Back in spring this year, Salford City Council announced a new £382,076 bus service that was to link Salford Crescent station and MediaCityUK, via the Precinct. It was heralded as the first step in actually linking the community to MediaCityUk and the Quays.
At the time Salford Star criticised the plan for "not helping the communities of Broughton and Kersal get access to `Manchester's Historic Waterfront' (as MediaCityUK likes to call itself), it's going to be a shuttle bus from Salford Crescent train station, well used by students and professionals".
However it now looks like even this nod to linking the community to MediaCityUK is about to be terminated. A report from the Salford Council Treasurer to the Budget Scrutiny Committee states that the Government's Kickstart scheme which was to fund the bus service is expected to be cut. The report states…
"Information from GMITA is awaited, although it is expected that the Government grant towards the first three years of operation of the planned new bus service to the Quays and Mediacity (sic) will be lost."
The original article which the Salford Star published on April 1st (click here) also reported how the community was to be encouraged to set up rickshaw operations in the absence of bus services. This was widely seen as an April Fool's joke…hmmmm….
Graphic by Jamie Reid
