For one traveler the Bus 43 is cheaper by £4.20. That does not change up to 8 travelers.
The Train to Piccadilly is quicker: 16 min against 1 h 09. The Bus 43 varies between 48 and 82 minutes.
Bus 43: Runs all night. Train to Piccadilly: 03:21–02:28.
Priced against each other
Whole-party totals · adult fares
What each costs for the whole party, in GBP. The cheaper of the two is marked on every row.
Travelers
Bus 43
Train to Piccadilly
Difference
1
£2
£6.20
£4.20
2
£4
£12.40
£8.40
3
£6
£18.60
£12.60
4
£8
£24.80
£16.80
5
£10
£31
£21
6
£12
£37.20
£25.20
7
£14
£43.40
£29.40
8
£16
£49.60
£33.60
Side by side
Where each one leaves you
bus · Bee NetworkBus 43
From
The bus stands at The Station, the interchange between Terminals 2 and 3 (stand E in TfGM's data), a 7- to 10-minute walk from the terminals
To
Piccadilly Gardens, via Wythenshawe, Northenden, Withington, Fallowfield, Rusholme, the Royal Infirmary and the universities on Oxford Road
Runs
All night
Journey
48–82 min
It runs all night, every 30 minutes from about 20:00 to 04:35, then every 10 minutes from 09:00 to 18:00 on weekdays (every 15 on Sundays). The night bus takes 48 minutes; by day about 70, up to 82 at 07:10 on a weekday.
It is £2.60 cheaper than the tram and £4.20 cheaper than the train, taking about the same time as the tram by day and less at night. It is a city bus making 51 stops, the last stretch along Wilmslow Road and Oxford Road, with no luggage rack.
The terminus is Piccadilly Gardens, the square; the 43 does not enter the railway station's forecourt.
Tap once when you board; there is no tap-out on a bus. If you arrived by tram and forgot to tap out there, the bus tap cannot repair it and the tram leg is charged as an incomplete journey.
The airport lists eight Bee Network routes at The Station — 43, 103, 130, 199, 248, 288, 313 and 368 — and only the 43 goes to the city center.
train · Northern, TransPennine Express and Transport for WalesTrain to Piccadilly
From
The railway platforms in The Station, between Terminals 2 and 3 — about 10 minutes' walk from Terminal 2 and 5 from Terminal 3; ticket machines in baggage reclaim and at the station, ticket office 06:30 to 22:30
To
Manchester Piccadilly, direct; some trains run on to Manchester Oxford Road, Deansgate, Salford Crescent and Manchester Victoria
Runs
03:21–02:28
Journey
13–20 min
The Bee Network tap does not work on this train — it covers only Greater Manchester's buses and trams. Buy a ticket instead.
It is £1.60 more than the tram and £4.20 more than the bus, and it saves 36 minutes on the tram and about 50 on the daytime bus. At 16 minutes it is the fastest thing on this page by a distance.
Advertised "from" prices are not the walk-up fare: Northern's £3.90 needs booking 9 weeks ahead, TPE's £5.70 is its cheapest Advance, and Advance fares tie you to one specific train. A flight is not a train, so book the walk-up fare instead.
It runs through the night on weekdays: trains at 00:38, 01:14, 01:50 and 02:28 on Tuesday to Saturday mornings, then the day's first at 03:21 — the longest gap is 53 minutes. The airport's own page prints different times (first 04:12, last 01:34); go by the timetable's 03:21 and 02:28.
The gap is the weekend. Saturday's last train is 23:46 and Sunday's first 07:37 (07:20 from 15 November); Sunday night has one train at 00:38 and then nothing until 03:59. The 43 covers both.
A ticket bought to "Manchester CTLZ" rather than to Piccadilly includes the Metrolink in zone 1, so St Peter's Square, Deansgate-Castlefield, Market Street and Victoria come free with it.
Up to eight trains an hour by day, unevenly spaced — three operators share the line — so a wait is rarely more than ten minutes. The airport says "every 10 minutes"; Northern's "every 23 minutes" counts its own trains only.
Can we count your visit?We use Google Analytics to see which airports people look up. It sets cookies. Nothing runs until you say yes, and refusing changes nothing about the site.What is stored
