Improving Journeys: Royton Consultation Survey

Overview

Greater Manchester is building the Bee Network a new, joined-up transport network bringing together bus, tram, active travel, and rail services into one system, taking you where you need to go.

Buses will form the biggest part of the Bee Network. In any given year, more than half of Greater Manchester’s population will travel by bus. Greater Manchester has received Government funding to make highways improvements that support quicker, more reliable, and more accessible bus journeys on key routes as well as safer, more accessible walking, cycling, and wheeling routes.

Transport for Greater Manchester and local councils are currently developing plans to improve journeys for people catching the bus, walking, wheeling or cycling between Rochdale, Royton, Oldham and Ashton town centres. By doing this we will also help to reduce congestion for other road users such as motorists.

The work will focus on the A627 and A671, the main corridor between the four towns including the 409 bus route and is planned between now and 2027.

Proposals include:

• Major investment to improve junctions, lane layouts, bus stops, signal timings, public spaces and passenger access to the bus network.
• Improvements to local walking, wheeling and cycling routes.

The scheme is being delivered to:

• Improve the speed, journey time, performance, and reliability of bus services for passengers between the towns on the A671 and A627.
• Improve the quality of bus stops, making sure they are comfortable, safe, secure, fully accessible, and able to provide accurate travel information.
• Make journeys to and from bus stops easier
• Improve the links between bus stops and tram stops and rail stations.
• Improve local walking, cycling, and wheeling routes, and public spaces.
• Increase the number of bus, walking, wheeling, and cycling journeys along the route.
• Help the economy grow, improve areas, create job opportunities, and increase the number of people visiting town centres and high streets along the route.

The proposals can be divided into four main geographical sections:

• Royton
• Oldham
• Rochdale
• Ashton

Why your views matter

We are currently consulting on the detailed proposals for the Royton section of the route. This follows on from previous engagement on outline proposals for Royton in spring 2024.  

We want to hear your feedback on the detailed proposals to improve journeys in Royton because we know the most successful schemes are informed by local people, businesses, and road users.

Survey Details

This survey starts with questions about your interest in the survey, how often you travel, and your mode of transportation. It then presents two maps (1a and 1b) which show the proposals for Royton, there is then a text description of the proposals for Royton, and then a question on how these proposals might impact you. Finally, there is a series of demographic questions. All questions are optional.

Please note there is a label on Map 1a that points southwards and refers to “Map 2”.  A separate survey on outline proposals for Oldham is open at the same time as the Royton survey and this Oldham survey contains maps labelled 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. The proposals for Royton are being consulted upon separately to Oldham as they are more developed.

The Oldham survey can be found on the following webpage:  https://www.gmconsult.org/. A paper copy of the Oldham survey can also be requested from Transport for Greater Manchester via hello@beenetwork.com or by phoning 0161 244 1000. Please consider completing the Oldham survey once you have completed the Royton survey.

The Royton and Oldham surveys will both be open until 23:59 on 31 March.

Supplementary Information

The key information about the proposals is within this survey, but if you wish to access supplementary information on the proposals this can be found at the below webpage:

https://tfgm.com/projects/improving-journeys/rochdale-oldham-ashton 

Supplementary information includes:

• A detailed “Frequently Asked Questions” list including:
  • Evidence of the economic benefits of bus and active travel improvements
  • Environmental benefits
  • How the project is funded
  • How the engagement and consultation process will help shape the proposals
  • Timescales for current and future engagement and consultation on the Royton, Oldham, Rochdale, and Ashton sections of the scheme.
• This webpage also links to a specific Royton section webpage which includes:
  • Visualisations of some aspects of the proposals
  • A “You Said, We Did” which explains how previous feedback has helped shape the proposals

Survey Help

If you require support to respond to the survey you can contact us at hello@beenetwork.com or by phoning 0161 244 1000. The contact centre is open Monday to Friday between 7am to 8pm, and at weekends and public holidays between 8am to 8pm. People can use this number to:

• Complete the survey over the phone.
• Receive support for non-English speakers.
• Request the survey in an alternative language or format.
• Request a paper copy of the survey to be sent to your address.
• Request a paper copy of the supplementary information to be sent to your address.

What happens next

Thank you for taking part in this consultation, we appreciate you taking the time to do so. The survey closes at 23:59 on 31 March 2025. Following this the responses will be analysed. The feedback to this consultation will be part of a business case for the proposals. The business case will be assessed and considered by decision makers to see whether the proposals go ahead in their current form or whether further changes need to be made to the proposals.

A “You Said, We Did”, explaining how feedback has been used to help shape the proposals will be published on https://tfgm.com/projects/improving-journeys/rochdale-oldham-ashton once this process has taken place.