After all the pain and suffering First have given me over the years, from delayed, dirty buses to…read morepoor customer service and drivers being rude, watching other bus operators in Greater Manchester invest while First just stagnate, I'm surprised to be giving them anything other than a two-star rating, but ever since First sold two of their three depots in Greater Manchester, I think that has improved the transport in the region as a result, especially on the routes First do operate. First Vantage is a brand within First Greater Manchester, they operate routes on the guided busway from Leigh/Atherton into the city centre, and then onto the MRI, connecting Leigh with the city centre in 44 minutes, saving a good 50% of the journey length really is great for Leigh, without it, it would have been pretty deserted and it does make good use of the old railway tracks. On other routes which aren't the premium/flagship service, I still notice buses being delayed to the point they're often unreliable, especially on the 59, I still noticed buses being typically dirty (This is common on Go North West who bought First's Greater Manchester depot and still use their buses - maybe it's just a problem with the floor/seating they installed getting dirty easily?). Again, there doesn't seem to be much investment on new buses throughout their routes, again it's a shame to see Stagecoach and Diamond North West, the latter took over First's Bolton depot and brought in 163 brand new buses, while First use the same old buses they've had for years. First, do have an app which allows you to track your buses in real-time which is pretty good, this is nothing new however and is basically the same as most other bus operators in the region including Diamond North West and Go North West. 3*- Great for Vantage, the app is handy, but First wouldn't be my first choice of operator, even if they aren't in such a diabolical state as they were which haunted my daily travels in the past. Upgraded rating mainly down to the reliability/comfort of Vantage services V1 and V2. (Review #100 of 2021!)

First buses are the main reason I hate coming to work…read more There are several reasons for this. The first thing has to be the price, it's ridiculous! The cheapest journey costs £1.70. £1.70!! Even if you're only going three stops! A weekly pass costs over £15! The second reason has to be how ridiculously unreliable they are. Today I waited 35 minutes for one! The drivers are rude, they seem to be the most miserable people on earth. I will honestly try and get to a destination any other way before getting on a First bus. Avoid if you can!!

One of the most fun experiences in Manchester is riding the tram. I enjoy the city and suburban…read moreviews, the other passengers are always friendly and the most exciting part is when they have a raid on the tram to ensure all patrons have paid the correct fair. The police and revenue protection officers block all doors and its funny to watch people trying to get off and when they recognise regular travellers without tickets.

I have a love-hate relationship with the Metrolink in Manchester, there are so many things which…read moreare good, yet so many things which are terrible about the service. Metrolink is arguably one of the best ways to get around Manchester, in terms of speed, you skip the traffic of the roads, hopping on the tram which is always handy, especially with multiple stops having Park and Ride facilities, meaning you can park your car and go about your journey. Obviously, there are some exceptions, for example, if you're heading to Manchester Airport from the city centre, you would want to take the train which takes around 20 minutes, compared to getting the tram, from Manchester Piccadilly it would be a 57-minute journey, across two trams, changing at Cornbrook. Metrolink are also doing very well during difficult circumstances, they're maintaining the best route frequency to allow people to travel when needed, and space out too, the trams are often around every 10-12 minutes on most routes, meaning there's never too long to wait before getting a tram. They are also cleaning trams every two hours to make sure they are COVID-safe and secure, I think this is a reasonable time-frame given the circumstances. The trams are mainly comfortable and pretty spacious, the floor does get very slippy in the rainy weather, which we get more than our fair share of in Manchester so watch-out! There are 8 lines and 99 stations, all of the lines seem to call through Cornbrook, with 7/8 lines calling at Deansgate-Castlefield and Pomona, so you can pretty much get to any stop from anywhere if you're willing to change services along the way, but it would depend on how realistic it is, for example, it wouldn't be worth going from Sale to Sale Water Park, despite being only a couple of miles away it would be a long tram journey due to the construction of the lines meaning you'd have to change at Trafford Bar. All stations are step-free too, so that supports access for disabled people/trams without the need for ramps, sometimes the access is awkward and it is a good walk from the platform to the street, especially in stations away from the city centre outside of Zones 1 and 2, so again you might want to plan ahead. I do like the zone system as it simplifies the ticketing process (just touch in with your contactless card and be charged the lowest fair), it also means that if you are just going one-stop, you won't be charged for going into two zones, as when the zone changes, the preceding station is the following zone. Example) Sale - Zone 3 Brooklands - Zones 3/4 Timperley - Zone 4 The huge cons I have with Metrolink have to be, their customer service can often be pretty poor, I've tried to phone them many times, even using the customer service help point at the stations only to be greeted with the message "This person's phone is turned off", I get staff are having to work from home during the pandemic, but it's called "work from home" not "turn your phone off and ignore passengers from home" Other issues are, I hate how the trams don't have card scanners, Metrolink is one of the few trams I've used in Europe to not have either a conductor or anywhere you can scan your pass on board, this means if you're rushing for a tram, you could potentially miss your service through having to stop at the platform to touch-in, which is pretty ridiculous. I do think conductors on the trams would be great, especially to avoid this problem and stop anti-social behaviour, which can be a problem especially in certain areas/routes, it would also help tackle fair dodging and provide money to actually improve services, I openly heard a person bragging about the trams being free... due to a lack of inspections. It's great to see Metrolink working on expanding their routes too, in March 2020, they had a quiet launch of the Trafford Centre line, which finally added Metrolink services to the Trafford Centre, calling at Wharfside for Old Trafford Stadium, Imperial War Museum for Media City, and then Trafford Centre, I do think it's pretty strange how the construction of the new line came early, but the new trams for that line came late, this meant the services have to terminate at Cornbrook right now, which is annoying as it means changing trams. 4* - Still one of the better ways to get around town in most cases, the grey and yellow trams are becoming a symbol of Manchester, like the orange buses used to be, it does have its' flaws including the fact that on a match-day at The Etihad Stadium, they never seem to run enough services which often means waiting for ages and then being packed on the tram like sardines.

I chosen Magic Bus to take me from Piccadily Gardens to the central Manchester hospitals, both ways…read moreand compared to may previous experiances with Stagecoach, I had a rather pleasant experiance. I got the 142 service towards East Disbury on the way there, the driver told me that they went near the hospitals, this journey didn't stand out, like the return journey. My return journey saw a Supervisor who was monitoring the driver and she was very nice and friendly, we shared stories about Manchester City and my pleasant experiance with Magic Bus compared to First buses, where the drivers have sworn at me on numerous occasions and constantly late. Magic Bus services really do stand out colourwise as they are bright dark blue, similar to Bluebird, whose buses were a lighter blue before being bought out by Stagecoach and converted into Stagecoach style white buses, with a small patten, also similar to first buses. I don't know if this is all Magic Bus services but they come really regular, they don't appear to be really late, the staff are okay and some of them really do stand out. I feel Magic Bus deserves 4 stars ; the only way they could improve is adding wifi onto their buses, like their parent company Stagecoach have on there hybrid buses. I would say bases on experiances with most of the major bus companies in Greater Manchester (Stagecoach, and first) (as well as JPT and Bluebird before being bought out), Magic Bus is definitely the best. UPDATE: Due to declining quality of service and the fact the buses lack the modern feel and just feel average, I honestly feel I was being far too generous with my original rating and because of this and declining service from the drivers as well as routes and the buses themselves being average, I feel Magic Bus deserve a two star rating instead.

No it's not The Who's song, it's a bus service. Either side of a pound by no more than 50p will…read moretake you where you want to go. Generally on Oxford Road if it's pointing in the direction you want to head it'll take you there. Being the busiest bus route in Europe means you will stand at a bus stop for no longer then 2 minutes before one of these double deckers shows up. The routes do the whole of Oxford road, Fallowfield, Didsbury and city centre. Let yee be warned though, after midnight it's going to cost a whole £2 to get around! Also if it's raining and about 6pm on a weekday evening expect to be stood up on whilst on the bus, with somebody's elbow in your eye.

Good taxi company. Pleasant and polite drivers. All speak English too (for a change!)…read more Recommend to anyone who needs a cheap taxi and quickly... 5 *

Great Service. By far, the cheapest and most reliable in the Todmorden area.read more

Firstly, this should not be confused with its big sister the Chorlton Street Bus Station. The…read moreChorlton Street Bus Station is in the centre of Manchester, has an indoor waiting area with a coffee shop and hosts National Express and Eurolines buses. Chorlton Bus Station is a mere series of bus stops in Chorlton. The other day my bus stopped at Chorlton Bus Station. A middle-aged man with reams of toilet paper sticking out of his nose and all over his face got onto my bus. In an attempt to avoid eye contact I stared out of the window. There was another middle-aged man with a white bear glove puppet carrying a flowing roll of toilet paper. Apart from as a point for such (for want of a better word) unique Chorltonites to congregate, I've never really understood the point of Chorlton Bus Station. It's just a series of bus stops from which you can catch the 85 and 86 into the city centre, the 23 to Didsbury and the Trafford Centre, and numerous other buses, most of which you can also catch further down the road in the centre of Chorlton. On a positive note, if you have a long time to wait for your bus, the bus station is opposite some excellent little bars such as Escape, or if you have even longer to wait, Japanese restaurant Yakisoba is also just opposite.

Once upon a time Rochdale had a bus station that was the envy of nobody,and it was rumoured that…read moreeven the blind were seen to weep when they had to walk anywhere near it. It was a place where used needles and comdoms congregated in the stairwells,hanging around as they are want with puddles of urine and the heady stench of weed (I know this as I had to clean said stairwells when I worked in the multi storey car park that sat a top of the staion,and many a Saturday morning was spent handling the atrocities). Anyone who viewed the old place was left with the feeling that the Architect either hated his job or his life (Or he was Hieronymus Bosch). Anyway history lesson over,as late last year we got a new bus station,one that has doors so the wind doesn't blow through it,one that has screens that tell you when the next bus is (or isn't) due,one that has a cash machine,and one that at the moment doesn't smell like a Metal Festivals toilets. At the end of the day it is only a bus station,but unless you ever had to use the old one,you won't have a clue what i'm wittering on about,but believe me,it really was as bad as i've made out. Hurrah! For new buildings......

R7 not turning up for school. Bus drivers also just drive…read morepast you,whilst your standing at a bus stop.common sense should say they're waiting for a bus and stop. I don't want too put any stars

This is a local tram ( Light rail vehicle ) station with services going into Bury on one platform…read moreand services to Didsbury and Manchester Piccadilly station (Mon-sat) There is a ticket machine on each platform and a destination board to inform you when your next tram is. There are no toilets and a large car park but you cannot park over night

I used Borough Taxis around two or three times to get me to and from work, with them being based in…read morethe area where I needed to get to, being sick and tired of taxi firms where I live in Middleton, being unable to understand the location, despite being just a few miles away, having to give directions out everytime or them "struggling to find it so they were late", I thought a local taxi firm would be exciting and the best choice - sadly I was proven once again to be mistaken. Borough Taxis have multiple phone lines and bases, as I recall they are based in areas of Oldham including Royton and Chadderton. The pricing compared to other retailers such as Diamond One and Connect Cars, those two being Middleton's two largest local taxi companies (of course this doesn't include Uber), seemed a lot higher, my journey cost around a third as much as one of those would charge, and I honestly can't understand why - the only difference between these firms is the town they are based in, and council they operate under. It wasn't just the pricing which was a problem, it was the service too with Borough Taxis regularly arriving late for pre-booked services, the drivers seemed typically friendly enough when picking me up but still the taxi being late, and then overpriced to top it up really is insulting. The phone staff when booking the taxi weren't as friendly or helpful and basically left me waiting, providing little to no update each time I'd phone and try and find out where my taxis were. Below average service with higher than normal pricing and regularly lateness are three factors you don't want in a minicab hire service, sadly Borough Taxis has all three and sadly as a result of this deserves a single one-star rating.