Bus 43orMetrolink tram?

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.

Bus 43: price for every party size →

From

The Metrolink platform inside The Station, between Terminals 2 and 3; tap in at the reader on the platform before boarding

To

Deansgate-Castlefield in 49 minutes, St Peter's Square in 52, Market Street in 55 and Victoria in 60, via Wythenshawe, Sale Water Park, Chorlton, Trafford Bar and Cornbrook

Runs

05:45–23:15

Journey

49–60 min

It costs £4.60 because the airport is in zone 4 and the center is zone 1, so the ride crosses every zone and pays the network maximum. One zone is £1.40. There is no airport supplement; there is simply no way to reach town through fewer zones.

Tap out. A journey tapped in and never tapped out is charged the full £4.60 and counts towards no cap. Use the same card or phone every time, one card per adult; tap-and-go charges adult fares, so buy family tickets at the platform machines for children.

Going back the same day by tap costs £4.90 in total, not £9.20: the all-zone off-peak day cap is thirty pence more than one single. It is £7.10 if the first tap is between 07:00 and 09:30 on a weekday.

It is 2.3 times the price of the 43 for the same 50 minutes, and slower than the train by half an hour. What it buys is a seat and stops the bus and the train do not make: Wythenshawe, Chorlton, Deansgate-Castlefield, St Peter's Square, Victoria.

Buy or tap before boarding; nothing is sold on the tram. Untapped at an inspection is £60 on the spot or a £120 penalty fare.

The last through tram is 23:15 (00:15 on Fridays and Saturdays) and the first 05:45 (06:45 on Sundays). Outside those hours the 43 is the public transport, and on Tuesday to Saturday mornings the £6.20 train runs until 02:28.

Metrolink tram: price for every party size →