One of Manchester's leading bus operators has announced it is planning to close in April, raising questions about the future of many popular bus routes across the city.
Manchester Community Transport (MCT), which runs over 50 bus routes including the 44, 18 and 382, has said that 'operating conditions' are the cause for the closure.
In 2017, MCT was rescued from closure by joining transport social enterprise HCT Group, which provided financial, management and technical support.
However, MCT now say that since then operation conditions 'have not improved sufficiently for continued support to be viable'.
In a statement, the operator said that HCT Group could no longer sustain the losses and had 'no alternative but to withdraw support'.
“It’s a really sad day for all of us” said Phil Stockley, Interim Managing Director at MCT.
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“Colleagues from across the Group – and the whole staff team at MCT – have worked tirelessly to put the operation here on a sustainable footing.
“We understood the level of difficulty facing MCT when we took on this challenge, but felt strongly it was worth every possible effort to preserve a Community Transport organisation with such a longstanding tradition of service in the area.
"We have done all we can, but the situation does not appear to be recoverable and we can no longer maintain our support.”
Bus routes covered by MCT also include the X5 between Sale and Stockport, the 44 between Manchester and Stockport, and the 217 between Ashton-Under-Lyne and Shudehill.
MCT, which has a depot and head office in Oldham, is also responsible for covering many weekend and evening routes, such as the 197 on Sundays and public holidays and the evening journeys of the 245 between the Trafford Centre and Altrincham.
According to the website, MCT has around 113 drivers and also offers community transport, group hire, and mini-bus hire services.
Alison Chew, TfGM’s Interim Head of Bus Services, said: “Manchester Community Transport (MCT) have informed us that they will cease operating in Greater Manchester in April.
"MCT operate bus services under contract to TfGM and to minimise the effects on passengers we will be working with them to transition these contracts to other operators as soon as possible.”
Further details on how these changes will be addressed will be announced in the near future.
