still being made for the crossings to be removed altogether. Zebra Crossings were put near the bus station in September 2023 and the original pedestrian crossings were removed.

References

References

1. "Oldham Bus Station".
2. "Oldham West Street Bus Station".
3. "540 - London - Burnley".
4. (11 December 2009). "Crossing death fight for justice". Oldham Evening Chronicle.
5. (2 October 2007}}{{Dead link). "Oldham Chronicle page 1". Oldham Evening Chronicle.
6. (12 December 2007). "Gran's death leads to rethink over bus station safety". Manchester Evening News.
7. (26 January 2011). "Plea over danger crossing". Oldham Evening Chronicle.
8. (26 January 2017). "Crossing 'is still a danger' to public". Oldham Evening Chronicle.