Manchester Shudehill could certainly be a lot better especially for a major city, but it certainly…read moreisn't too bad either, with a good number of connections via bus, while also having Metrolink services and being a short walk away (or one stop on the Diamond Number 8 bus and/or Metrolink towards Bury) to Manchester Victoria Railway Station. The station's layout is easy to follow, although it is split into two bus stations, most of which do go from the main terminal. Buses from here serve most of Manchester including Bury, Bolton, Salford, Rochdale, Middleton and the MRI. National Express also run coaches from here going across the country. I would love to see digital bus timetables showing when the next bus is, which I've seen in other locations across England, which perhaps could list destinations and towns showing the next bus to go there, which means you can always get the next bus and know how long it'll take without the need for third-party mobile phone apps. The staff inside the station seem friendly, and although they do try to help it stay clean, it doesn't always stay that way, mainly down to members of the public openly making a mess including smoking (which is forbidden), or the occasional litter or pigeon problem. There is an ATM outside (Be careful as this is a common spot for homeless people), newsagents and a coffee shop (which never seems to be open) at Shudehill. 3*

Shudehill Interchange is one of Manchester's transport hubs that is far less scummy than Victoria…read morestation and much less stressful than the bustling Piccadilly Station. You can catch the metro from Shudehill either as well as many local buses. It's also the Manchester stop for Megabuses which I love because the bus station is only five minutes away from my flat. Mega useful. Inside the bus station is a newsagents which sells confectionary and crisps and stuff for your journey, and generally the station is clean, light and well maintained. There's a few seats if you've got a long wait too. Ooh, also dead useful is that there is a cash machine just outside the main entrance. Dead handy if you're over in Trof or tv21 and need some more cash quickly.

Awful, inexperienced staff and lack of staff, wrong information on screens, coaches never time…read more(arrive 2 hours early and be prepared to arrive at destionation 2 hours late) it would be easier and quicker to jump on a plane from manchester airport and fly 30 mins down the road. DO NOT RECOMMEND

Over the past few weekends I have used National Express. I have nothing but praise for them, the…read moredrivers are fantastic and the coaches immaculate and always on time. Booking online is easy and the prices work out a lot cheaper than the train. As an OAP I bought a coachcard which gives a generous discount, it cost £10 for the year but I saved that on the first return journey.

Leigh Bus Station is a proper old school bus station, it's cold, old-fashioned and split into…read moremultiple parts. It does have a good number of services including the Vantage Buses, heading "fast" into Manchester via the guided busway, as well as services into many local towns including Bolton and Wigan (most services seem to go via one of these two), they even run a matchday bus into The University of Bolton Stadium, which gets you there in half an hour... when fans are allowed to attend at least. I did originally struggle to find my stand due to the bus station being made up of around 3/4 tiny buildings, there are signs around the bus station which says which bus goes from which stand, but I didn't think they are clear or noticeable, and they would have been so easy to miss, especially in the dark. There is a Travelshop and it is in a good location within the town centre, with a newsagent (WHSmith Cannings Local) nearby within Spinning Gate (shopping centre next to the bus station) It would be great to have seen a refurbished bus station in Leigh to go alongside the investment of the new guided busway, I actually find the stops along the guided busway to be cleaner, more modern and nicer overall. 2* - Basic bus station, still providing services in a good location, with limited seating inside.

Not the most welcoming first impression of Leigh, but it does what it needs to in a purely…read morefunctional way. This is one end of the line for the new guided busway which has reduced journey times from Leigh to Manchester to less than an hour. Information boards provide information of when the next V1 on the busway is due, though not for other services departing the bus station. A pay toilet is available and there is a kiosk selling season bus tickets. I think a handy addition for the guided busway would be ticket machines to enable tickets to be bought prior to boarding, as too much time is taken along the route as the driver is taking payments and issuing tickets, particularly at busy stops along the route like Leigh & Tyldesley.

There was alot of homeless people sleeping (I do not have a picture as that would be rude to take a…read morepicture of them) my train got delayed for 2 hours I don't recommend this.

From the outside, Wigan Bus Station looks nice with a relatively new sign, from the entrance from…read moreThe Galleries area but on the inside, it is just your typical bus station and in a way resembles Bury station, with a few platforms split off in a few mini-stations. They is a lot of buses which go from here, including to Manchester, Southport, Bolton and The Trafford Center, but I can't help but feel most of the buses are unneeded and go too far, for example Manchester is only around half an hour on the train, but getting the bus here is 85 minutes and when Southport is also around 1/2 an hour on the train, but still the bus takes nearly 2 hours which is ridiculous, considering services available from Wigan Wallgate. I think it is misleading for people who may not know the area for buses to take so long, when the train takes only a fraction of this, and going on one of these journeys is in a way a punishment, and I'm sure it wouldn't be much cheaper (if anything) than getting the train. I feel to get the best of public transport, the station should work with Wallgate and North Western to encourage people to use the train for longer journeys, and then this station can become a local hub, with more buses going to local destinations which will help benefit Wigan and local towns, and give people a better deal. As a station this is merely average and is your typical bus station, with a newsagents etc, it isn't terrible as it is good to have in central Wigan but sadly I don't feel it deserves over 2 stars.

My son left his phone on the bus that he got off in standish. I was trying to get in touch with the…read moreChorley interchange by telephone. I came across three numbers no longer in service and one more that redirected me to another number that turned out invalid. Not good communications at all in this day and age. If there was an option to give no stars at all I would have.

The new Chorrley Interchange is modern, light , and enclosed…read more Seating what I would call metal net type, so beware in the winter it's cold sitting on them for long periods with the cold nipping through the holes, and the metal. Cooler for the summer Not many seats per stand so you can do a bit of standing as you wait. Although it's newish and modern, buses mostley still tend to leave just a little bit late. Ameneties include: Enclosed passenger waiting area Fifteen bus stands Electronic bus and rail departure information Boards giving bus and train times. CCTV coverage linked to the local police station Security personnel or customer service staff on the bus station until the last departure of the day Shop-mobility satellite office Toilet and baby changing facilities Travel and tourist information Staff can be very good if approched , But you do have to approch them, they arnt mind readers. and they will help where they can. During a snowy period a bus turned up late and shot out without picking up. Within 5 minutes they had a double decker bus and driver just to take me to my destination. I can't fault that. But I don't expect that would happen everytime a bus dosent turn up.. Would be nice to have a small cafe inside it even just for tea, coffee and snack. There are a couple of vending machines Got to give them a five star, all in all it's a well run bus staion.

I like Rawtenstall Bus Station, it is a modern and new Bus Station, operated by Transdev, it's in…read morethe town centre, it is opposite the Lidl Supermarket and the Post Office. The strangest part I find about this bus station is that if you're heading into Rawtenstall from Manchester on the X43 Witchway, after getting off the motorway, the bus ends up doing a circle and going back on its' self to continue into Burnley, I did notice the roads and pedestrianisation to not be too great in Rawtenstall as a whole and I guess that is the only way they could construct the bus station in a good location for the town centre. Inside, it still feels new, they have a small amount of seating, as well as a cafe (currently closed) and information point, for such a small town, the bus station overall is impressive and while the number of services is minimal, it still offers many services around Lancashire and Greater Manchester into towns such as Burnley, Accrington and Bury. I like how they have individual branding for each bus stand, to match the individual branding they have for each bus route, such as the Witchway and Mainline buses. The Transdev app for some reason didn't recognise the Manchester bound Witchway platform, meaning I couldn't view live bus times for this platform when it worked fine for every other platform, they did have a "next bus" electronic sign above the door, this seemed mostly accurate but not as accurate as the app. 4* - Clean and modern bus station, well suited to a small town.

Warrington Bus Station has few positives - It's close to…read moreWarrington Central - It has toilets (Very few toilets, you have to pay for them) - There is a small newsagent and an Iceland - You can go up a lift and get straight in Golden Square Shopping Centre (Yet they regularly break down) It can get pretty airy and can get cold, especially in these winter months. due to the design of the bus station, it also is built so buses have to reverse out which I don't like as much. There was a lack of information around the bus station and I found it hand to find out which bus goes where the fact it was difficult to find any staff around the station other than a toilet cleaner made it even more difficult. Both times I used Warrington's Own Buses, who are the main bus operator who goes from here, my service was both late and the driver was extremely rude. They also never replied to my complaint - I guess it isn't the station's fault its-self but it does play a part. 2* - Other than location there isn't much to shout about for this bus station, as a visitor to Warrington I felt lost, issues with the buses and finding information about services which just wasn't made clear (and that's in comparison to 95% of bus stations I've been to), if you know where you're going or you're The Lucky One, to quote Uku Suviste's Eesti Laul 2021 entry, this place is you. The extra star is mainly for the location and access into the shopping centre (when working).

Good points. It is near central station. Light airy and…read moreclean. Bad Points. There is no pick up drop off point for cars to drop off passengers. The Kiosk point is only open. You have to pay for the toilets. The way the buses have to go around the little round about and back up is dangerous.

Burnley Bus Station in the town centre is a pretty small bus station, but it is both clean and…read moremodern, with decent facilities including a newsagents and toilets. It is operated by Burnley Bus Company, on behalf of Lancashire County Council who own the station, it is mainly served by Transdev brands with limited services provided by First West Yorkshire. It does get pretty cold inside the bus station, it would have been nice to see automated screens on the doors which show when the next bus would depart, rather than standard old paper showing the bus times when the bus was allowing customers to board, I like how the Witchway buses did say when they would depart, but this was only a couple of minutes before when the bus was allowing customers on anyway. Staff around the station seemed friendly, typical Transdev. I didn't particularly like the drop-off area, which is a small old-fashioned hut style bus station, just outside the main station building. 3* - Pretty decent bus station for a small town, limited connections onto other public transport services from here though.

Huyton Bus Station is hardly a station, and more of a small circle of bricks where a few busses…read morehappen to stop and drop people off. I'm not really sure why anyone would go to Huyton except to visit the shopping centre if they don't have one closer, the library (for wonderfully bookish people like me!), or to have a random explore (again, for people like me.) But if you do plan to visit, the bus station is there, and very close to the shopping centre. I prefer the train.

This is one of those that looks like a YellowTardis!!! You need twenty pence and nerves of steel…read morebecause I always have visions of the door swinging open whilst you are occupied. It's spotlessly clean though and doesn't smell.