Buses continue to operate for essential journeys

Following last week’s national lockdown announcement, local bus operators have confirmed most services are still running for essential journeys.

There are four local companies which run services across the Rochdale borough – Diamond North West, Go North West, First Greater Manchester and Rosso.

Please check with individual operators ahead of your journey.

---

Diamond North West

Diamond didn’t respond to our email asking about changes to services, but details of its Greater Manchester services can be found on its website:

• www.diamondbuses.com/north-west/bus-services

---

First Greater Manchester

First Greater Manchester has advised checking their ‘News and service updates’ page for the latest information on its services.

A spokesperson for First said: “At the moment, we are continuing to operate current timetables.”

All details of local First timetables can be found under the 'Oldham network timetable' heading at:

• www.firstgroup.com/greater-manchester/news-and-service-updates/coronavirus-covid19-service-information

---

Go North West

Go North West has confirmed it is running normal timetables on “most routes.”

• www.gonorthwest.co.uk/go-north-west-timetables

---

Rosso

Rosso says ‘eight out of 10’ journeys on its services will continue during the current lockdown. The bus firm will switch to temporary timetables on selected routes from this Sunday (17 January 2021) with schedules built around the needs of key workers, and on feedback from its customers throughout 2020.

Rosso’s CEO Alex Hornby said: “Our message to our customers is that we are still very much here for you – our buses are clean, safe and ready to go, just as they have always been throughout the pandemic. We know from experience that our buses provide a vital service for key workers and others who depend on us to reach essential shops and services.

“All of our routes will continue to run, just a little less often around shopping hours. Our first priority is to make sure key workers can get to and from work, and that essential journeys can still be made, using our buses in east Lancashire and Greater Manchester.

“We will still be running over 80 per cent of our usual journeys, and our first and last bus times will remain the same. We will continue to help those who need to travel to do so, just as we did throughout last year’s restrictions – and we thank our customers for their understanding and support, as we adapt to the reduction in the numbers travelling during the current lockdown.”

The following service changes will apply on selected Rosso services from this Sunday, 17 January 2021:

464: Accrington – Haslingden – Rawtenstall – Bacup – Rochdale

• Monday to Friday: Daytime buses every 20 minutes: evening buses every 35 minutes.
• Saturday: Daytime buses every 30 minutes: evening buses every 35 minutes.
• Sunday: Buses every 60 minutes.

Trax: Bury – Rochdale:

• Monday to Friday: Daytime buses every 15 minutes: evening buses every 30 minutes.
• Saturday: Daytime buses every 20 minutes: evening buses every 30 minutes.
• Sunday: Buses every 30 minutes throughout the daytime and evening.

Most other Rosso routes will continue to operate to normal timetables with additional support in place:

If you have purchased a ticket that you will no longer use because of the lockdown, please email marketing@transdevplc.co.uk. Your ticket will be paused, so you can use it when you start travelling again. 

If the journey you need to make is difficult or not possible using Rosso’s new temporary timetables, please email keyworker@transdevbus.co.uk.

Full details of all services operated by Rosso are available online at: www.transdevbus.co.uk/rosso and on the free ‘Transdev Go’ mobile app.