London-based group is understood to be a big beneficiary from the first round of contracts that will see Greater Manchester’s buses franchised
The introduction of the first franchised bus services in Wigan, Bolton and Salford is expected to take place on September 17, 2023
As Passenger Transport went to press, it was understood that Go-Ahead was poised to be a big winner from the first tranche of tenders to franchise Greater Manchester’s bus network.
Informed sources said the London-based group was set to snap up at least one of the major contracts in the first area to be franchised, covering Wigan, Bolton and parts of Salford.
Go-Ahead’s success will be a bitter blow for its rivals, namely incumbent operators Stagecoach and Rotal
Go-Ahead’s success will be a bitter blow for its rivals, namely incumbent operators Stagecoach and Rotala, although it has been suggested that Rotala has also picked up some work from the first tranche of contracts.
The introduction of the first franchised bus services in Wigan, Bolton and Salford is expected to take place on September 17, 2023. Bids for the first contracts were received by Transport for Greater Manchester by September 9, with eight companies bidding for the two large contracts, two companies bidding for all except one of the small franchises, and a further company bidding for one small franchise.
Bidders were informed about whether they had succeeded or not on November 25, with contract awards expected to take place on December 16 following the obligatory standstill period.
The Expression of Interest for the second tranche of contracts, covering the north east of the region was issued in September and will be operational at the end of March 2024. The third tranche, covering the south of Greater Manchester, will be contracted by the end of March 2024 and be operational by January 5, 2025.
This story appears in the latest issue of Passenger Transport.
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