Greater Manchester's Museum of Transport

Greater Manchester's Museum of Transport has one of the largest collections of its kind in the country. It is run by the volunteers of the Greater Manchester Transport Society (GMTS) but the Museum is owned by Transport for Greater Manchester (formerly Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive).

The Museum is based in one of Manchester's earliest bus garage, adjoining the first tram depot, Queens Road and both are Grade II listed. As part of its duty to promote interest in passenger transport in Greater Manchester, the Executive has worked with the GMTS and a museum has been established at Boyle Street, Cheetham, Manchester since 1979.

Greater Manchester's rich transport heritage is represented by our large collection of restored vehicles from the county, most of which are restored to operational condition.

The core of our collection represents the wide variety of fleets absorbed into the Passenger Transport Executive from 1969 onwards. These include the municipal fleets from Ashton, Bolton, Bury, Leigh, Manchester, Oldham, Ramsbottom, Rochdale, SHMD, Salford, Stockport and Wigan (1974) as well as part of North Western (1972) and Lancashire United (1981).

We have embraced the development of public transport in the county by ensuring that the collection continues to grow, including key examples of vehicles through the years.

The Museum project is still developing and restoration work can be seen by visitors giving the display a lively, working atmosphere.

In the future, the collection of vehicles and other artefacts relating to the roads of Greater Manchester will continue to expand and the Museum will further develop its facilities as well as restoring items which have already been received but which remain in derelict condition. With the assistance of the Passenger Transport Authority and Executive, the Museum of Transport will continue to be a focal point of local transport history and one of the premier attractions of its kind in Great Britain.