The guided busway and bus rapid transit (BRT) scheme promoted by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) opened on 3 April 2016.

The BRT route begins at Leigh bus station, and joins the guided section at East Bond Street.

From Ellenbrook the route continues via bus lanes alongside the A580 East Lancashire Road, serving Worsley and Swinton before joining the A6 at Irlams o' th' Height.

The multi-user path for walkers, horse riders and cyclists alongside the guided section provides access for emergency vehicles and maintenance.

[12] After light-controlled junctions along the East Lancashire Road were upgraded with SCOOT adaptive signalling in July 2016, TfGM reported that October that general road traffic journey times on this section had returned to pre-construction levels in the morning peak while accommodating significant additional traffic.

A survey of users published in October 2016 revealed that 20% of passengers had switched from using their cars for the same journey, and nearly all respondents would recommend the service.

[22] BRT services were curtailed and patronage sharply reduced in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic; but have since recovered to a total annual ridership of 2.6 million in the financial year 2023/24, and continue to increase.

Services were initially operated by 20 Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 bodied Volvo B5LH hybrid double-decker buses in purple-livery.

[23] Five more buses were purchased in January 2017 to provide extra capacity at busy times and facilitate the extended service to Central Manchester Hospitals.

[26] In February 2019, TfGM were successful in bidding for funding support in buying an additional 10 electric buses for busway operation, to enter service in March 2020.

Stops along the guided busway section provide level-boarding from platforms and are equipped with passenger information display screens.

The Department for Transport granted powers to build the busway in 2005 and it was projected to be built by 2009 but preliminary work only started in 2012.

This states that "The Leigh–Salford–Manchester Busway is another clear example of our successful approach to rapid transit in action, carrying over two and a half million journeys per year and removing the need for around half a million car journeys"; and proposes this as a model that might be considered for other parts of the Greater Manchester conurbation, especially for serving Manchester Airport and the proposed growth area of the 'Atom Vally' between Bury and Rochdale .

The Strategy proposes that, as BRT demand is expected to continue to grow, so frequencies along this busway should be increased; and also that an additional stop should be provided on the guided section to serve new residential developments in Mosley Common south of Tyldesley.