Transporting Through Manchester

Written by: Sydney Linders

Major: English

Location: Manchester, United Kingdom

In the States, I had ridden on public transport before. The bus when my car wasn’t working and the metro in DC when I visited with my family. But before coming to Manchester, my use of public transport was never a typical thing. I’ve become so used to being able to just get in my car and go whenever and wherever I wanted to. Here, that isn’t the case--though does give the added benefit of not needing to find a place to park. 

I rented a room in a house full of other students in a southern part of Manchester called Fallowfield, which is a big student’s area much like the Vine Neighborhood in Kalamazoo. To get to my university or to the City Centre, all I have to do is take nearly any bus going north on Oxford road. This bus route is the busiest in Europe and has anywhere from one to three buses coming within a five minute period during peak times. 

Most students either get a bus pass for £120 for one semester (~£200 for the full year) or take the Magic Buses which are only £1.50 per ride. The bus to my university, even with a lot of stops, only takes about 20 minutes, halving the time it would take to walk. To get into the city,

one only has to stay on the bus which ends at Piccadilly Gardens in the heart of the City Centre. From there, one could get a bus, a train, or a tram nearly anywhere else in the Greater Manchester Region and beyond, but sometimes a nice walk is fun too. I made the mistake one time of taking the Piccadilly Station bus instead of the Piccadilly Gardens bus, and ended up at the train station instead of the City Centre. Lucky for me, it was less than a ten minute walk to where I wanted to go, and there’s a lovely tea shop on the way called Richmond Tea Rooms. 

Piccadilly Station is the main train station in Manchester and is where I took a train to London this past weekend. The trip didn’t cost much, and was not nearly as much of a fuss as I thought it was going to be. I had taken trains before, but only when I was very young and my parents were in charge. I was very nervous about going to the right platforms, about transferring to the Underground when I got to London, and about going to the right stops. Luckily, with signs and boards telling you where to go, it wasn’t that hard to figure out, and there were people everywhere to ask should I got lost. 

The UK is well known for its public transport system, and though most locals may complain about the seeming unreliability, I would say that this is mostly their perspective. Sure a train may be canceled or a bus may take a while to come, but at least it there are ways to get where one wants to go. In the US, that isn’t always the case. Back home, I live too far out of the way to take public transport anywhere, so a car is an absolute necessity. I’ve very much enjoyed taking public transport everywhere, and would recommend it to anyone looking to visit or study in the United Kingdom.

Categories: United Kingdom, Transportation, Adventure