Tis the season to plan your travel
Guest User
As Greater Manchester heads towards the end of another year, commuters, tourists and visitors are being advised to plan well ahead to ensure a festive season filled with Christmas cheer.
To ensure a stress-free run into Christmas, planners at Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) have been working hard to make travellers’ journeys across the region as easy as possible.
But before the decorations go up and the carols are sung there are fireworks to look forward too – with a number of Bonfire Night displays taking place over this coming weekend– with the largest events happening on Sunday 5 November at Heaton Park, Wythenshawe Park and Platt Field’s Park.
Additionally, Manchester City host Arsenal at The Etihad on the same day, with the game kicking off at 2.15pm. That means fans will be leaving at the same time as people are heading out to the displays.
Thousands of spectators are expected to attend these events, meaning the region’s roads are likely to be busier than normal. To ensure people have a choice of how they want to get around, TfGM is providing as much additional public transport as possible, meaning this will be the best option to get to the numerous great events and displays.
A handy travel advice page is available to help guide customers get around on Bonfire Night. TfGM has also put together a Christmas across the region travel advice page to help you to keep you moving on your Christmas travel and shopping trips.
Greater Manchester’s ten boroughs will also be hosting various star-studded light switch-ons and other festive events over the coming weeks. The website details what’s going on where and when and provides advice on how best to complete your journey.
Trams, trains and buses are all likely to start getting busier than normal and operators are looking to provide as much additional capacity as possible. Customers are advised to plan ahead and allow additional time.
Transport operators will also be providing additional staff throughout the festive period and many of the region’s events will have enhanced security measures in place.
TfGM’s Events and Operational Coordination Manager, Ryan Carter, said: “The festive season is always a busy time of the year for Greater Manchester, and this year is no different.
“We want everyone travelling to these events, both for Bonfire Night and over the Christmas period, to have a fantastic time.
“To ensure transport is stress free and easy we have been working hard to develop detailed travel plans help keep our customers moving.”
Councillor Andrew Fender, Chair of the Transport for Greater Manchester Committee, said: “Year on year Christmas in Greater Manchester continues to grow and attract more and more visitors to the region.
“It’s vitally important our transport links are able to cope with this extra demand and provide our customers with viable options when travelling across the city.
“Having these plans in place allows visitors to have a drink and enjoy themselves, but also get to and from their destination safely.”
For information on public transport across Greater Manchester visit www.tfgm.com, call 0161 244 1000 (7am-8pm, Monday to Friday, and 8am-8pm at weekends and bank holidays) or follow @OfficialTfGM on Twitter.