A NEW guided busway service from Leigh to the Manchester Royal Infirmary will be launched later this month.

Starting on January 29, the V3 Vantage service will stop off at Tyldesley, Ellenbrook and at the East Lancashire Road park and ride.

Ian Humphreys, head of commercial at bus operators First Manchester, says the new service will run hourly every day to and from the infirmary and will provide extra buses at peak times.

“Vantage V3 has been created as an introductory cross city service while substantial infrastructure work is undertaken along Oxford Road," he added.

"First Manchester will be working closely with Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) to agree on the next steps for the development of Vantage to ensure that the reliability of the service will not be compromised to the detriment of all our regular customers.”

In Manchester city centre buses will follow a direct route to Oxford Road, using John Dalton Street, Princess Street, Whitworth Street and Oxford Road.

Passengers heading for Piccadilly Gardens and Stevenson Square are advised to use Vantage services V1 and V2, which follow the same route to the city centre.

There will also be some changes to times and routes to Manchester city centre for Vantage services from January 29.

If Broad Street in Salford is congested buses will instead use Bolton Road.

For details of the new timetables visit bit.ly/2iYtvBk.