The bus interchange is due to close in 2028 and reopen in 2030. TfGM's survey on the plans runs to 27 September, with drop-ins on Wednesday and Saturday 26th.

Transport for Greater Manchester wants to know what Bury thinks of the plans to pull down and rebuild its bus interchange, and it is asking for two more weeks. The “Your Bury Interchange” survey opened on 7 September and closes on Sunday 27 September. Two drop-in sessions are left, both at the interchange itself.

The headline for anyone who catches a bus in Bury is this. The existing bus interchange is expected to close completely in 2028, with the replacement building and a block of rental flats due to be finished in 2030. TfGM says buses will keep running to and from the town centre throughout.

Timeline of the Bury Interchange redevelopment from the phase one planning application in April 2025 to the new interchange opening in 2030
The dates TfGM and the council have put in writing. Graphic by The Bury Post.
Share this chartFacebookWhatsAppX

What the survey is actually asking about

This survey covers phase two: the bus station, the new building and the homes. Phase one, the tram side, is already approved and is not up for discussion.

TfGM’s project page says that, subject to approvals, phase two would deliver:

  • a fully enclosed interchange building with a secure waiting area
  • accessible toilets, including a Changing Places facility
  • a multi-use quiet room
  • a dedicated active travel hub with secure cycle parking
  • redesigned bus areas with improved access and fewer crossing points
  • an information and ticket office, a bus supervisors’ office and new driver facilities
  • spaces for retail and other commercial uses
  • a high-quality external bus shelter on Angouleme Way
  • new residential rental apartments on the interchange site

TfGM is explicit that the design is not settled. Its wording on the consultation page is that “many aspects of the Bury interchange redevelopment design are still being developed and decided”. The flats are hedged harder still: the page lists “potentially new residential apartments”, and says any of them would be “subject to further development and approval”.

The model being copied is Stockport. TfGM calls Bury “the next priority” after the award-winning Stockport Interchange, and says Bury is planned to become Greater Manchester’s first carbon neutral in-operation transport hub.

This is not the consultation that counts, and TfGM’s own pages disagree on when that is

Worth being clear about, because it changes when your objection carries legal weight. The survey running now is early engagement. The formal consultation, the one that comes before a planning application is submitted, is still ahead.

TfGM’s two pages give different dates for it. The project page says “public consultation is planned for autumn 2026”. The GM Consult page says “a consultation is planned for winter 2026/27”. Neither page acknowledges the other, and nothing published by TfGM or the council settles which date stands.

Either way, there is no phase two planning application yet, so there is nothing to formally object to on the planning register today.

Phase one is already approved, and the subway is going

The tram half of the job has planning permission. Bury Council approved application 71834 with conditions on 24 July 2025, having validated it on 8 April. The council’s planning register records two public comments on it and 37 constraints on the site.

The approved description is more specific than anything in the current publicity. It covers the infill of the existing underpass, recontouring the land at Pyramid Park, and a fully accessible bridge across the Metrolink line linking Knowsley Place, the tram platforms via lift and stairs, and Pyramid Park.

The rest of phase one is platform work: new canopies, resurfaced platforms, better ticketing, new passenger information displays, new driver facilities and upgraded lighting, signage and CCTV. A temporary stepped access is to be built at the north end of the eastern platform, opening in late 2027 or early 2028, before the main interchange work starts.

The footbridge matters for a practical reason. TfGM says it will be permanent, so passengers can still reach the tram platforms once the interchange building shuts. The phase one design is by the architect Hawkins Brown.

Money for the work comes from the government’s City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement, under which Greater Manchester was awarded £1.07bn. TfGM says Bury Interchange is a specified project within that programme.

The site also sits next to the land the council is selling for housing. Our report on the 215 homes proposed at Pyramid Park and Q-Park covers the plot on the other side of the new bridge.

What it means for you

If you want a say, you have until 11.59pm on Sunday 27 September. The survey is on GM Consult.

Two drop-in sessions are left, both at Bury Interchange, Haymarket Street, BL9 0AY:

  • Wednesday 16 September, 7am to 11am and again 1pm to 5pm
  • Saturday 26 September, 9.30am to 1.30pm

The first drop-in, at Mill Gate Shopping Centre on Friday 11 September, has been and gone.

If you would rather not fill it in online, TfGM says a paper copy, help completing the survey, or an alternative format can be requested from the Bee Network Customer Care Team on 0161 244 1000 or at Hello@BeeNetwork.com.

On travel while the work happens, TfGM’s position is that bus services will continue to run to and from Bury town centre every day, and that trams will run into the interchange for most of the programme, with some temporary closures during construction and replacement buses when they are needed. Tram changes are already frequent in Bury: the all-day service runs through to Ashton-under-Lyne from Monday 14 September, and we keep the current closures on our Bury roadworks and travel page.

If you drive in instead, the town centre car parks are listed on our parking in Bury page, and new applications in the borough are tracked on our Bury planning news page.

Sources