not mundane at all - and i want to know the suggested route too 
Along the A6 corridor from Salford (or central Manchester) to Chorley, connecting Salford, Pendlebury, Swinton, Walkden, Hulton, Westhoughton (me), Blackrod, Adlington and Chorley, none of which outside the M60 really connect with one another despite being on the same road. Right now you need to do a zig zag to get between them, especially when the trains are off. Most of the time it involves going into Bolton to come back out again. There are also loads of distribution and industrial estates along it, many of which aren't near train stations.
There's a Bolton-Preston bus through Chorley and a Manchester-Warrington bus along the A57 so I don't think it would be too tricky to set up.
Of course, making the local busses more frequently than once every time Wout Weghorst scores would help. I'm hoping that TfGM taking all busses into public control on a TfL system might help some thinking to be joined up.
