Supporting Information
Source: data.gov.uk (2025-08-27)

GM bus routes (1:25,000 scale map data). This dataset consists of map files which show bus routes covering the Greater Manchester area.  The dataset is available in MapInfo .tab, Google .kml, and ESRI .shp file formats.

Please acknowledge the source of this information using the following attribution statement:

Contains Transport for Greater Manchester data.  Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2025.

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Bus Route Map Data – Supporting Information (Aug 2025) 
 
1 
Background 
1.1 
This information note accompanies Transport for Greater Manchester’s 
bus route map data released at: 
http://data.gov.uk/dataset/bus-routes-1-25-000-scale-map-data  
1.2 
See the following sections for information on: 
 Copyright and licence details; 
 File formats; 
 Data specification; 
 Potential uses; 
 Known issues and limitations; and 
 Data updates. 
1.3 
Please email xxx@xxx.xx if you have any enquiries or feedback 
about the data or this documentation. 
 
 

 
 
 
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2 
Copyright and licence details 
2.1 
This free dataset is released under the Open Government Licence (OGL), a 
copy of which can be found here: 
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-
licence/version/3/  
2.2 
This dataset is derived from Ordnance Survey (OS) “VectorMap District” 
mapping.  Please acknowledge the source of this information using the 
following attribution statement:  
Contains Transport for Greater Manchester data.  Contains OS data © 
Crown copyright and database right 2024. 
2.3 
A more detailed dataset, derived from OS “Integrated Transport Network” 
mapping, is available to public sector bodies and to Transport for Greater 
Manchester’s contractors.  It is also available to others upon purchase of 
the appropriate OS licence.  For details, please email us at the address 
given above. 
 
3 
File formats 
3.1 
The dataset is available in a choice of file formats: 
 .kml (Google Earth) in WGS84 Long/Lat projection (EPSG:4326) 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyhole_Markup_Language  
 .tab (MapInfo) in British National Grid projection (EPSG:27700) 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MapInfo_TAB_format 
 .shp (ESRI ArcGIS) in British National Grid projection (EPSG:27700) 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shapefile 
NB: The download files may have been zipped to reduce file sizes. 
3.2 
Email us if you would like to request data in a format not listed here. 
 
 

 
 
 
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4 
Data specification 
4.1 
Each bus ‘service’, e.g. the 192, is represented in the dataset by one or 
more bus ‘routes’.  These routes show differences between: 
 Inbound and Outbound buses; 
 Full-route and part-route services (i.e. terminating early); 
 Routes taken at different times (e.g. evening and night); and 
 Routes taken on different days (e.g. Sundays and Bank Holidays). 
4.2 
For example the dataset contains ~41 different routes for the 192 service. 
4.3 
The complete dataset holds about 3,400 records, of which about half are 
for weekday routes (Monday – Friday), a quarter for Saturday, and the 
remainder split roughly evenly between Sunday and Bank Holiday routes. 
4.4 
Each bus ‘route’ is a separate record, with one map object.  The only data 
field is ServiceID, which is a Unique ID constructed from: 
Service_no + “_” + Suffix + “_” + Direction + “_” + Day + “_” + Variation 
where the components are as follows: 
Component
Description
Service_no
Bus service number
Suffix
Bus service number suffix (if any)
Direction
I = Inbound / O = Outbound / C = Circular
Day
1 = Weekdays / 3 = Saturday / 4 = Sundays / 5 = Bank Holidays
Variation
Bus service variant (if any)
4.5 
These data fields mirror the ATCO-CIF bus timetables dataset which 
Transport for Greater Manchester publishes as open data.  Therefore it 
should be possible to link timetable data to the appropriate route map by 
constructing a matching ServiceID from the ATCO-CIF file.  NB: The 
component values can be null or variable-length, making the ServiceID 
variable-length as well. 
4.6 
Similarly, bus stopping points could be added to a route map by linking the 
route to the timetable using the ServiceID field, and then linking the 
timetable to the stopping points using the stop code field. 
 

 
 
 
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5 
Potential uses 
5.1 
This bus route mapping is best used in conjunction with our other open 
datasets such as bus stop locations and timetables. 
5.2 
How to use the data is up to you, but here are some illustrative examples 
to stoke the imagination. 
5.3 
Personalised maps for local 
employers and residents 
Map your local services and 
see which routes are the 
most frequent. 
5.4 
Missed the bus? 
View the next few buses 
from this stop, see how close 
each route gets to your 
destination, what time they 
will get you there, and 
whether your ticket is valid 
with that operator. 
5.5 
Journey Guide 
Identify where you want to 
get off the bus, and receive 
alerts when you are nearly 
there, or if the bus falls 
behind schedule, or if your 
location indicates you have 
got on the wrong bus. 

 
 
 
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6 
Known issues and limitations 
6.1 
When using this dataset you may encounter some of the following issues. 
6.2 
The dataset is only updated every few months, and updates lags behind 
real-world changes to bus routes.  This is particularly noticeable when 
linking the data with bus timetables, which are updated weekly and can 
therefore be inconsistent (e.g. where a service has been renumbered or 
re-routed).  We welcome feedback on whether this causes any problems. 
6.3 
The bus routes are derived from 1:25,000 mid-scale mapping, and do not 
exactly line up with roads shown in other datasets such as Google Maps. 
6.4 
Some bus routes show an incorrect route 
for short distances, e.g. a ‘short-cut’ 
between two stops.  We would be grateful 
to hear of any such errors, which we will 
investigate and if possible fix in the next 
version. 
6.5 
Cross-border bus routes are only mapped for the first 10km outside the 
Greater Manchester county boundary. 
6.6 
Transport for Greater Manchester would also be interested to hear of any 
other types of error that you come across. 
 
 

 
 
 
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7 
Data updates 
7.1 
At the time of writing, Transport for Greater Manchester aims to update 
this dataset at least four times per year.  The updates are timed to coincide 
with the main dates for changes to timetables.  Recent updates have 
included all route changes up to and including: 
 In 2012: 29 Jan, 15 Apr, and 3 Nov; 
 In 2013: 20 Feb, and 17 Nov; 
 In 2014: 1 Feb, 3 May, 3 Aug, 27 Sep, and 8 Nov; 
 In 2015: 16 May, and 3 Oct; 
 In 2016: 13 Feb, 21 May, 10 Sep, 19 Nov, and 17 Dec; 
 In 2017: 20 Mar, 4 May, 30 Sep, and 14 Nov; 
 In 2018: 14 Feb, 11 Apr; 
 In 2019: 26 Mar; 
 In 2021: 14 Jan; 12 Aug; 
 In 2022: 11 Jan, 11 Feb, 15 May, 10 Aug, 11 Nov 
 In 2023: 08 Feb, 25 May, 21 Sep, 11 Nov 
 In 2024: 07 Mar, 19 Jun, 20 Aug, 13 Nov 
 In 2025: 17 Feb, 28 Aug 
7.2 
The next update is likely to be: 
 Nov 2025. 
7.3 
Each year, we aim to publish updates as follows: 
 February; 
 May; 
 August; and 
 November. 
7.4 
The updated bus route mapping will usually be released about one month 
after the date it represents.  However, all dates are subject to change, and