As authorities make a huge decision on the fate of many key services, Seamus McDonnell and Kal Withana find out how Bolton feels about its buses.

‘THE SERVICE is a nightmare’, that is the message from one commuter who says the quality of buses has been going down in recent years.

Michaela Williams, from Hunger Hill, is one of hundreds of people who travel in and out of Bolton Interchange every day and says she is never sure whether a particular service will show up on time.

On Friday, authorities committed to funding which will ensure key services across Bolton can continue to operate.

The 501, 507, 561 and 562 buses, run by First Manchester, were all in danger of being reduced or cancelled before Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) bosses agreed to offer extra cash to keep them running.

While the majority of the region’s buses are run by commercial operators who are free to decide routes, timetables and set fare levels, TfGM spent £27.1m last year to financially support those that run at times of the day and in areas where there is a social need.

It comes ahead of a major timetable shift today which will see changes to around 140 services across Greater Manchester.

Ms Williams says she hopes to see an improvement in the services which she needs to use each day to go to work, claiming they are often late.

"It’s been like this for a long time," she said.

"I have been getting the bus for the last seven years and you can wait half an hour for the bus and then see three appear behind it because they are all late.

“If you have got an appointment you have no chance, you’ve got to go out early.

"I can’t stop using it because I need it for work, but one Friday before Christmas I was here at half two and there was a lady in a wheelchair who had been there since half one. The bus came after four so she had been waiting there for three hours.”

The Bolton News:

Other passengers seemed to agree with Ms Williams assessment, including Paul Monroe, who gets the bus every day from his home in Halliwell to the Interchange before making the trip to Eccles for work.

“You don’t get any feedback from the drivers as to why they missed their time slot,” he said.

“It’s a bit of a pain. I’ve often got to be up there for a certain time and it takes about two hours to get there.

“It’s getting to the point where it’s often late. I think you could say that the buses are going the same way as the trains."

The Bolton News:

Gilbert Bleacjley, 72, said he had been using the buses for years but criticised the waiting times, calling the modern services "rubbish".

The Bolton News:

Some travellers also questioned the cost of tickets, with 27-year-old Lee Pugh saying delays had even impacted on his work.

“The timetables are not live, we pay a lot of money, but the price still seems to go up," he said.

“There are complaints that there are not enough drivers, but surely there are a plenty of people who are looking for work that can do these jobs.

“I was late for work one day last week which almost landed me a warning, but there was nothing to do me as I was waiting 45 minutes for a bus.

“The prices don’t go down when they cancel services."

However, not all passengers were negative about their experiences.

Alain Job, who runs African restaurant Nkono in Bolton Market, was one of the few travellers who said he enjoyed travelling on the bus.

He said: “It’s generally good, we have quite a lot of options and I have three different services which I can get.

"If they keep the same amount of services that we have we wouldn’t have a problem.”

The Bolton News:

Today's timetable change will largely impact on services that run during the evenings or at weekends.

Some route changes have been announced and there are also operator changes and in some cases, the introduction of extra journeys.

Passengers who often use the bus network are being urged to check the timetables ahead of time and familiarise themselves with potential changes.

Check on all the alterations here.