A leaflet has appeared (attached) with details of service changes during the Stockport blockade (from 2nd to 22nd August (inclusive)). The additional Northern fast service between Piccadilly and Sheffield will only run on Monday to Friday. Crewing difficulties at weekends? Rail tickets will be valid on Metrolink between Altrincham and Manchester City Centre.
I'm glad to see they've arranged ticket acceptance on TfGM buses, but the list of routes is a bit strange. In particular:
378 Stockport - Bramhall - Heald Green - Cheadle Hulme
378A Stockport - Davenport - Bramhall - Cheadle Hulme
The 378 route is actually circular, Stockport - Bramhall - Heald Green - Cheadle Hulme - Bramhall - Stockport. It has a counterpart which goes round the loop the other way, numbered 379, which is not on the list. So their list implies that you can use this route in one direction only?!?
The 378A is an evening/Sunday version of the 378, which is identical except that it turns back once it reaches the edge of Cheadle Hulme, cutting off the loop through Heald Green. In fact the 378 and 378A (and indeed 379!) all serve Davenport, so I'm not sure why they suggest that the 378 doesn't.
42C Handforth Dean - Heald Green - Cheadle - Piccadilly Gardens
This one is even more bizarre. The 42C doesn't really replace any of the affected routes, but all other variants of the 42 do: they connect Stockport (42), Heaton Chapel (42A) or Bramhall (42B) to central Manchester.