Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham hails a landmark moment for buses in his city region
Bringing all buses in Greater Manchester under local control is a huge milestone – but it’s not a case of ‘job done’
Last week Greater Manchester became the first place in the country to take its bus network fully back under local control – a landmark moment that is one of my proudest moments as mayor of this wonderful city region.
The third and final phase of bus franchising has seen services in the south of the conurbation – including Stockport, Trafford and Tameside – join the Bee Network, our bold vision for a joined-up, London-style public transport system.
The final 250 routes have now been brought under local control and we have also welcomed Metroline – one of London’s biggest bus operators – into Greater Manchester for the first time, alongside Diamond, First, Go North West, Stagecoach and Vison Bus. It has been truly exciting to see our city region blazing a trail for the future of bus services – one where the needs of the travelling public are paramount and local leaders like myself are ultimately accountable for performance.
But none of this would have been possible without the outstanding partnership work we have seen between the Bee Network and the bus industry – from operators to manufacturers, suppliers and stakeholders.
Once the tendering process began it was clear that operators had a real appetite to work with us in the franchising system – helping to create a more reliable, affordable and accessible bus network, where our buses are cleaner, greener and safer.
This uplift in standards is crucial if our public transport system is to open up opportunities for everyone in Greater Manchester – whether that’s access to work, education, or leisure – and to underpin economic growth across our city region.
And we are already making great strides.
The first phase of bus franchising was rolled out in the north west of the conurbation in September 2023, with areas in the north east joining the Bee Network from March 2024.
This saw operators including Diamond, First, Go North West, Stagecoach and Vision Bus beginning to run Bee Network services in Bolton, Wigan and Bury as well as in Rochdale, Oldham, Salford and north Manchester.
The punctuality of services in these areas is now consistently better than it was before franchising – and was also outperforming the non-franchised area which joined the Bee Network on January 5.
We have also upgraded the Bee Network fleet, which is now around 1,700 strong and includes more than 920 new buses, the majority of which have been built for us by UK manufacturers Alexander Dennis, Wrightbus and Rochdale-based Mellor.
It has been truly exciting to see our city region blazing a trail for the future of bus services
I am committed to a Bee Network that works for everyone, with the highest possible standards of accessibility. That is why our new buses – including more than 360 ZEBs (Zero Emission Buses) – feature ramps, wheelchair bays, hearing induction loops,
anti-slip flooring and audio-visual announcements-another key contribution from our manufacturers and suppliers.
A more reliable and attractive bus service has led to increased patronage, with nearly seven million more journeys being made on the city region’s buses compared with last year – a 5% increase across the franchised network.
Crucially, this has allowed us to keep prices low – reducing average ticket costs by 15% and keeping our £2 fare cap in place for 2025 (subject to a mid-year review). We have also introduced an annual bus ticket that could save passengers up to £240, cheaper seven-day and 28-day tickets and a new ‘hopper fare’.
Operators have worked with us to improve timetables – including later and earlier services that better join up with the first and last trams and trains of the day.
And together we are developing new Bee Network bus services as our ‘network review’ process gets under way, and we start shaping the Bee Network to meet the wants and needs of people and businesses.
The first of these initiatives is a new night bus pilot launched in September this year. The V1 and 36 bus services – connecting Manchester with Leigh and Bolton via Salford – now operate 24 hours a day.
Better transport at night is something people here have been crying out for – some 358,000 people work in jobs or businesses that are significantly active at night, accounting for around 33% of our workforce
Greater Manchester’s exciting potential as an engine of growth will only be fully realised if we have the transport infrastructure in place to get people to our key employment centres at any time of day or night – which is why I am keen to expand 24-hour transport services.
The first new Bee Network bus route also launched in October, connecting people in Wigan and its surrounding areas with Middlebrook retail park. Introduced in the run-up to Christmas, the service restores a link to a major shopping destination.
We have also made changes to around 75 Bee Network routes to provide earlier, later, more frequent and better connected services.
The Bee Network will continue to play a key role in supporting the Greater Manchester economy through improving links to major employments centres.
And let’s not forget the Bee Network is a generator of jobs itself, with Metroline signing up 100 new drivers ahead of January and a further 45 TravelSafe Support and Enforcement Officers (TSEOs) being recruited to ensure passengers feel safe when getting on board.
If we are to succeed, the continuing partnership and cooperation of the bus industry will be absolutely imperative
I am also proud of the role it is playing in creating a new model for driving economic growth and boosting the UK’s homegrown manufacturing industries. For example, Wrightbus – which is building 162 buses for the Bee Network – says every pound generated by them creates another £3 in the wider economy, and every job ensures another three jobs are safe across the supply chain.
As a result of our approach to re-taking control of the network, hundreds of brand-new buses are being built at locations across the UK, in turn creating skilled opportunities for young people starting out their career.
A great case example is Mellor, right here in the Greater Manchester town of Rochdale.
The firm has been building 28 buses for the Bee Network, with those orders supporting the creation of 15 new apprentice roles. I had the pleasure of meeting some of those starting out on their careers, and it was great to hear about the skills they had gained.
Apprentices at Mellor, like many others in Greater Manchester, are also benefiting from the Our Pass scheme for school and care leavers. This gives them free bus travel across the city region unlocking the world of work and education as well as opening up opportunities for leisure and socialising.
The Mellor orders build on the hundreds of buses – totalling tens of millions of pounds – delivered and ordered for the Bee Network, demonstrating how investment in public transport can deliver jobs.
And that same investment is also delivering a newer, cleaner and greener bus fleet – with Greater Manchester going further and faster than any other region on bus electrification.
Before franchising, fewer than 1% of buses in our city region were electric – but that figure will stand at 25% – one bus in four – by the end of April this year.
Replacing older vehicles with new zero emission buses and Euro 6 clean-air compliant vehicles is a big part of our strategy for cleaning up Greater Manchester’s air, alongside the delivery of a world class public transport system that people naturally choose over driving. I believe this is how we clean up the air in Greater Manchester, avoid the need for a charging Clean Air Zone and achieve our goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2038.
Bringing all buses in Greater Manchester under local control is a huge milestone – but it’s not a case of ‘job done’, we must now seize the opportunity to create a 21st century bus network that works for everyone.
We have taken on the deregulated network and begun to shape it in a way that connects people with opportunity and supports the growth of our businesses.
As our Network Reviews are rolled out, the people of Greater Manchester will tell us what they want their bus network to look like – and we must strive to deliver that, from new routes and services, to cleaner and safer buses.
If we are to succeed, the continuing partnership and cooperation of the bus industry – the operators, manufacturers and suppliers that have helped us get where we are today – will be absolutely imperative.
This story appears inside the latest issue of Passenger Transport.
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