Magic Bus
About
Automotive, Public Transportation
Magic Bus is the best place to spend your leisure time tasting delicious food and enjoying the nice atmosphere. After visiting our restaurant you will definitely have a wish to come back!
Location
Adress: Hyde Rd, Manchester, M12 6JS
Phone: +44 161 273 3377
Reviews
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Dominic H.
Living just off wilmslow road and working at uni of Manchester means I'm a regular user of the magic buses. And I am very happy with the service they provide.
There greatest strength is how regular they run: if I'm waiting for more than 5mins I start to get annoyed (so about once every 2mins :) ). They are also very cheap at 1 pounds a single (note first buses also do pound singles) and come with relatively good wifi.
The quality of the bus can vary however and I have been on some pretty old grubby bus. But I'm happy to put up with this in exchange for never having to wait long for a bus. -
Aaron S.
I chosen Magic Bus to take me from Piccadily Gardens to the central Manchester hospitals, both ways and compared to may previous experiances with Stagecoach, I had a rather pleasant experiance.
I got the 142 service towards East Disbury on the way there, the driver told me that they went near the hospitals, this journey didn't stand out, like the return journey.
My return journey saw a Supervisor who was monitoring the driver and she was very nice and friendly, we shared stories about Manchester City and my pleasant experiance with Magic Bus compared to First buses, where the drivers have sworn at me on numerous occasions and constantly late.
Magic Bus services really do stand out colourwise as they are bright dark blue, similar to Bluebird, whose buses were a lighter blue before being bought out by Stagecoach and converted into Stagecoach style white buses, with a small patten, also similar to first buses.
I don't know if this is all Magic Bus services but they come really regular, they don't appear to be really late, the staff are okay and some of them really do stand out. I feel Magic Bus deserves 4 stars ; the only way they could improve is adding wifi onto their buses, like their parent company Stagecoach have on there hybrid buses. I would say bases on experiances with most of the major bus companies in Greater Manchester (Stagecoach, and first) (as well as JPT and Bluebird before being bought out), Magic Bus is definitely the best.
UPDATE: Due to declining quality of service and the fact the buses lack the modern feel and just feel average, I honestly feel I was being far too generous with my original rating and because of this and declining service from the drivers as well as routes and the buses themselves being average, I feel Magic Bus deserve a two star rating instead. -
Emma Louise M.
*Gaaaaahhhhhhwhyohwhyohwhy FML urgh owch sleeveoverhand.* That's what my brain does when I'm stood at a bus stop in Piccadilly Gardens, South Manchester or the Oxford Road Corridor and I've told myself I'll take the first one that arrives... and it turns out to be a Magic Bus. I've touched on this briefly in my Stagecoach review, but the Magic Buses just aren't... well, I think the name's somewhat sarcastic.
I'm coming at this from a niche standpoint, mind. I will not deny that Magics are great for students and budgeters who have to pay per-time getting on t'bus. Proper cheap. As I have a monthly pass and can pick and choose which buses I get on though (if I'm not pushed for time that is), Magics would be my if-I-must. They've not been updated in what feels like decades, and in a spot of uncharacteristically warm weather the other day I had the great misfortune to be located next to a heater blasting out air hotter than the sun. Which I noticed it didn't do when I was sat next to it in sub-zero temperatures a few months prior. And it kind of looked as if there was something growing down there. Shudder.
You won't find Magics on all the Manchester routes, that's for sure. 142, 143 and such, Piccadilly and West/East Didsbury, but certainly not Chorlton, Sale, Ashton or anything. They're pretty much designed for students and at least the rest of us can get some nice cheap bus travel as a result, but be warned - this makes them very, very crowded. One early morning I was travelling back to Fallowfield from the old BBC site and I actually had to get off at the Curry Mile and grab the next Stagecoach, it was getting so claustrophobic in there. My advice? Use, sure, but use with caution! -
Thomas B.
No it's not The Who's song, it's a bus service. Either side of a pound by no more than 50p will take you where you want to go. Generally on Oxford Road if it's pointing in the direction you want to head it'll take you there. Being the busiest bus route in Europe means you will stand at a bus stop for no longer then 2 minutes before one of these double deckers shows up. The routes do the whole of Oxford road, Fallowfield, Didsbury and city centre.
Let yee be warned though, after midnight it's going to cost a whole £2 to get around! Also if it's raining and about 6pm on a weekday evening expect to be stood up on whilst on the bus, with somebody's elbow in your eye. -
Rebecca D.
Ahhhhh, Magic Bus. Symbol of my student days. I remember when we first met; I could ride you all week long for £2! £2! That's two drinks at 42s! Oh, what fun we'd have, Magic Bus.
Of course, that was five years ago, five long years. In the intervening years, that week-long ride has gone up to £6.50! And I know, I know about inflation, and fuel prices and wages and insurance, but the fact of the matter is this: you're more than thrice as pricey, and at least thrice as ropey.
You've let yourself go, Magic Bus. You smell weird and the seats are broken and there's anti-Semitic graffiti on the backseat. Don't you care any more, Magic Bus? You didn't even put your lippy on!
Maybe, oh I don't know, maybe you were always like this, Magic Bus, and I was too young, too impoverished, too permanently drunk/asleep to notice. But, gawd, I've noticed now, and rather than pay the £1.20 fare to Fallowfield or Withington every now and then, I'm gonna shell out the extra 50p or so and ride the Stagecoach. That's right, Magic Bus! I'm leaving you for your sexier, cleaner, shinier brother.
Don't cry, Magic Bus. What we had was special. I'll always remember it, but I can't spend another second on a bus that smells of sick, wondering what that ominous rattling sound is. I'm better than that, Magic Bus. I've moved on, and you should too.
It's over.