Lever Street Temporary Coach Station

[sparko74]

Who remembers the temporary Lever Street coach station in Manchester? I can't remember why it was there but I'm presuming it was while Chorlton Street was redesigned. Wikipedia says that was in 2002, but I'm sure I once got a Transpeak bus from there to Derby in May/June 2004. Any ideas?

[joseph]

You probably did get Transpeak from there around 2004, as I think there wasn't an available stand for it in the revised coach station, although something is telling me they did come back to the new coach station for a while later on.

[dwarfer1979]

Jun 11, 2022 20:15:28 GMT 1 joseph said:

You probably did get Transpeak from there around 2004, as I think there wasn't an available stand for it in the revised coach station, although something is telling me they did come back to the new coach station for a while later on.

The Transpeak was definitely back running from Chorlton Street by the time High Peak was formed in 2012 and stayed running from Chorlton Street until it stopped running through to Manchester in 2018. I can't comment on when Trent returned to Chorlton Street before that though.

[SF07]

Lever Street station was essentially used as a layover but also as a terminus for some services in the 1990s, possibly to help take the pressure on the number of services terminating at Stevenson Square, which was used to take the pressure on the number of services at either Piccadilly Gardens or Cannon Street.

It was then used when Chorlton Street coach station was being re-built, probably to coincide with the Commonwealth Games that was held in the city in 2002. The re-build meant National Express coaches moved to Lever Street instead. Do remember catching coaches from there to Liverpool and Leeds in 2001 and I think the ticket office was essentially a converted portacabin, so I think the re-build probably started around 2000-2001.

I would have thought that the TransPeak service would have moved back into Chorlton Street once it re-opened in 2002 but may well have terminated somewhere else in the city, such as Lever Street, Stevenson Square or even Piccadilly Gardens in the early days of the new Chorlton Street station. The earliest timetable I have is dated 2007 and it was using Chorlton Street station at that point.

Lever Street station is now gone and is now the site of The Hive office building. Stevenson Square is now essentially a pedestrianised area, as was used as outdoor dining/drinking to allow for social distancing. Cannon Street/Arndale bus station is now the Arndale shopping centre extension.

[andy1]

I remember using it approx 1990 driving the 556 Halifax to Oldham and Manchester service for Yorkshire Rider , it was as stated above an overspill for Piccadilly and Stevensons square
had a portakabin with toilets and brew facilities . Never really well patronised , as hardly anybody knew about it ! not long after 556 was routed into the infamous blackhole of the Arndale bus station!

[Steve Macz403]

Stevenson Square / Lever Street was used more recently by the Vantage bus services V1 and V2 before they were re-routed down to Oxford road to Manchester Royal Infirmary.