Transportation

Transportation, one of the main issues we have to consider while travelling in an country. Just like Malaysia, we have buses, KTM, LRT, Monorail and etc as important public transport other than house vehicles. In the research of Manchester and Salford, I investigated the transportation around the city.

Airplane

In Manchester, there is a Manchester Airport, which is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England. in 2014, it was the third busiest airport in United Kingdom in terms of passenger numbers. As what we informed, students who studying aboard will landed in that airport before we travel to Salford. After research, I found that we might take AirFrance to travel from Malaysia to Manchester (for a direct flight). There are few ground transport connected with the airport. 

First is rail, where Manchester Airport railway station which opened in May 1993. It connected to Piccadilly Station and other railway stations mainly throughout northern England.

Second is Metrolink, where the service from Cornbrook station to the Airport opened in November 2014 and runs at 12 minute frequency. Journeys along the 15-stop line between Cornbrook take approximately 35 minutes.

Third are bus and coach.The Station is the airport's ground transport interchange and brings bus, coach and rail passengers under one roof. Over 300 trains, 100 coaches and 500 buses a day use the facility. Buses serve many locations throughout Greater Manchester, including the 24-hour bus service Skyline, which runs every 10 minutes (every 30 minutes at night) to Manchester city centre via Wythenshawe, Northenden, Withington, Fallowfield and Rusholme.

Manchester International Airport is 15 miles from the University. However, there are  regular, direct train services to and from Salford Crescent station and Manchester Piccadilly. Buses 43A, 45A, 84A and 105 link the airport and the city centre.

Route from Manchester Airport to UoS

Buses

There are few bus companies in Manchester that operating. Their colors are not all in red  and the colours range from orange and white to purple and white. The Metrolink tram system uses a sliver and grey palette. There are few stations where students will have to take note: Cromwell Road, The Crescent and Frederick Road/Broad. Travelling within the campus will be free of charge (FOC), but it charged expensive if taking bus outside. These are the bus numbers for traveling:

Source from http://www.salford.ac.uk/about-us/travel

The number 50, operated by Stagecoach, runs every 10-15 minutes from Manchester city centre via our main Peel Park campus and Salford Shopping Centre. You can travel free between the main University campuses and MediaCityUK by producing your University ID card. The University runs a free bus service during term time, linking the academic campus, periphery car parks and accommodation sites. The bus is scheduled to operate at regular half hour intervals from 8.15 until 23.15 (ending at Castle Irwell).

Rail

There are two, Salford Central, and Salford Crescent. The nearest to the University is Salford Crescent, which is actually now part of the University campus and stands next to our new Arts & Media building (New Adelphi), which will move into next year. Salford Crescent station is located on the campus between Peel Park and Allerton. Direct services run to and from Manchester Airport, Manchester Piccadilly and Victoria, as well as Blackpool, Bolton, Buxton, Blackburn, Southport, Preston, Lancaster and Barrow-in-Furness. Inter-city services normally use Manchester Piccadilly which is about ten minutes train journey from Salford Crescent. There are two train stations in Manchester; Victoria, and Piccadilly. The mainline connections to all other UK cities run from Piccadilly. There is no underground train system in Manchester, but there is a new and extensive tram system.

Through today's researches, I found that Salford's transportation is easy and friendly especially to students. However, since there are only such few stations in Salford, the destination we want to go are limited. And to going somewhere nearby will have to walk and it will be troublesome as well. To make my life easier, I might consider of buying a bicycle in Salford for exercise and short traveling around. The budget should be ₤30-50 for a second-hand bicycle and will sell it out after ended by university.