Greater Manchester bus route 42

42
Stagecoach Manchester Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 at Manchester Piccadilly bus station in July 2008
Overview
Operator	Stagecoach Manchester (Manchester-East Didsbury-Stockport) First Greater Manchester (Middleton-NMGH-Manchester-East Didsbury)
Vehicle	Alexander Dennis Enviro400 (Diesel & Hybrid) Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse Gemini
Route
Start	Middleton bus station (some First) North Manchester General Hospital (some First) Manchester Piccadilly bus station (some First, all Stagecoach)
Via	Crumpsall (some First) North Manchester General Hospital (some First) Cheetham Hill (some First) Shudehill Interchange (some First) Manchester city centre University of Manchester Rusholme Fallowfield Withington Didsbury East Didsbury Heaton Mersey (some Stagecoach)
End	East Didsbury (all First, some Stagecoach) Stockport bus station (some Stagecoach)
Service
Frequency	Middleton-East Didsbury: 10-20 minutes (Mon-Sat daytime) 20-30 minutes (evenings, Sundays) Manchester-Stockport: 20 minutes (Mon-Sat daytime) 30 minutes (evenings, Sundays) Manchester-East Didsbury combined: 5 minutes (Mon-Sat daytime) 10-15 minutes (evenings, Sundays)
Operates	Middleton-East Didsbury: 05:00-00:00 Manchester-Stockport: 06:00-23:00 Manchester-East Didsbury: 24 hours

Greater Manchester bus route 42 operates in Greater Manchester. It is operated by First Greater Manchester and Stagecoach Manchester on a common section between Manchester Piccadilly bus station and East Didsbury. First Greater Manchester operate an extension at its northern end from Manchester Piccadilly to Middleton bus station^[1] and Stagecoach Manchester an extension at the southern end from East Didsbury to Stockport bus station.^[2]

History

Route 42 was historically operated by Finglands Coachways and Stagecoach Manchester between Manchester Piccadilly bus station and East Didsbury. UK North also operated services in the mid-2000s. Following the sale of the Finglands business to First Greater Manchester on 9 February 2014,^[3][4][5] the new operator extended its route 42 services to become a cross city service from North Manchester General Hospital under the Cross Connect banner on 26 April 2014.^[6][7] This service further extended to Middleton bus station on 12 April 2015.^[8]

Current route

Route 42 serves the busy Wilmslow Road bus corridor, which includes universities and hospitals operating via these primary locations:

First			Stagecoach		Location
●					Middleton bus station (some First services only)
●					Crumpsall (some First services only)
●	●				North Manchester General Hospital (some First services only)
●	●				Abraham Moss tram stop (some First services only)
●	●				Cheetham Hill (some First services only)
●	●				Shudehill Interchange for Manchester Victoria station (some First services only)
●	●	●	●	●	Manchester Piccadilly bus station for Piccadilly Gardens tram stop and Manchester Piccadilly station
●	●	●	●	●	Oxford Road station
●	●	●	●	●	University of Manchester
●	●	●	●	●	Rusholme
●	●	●	●	●	Fallowfield
●	●	●	●	●	Withington
●	●	●	●	●	East Didsbury, Parrs Wood for East Didsbury tram stop and East Didsbury station
				●	Heaton Mersey (some Stagecoach services only)
				●	Stockport bus station for Stockport railway station (some Stagecoach services only)

References

1. Route 42 Middleton to East Didsbury timetable Transport for Greater Manchester
2. Route 42 Manchester to Stockport timetable Transport for Greater Manchester
3. End of the road for Finglands as takeover deal reached Manchester Evening News 27 January 2014
4. First given OFT approval to acquire Finglands bus operations in Manchester FirstGroup 28 January 2014
5. First take over Finglands bus services Transport for Greater Manchester 7 February 2014
6. First launch new Manchester Cross City Route First Greater Manchester 24 April 2014
7. Cross Connect First Greater Manchester
8. Service changes in & around Central Manchester First Greater Manchester 12 April 2015