Balfour Beatty starts work on Manchester guided busway in UK

Balfour Beatty has started work on a £27 million ($43 million) project to deliver a guided busway in Manchester, UK.

The project, which is being carried out for Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), will connect Leigh in Greater Manchester with Ellenbrook in Salford.

Balfour Beatty will use a new slip-forming technique to install the guided busway, which is expected to reduce costs and construction times over traditional methods.

Working with Atkins, Balfour Beatty has also designed the scheme which will feature fourteen stops, seven in each direction, and follows a former railway route between East Bond Street in Leigh and Newearth Road in Ellenbrook.

The project also includes a path along the entire length of the busway and all stops will be accessible featuring shelters, CCTV and real time information.

TfGM Committee chairperson Andrew Fender said, “The Leigh Busway is the flagship scheme of a much wider bus priority package – one of the largest investments in Greater Manchester’s bus network for decades, with over 25 miles of the network being either created or improved.”

Balfour Beatty North West delivery unit managing director Peter Commins told that, Our team worked very closely with Transport for Greater Manchester during the design phase to ensure that the new busway offers convenience and comfort for users.