A new bus service is set to launch in Wigan as well as increased frequency on three other routes across the borough.

The new 629 daytime service between Golborne and Platt Bridge, set to launch on Monday October 27, will become the third new Bee Network service, after the 615 Wigan-Middlebrook Retail Park service and the 631 Wigan to Standish.

People living in Abram will be able to board the new 629, connecting the village and surrounding areas with Platt Bridge, allowing better access to shopping areas and better connections with other Bee Network services in Platt Bridge – such as 609 into Wigan.

Other improvements include:

The new Golborne to Platt Bridge bus service will begin later this month

placeholder image — The new Golborne to Platt Bridge bus service will begin later this month

Twice as many 608 buses running between Wigan and Leigh in the evening from Monday to Saturday, with the hourly service moving to a half-hourly service.
The 607 service from Wigan and Bolton will run every 15 minutes (up from every 20 minutes) during the day Monday to Saturday. In the evening the service will run every 30 minutes (up from hourly) Monday to Saturday.
The 610 service will run every 20 minutes (up from every 30 minutes) from Wigan to Lowton during the day on Sunday and in the evening Monday to Saturday.

It’s all part of Greater Manchester’s mission to create a public transport system befitting of a global city region- part of the launch of the Greater Manchester Strategy (GMS).

The GMS pledges to continue to develop the Bee Network as a transport system for a global city region, so that by 2030, 90 per cent of the population live within 400m – a five-minute distance – of a bus or tram that comes at least every 30 minutes.

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: “By bringing buses under local control we have put services back in the hands of our communities and through the Bee Network are delivering improvements that make a real difference.

“We are showing that first hand in Wigan with these latest improvements – making buses more frequent at key times and even introducing another brand new route to better connect local residents to shops and other important services.

“We’re seeing more and more people get on board with the Bee Network and we hope changes like these will mean even more will do as the network continues to grow and improve.”