A NEW-look £1million bus station and cycle hub have officially opened in Leigh.

The town centre bus station now has a new travelshop, modernised public toilets, improved bus stands and better signs.

The facility is a key part of the busway – due to open next year – linking passengers with Leigh, Atherton and Tyldesley, Salford and Manchester city centre and beyond.

Leigh MP Andy Burnham was joined by other council representatives for a tour of the new station which includes a new cycle hub offering secure storage for up to 46 bikes with CCTV coverage.

Mr Burnham said: “I have long argued for new investment in town centre Leigh and so am pleased to see this scheme come to fruition. Leigh people have waited a long time for better public transport and I am glad that improvements are now becoming a reality. This investment will make Leigh a more attractive place to live and improve the image of our town.

“It is great that Leigh now boasts the borough’s first cycle hub and I hope it will energize more people to get on their bikes. I have no doubt that the new busway will give Leigh a real boost. It will cut journey times to Manchester and provide a quality service for half the price of train tickets. That can only be good for our area and help people access jobs and leisure opportunities.”

Wigan Councillor Mark Aldred, deputy chairman of the Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) Committee, said the bus station offered a safe, brightly lit place for passengers to wait for buses, and will be a key destination for busway services when they start running to the heart of the town centre next year.

The busway will offer a minimum of four buses an hour between Leigh and Manchester during the day from Mondays to Saturdays. There will also be services on Sundays and in the evenings.

As well as travelling to Leigh, passengers will be able to travel directly to Manchester city centre and the busy Oxford Road area where the city’s universities and hospitals are based – all in a single journey.

Bus journey times between Leigh and Manchester city centre will be cut to less than 50 minutes. There will be improvements to local journeys with four buses an hour travelling between Leigh and Tyldesley town centre in both directions. The journey time between Leigh and Tyldesley will be just 10 minutes compared to the existing bus journey time of around 20 minutes.

More information about the improvement works to Leigh Bus Station and the bus priority package can be found at www.tfgm.com/buspriority or by calling 0300 123 1177.