Greater Manchester bus route 135

135
Stagecoach Manchester Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B9TL at Piccadilly Gardens in August 2024
Overview
Operator	Stagecoach Manchester
Garage	Queens Road
Vehicle	Wright Eclipse Gemini/Volvo B9TL Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC
Route
Start	Piccadilly Gardens
Via	Victoria Cheetham Hill Broughton Park Heaton Park Besses o' th' Barn
End	Bury Interchange
Service
Level	Daily
Frequency	10-30 mins
Route map Manchester, Piccadilly Victoria Cheetham Cheetham Hill Broughton Park Heaton Park Besses o' th' Barn Bury Interchange ← {{{previous_line}}}  {{{system_nav}}}  {{{next_line}}} →

Greater Manchester bus route 135 is a Bee Network bus route runs between Piccadilly Gardens in the Manchester city centre and Bury Interchange. It is operated by Stagecoach Manchester on contract from Transport for Greater Manchester.

Current route

The 135 serves the following locations:

• Manchester Piccadilly Gardens
• Victoria
• Cheetham
• Cheetham Hill
• Broughton Park
• Heaton Park
• Besses o' th' Barn
• Bury Interchange

Route 135 primarily runs via the Bury Old Road, making the route more straightforward in comparison to route 163, since it does not need to serve Middleton bus station and Heywood on the Rochdale Road, as well as The Rock shopping centre.

History

GM Buses North Northern Counties Paladin bodied Volvo B6LE at Piccadilly Gardens bus station, 1996

First Greater Manchester Scania OmniCity articulated bus at Piccadilly Gardens in July 2008

Route 135 can trace its origins back to route 35, which was operated jointly by the Manchester Corporation, the Bury Corporations, and Salford City Transport. The route gained its current numbering when ran by Greater Manchester Transport, and the original number was now inherited by a new route operating between Piccadilly Gardens and Bryn Station. In 1986 Greater Manchester Transport became known as GM Buses, which was owned by the metropolitan borough and city councils of Greater Manchester, but were at arms' length from the local town halls.

In December 1993, GM Buses was split in two companies: GM Buses North and GM Buses South.. The former of which became the operator of route 135.
In March 1996, GM Buses North was sold to FirstBus for £47 million (equivalent to £111,432,942 in 2023) and rebranded First Manchester.. When operated by First Manchester, the 135 was notable for being the only bus route in Greater Manchester to be operated using articulated buses. In April 1999, a fleet of low-floor Wright Fusion bodied Volvo B10LAs replaced conventional double decker buses on the route, being trialled by the FirstGroup as a 'testbed' for future deliveries across its fleets. These were replaced in 2005 with a fleet of eighteen Scania OmniCity integrally-constructed buses, however in August 2017, these were withdrawn due to maintenance costs and space issues at Queens Road garage, being replaced by conventional buses.

The 135 passed to Go North West in June 2019 following the sale of First's Queens Road garage to the Go-Ahead Group. Under Go North West, route 135 received a fleet of refurbished ex-First Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B9TLs painted in a green variant of standard Go North West fleet livery, featuring branding for the 135. These buses, along with the operations of the 135, passed to Stagecoach Manchester upon commencement of Tranche 2 of Bee Network bus franchising, which saw Queens Road garage transfer from Go North West to Stagecoach.A fleet of new Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMCs, painted in Bee Network yellow, were deployed on this route and operate together along with the fleet of Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B9TLs which passed from Go North West.