Transport for Greater Manchester has identified a location for a new Bee Network bus depot in Stockport. If approved, it will be the city region’s first purpose-built operating centre for battery-electric buses and accommodate around 200 of them.
Most of the existing Daw Bank depot in the town, used by Stagecoach Manchester as part of Bee Network third tranche contract awards, is slated to be demolished in early 2027 for redevelopment. Subject to planning approval, the new Heathside Park Road site two miles away is expected to commence operation in 2029.
In the intervening period, two temporary depots will be used to house the Stockport fleet. Construction on those is due to start this summer with completion by the winter, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) says.
The franchising body adds that the Heathside Park Road facility will be fully electric with space for additional vehicles and scope for future expansion. An MoT testing lane will also be installed. A planning application is due to be submitted to Stockport Council soon.
Plans call for the Bee Network to be fully electrified by 2030. No zero-emission buses run from the existing Stockport depot.
Stagecoach used Daw Bank under the deregulated regime. In 2023, it ordered 170 Volvo BZL battery-electric buses for operation in the town with funding from the first round of the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas scheme under a bid led by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA).
Delays in sourcing a location for a new depot led to those buses being reallocated to other parts of the Bee Network. Some are with Stagecoach while others are with Metroline Manchester.
A meeting of the GMCA Joint Clean Air Scrutiny Committee in September 2024 noted an initial assumption that the new bus depot in Stockport would be in operation with a zero-emission fleet from autumn 2025. Despite delays, the authority said then that it remained committed to delivering an all-electric bus depot in the town.
In announcing firm plans, TfGM says that half of Bee Network depots have been electrified so far. Those at Ashton-under-Lyne and Middleton are entirely converted, with that at Ashton – operated by Metroline – completed over a year ago.
Speaking about identification of the new Stockport location, TfGM Infrastructure Director Chris Barnes says: “Modernising the Bee Network means better services for passengers and cleaner air for everyone in Greater Manchester. That is why we have been investing in our depots, upgrading them to accommodate our growing fleet of electric buses.
“This site in Stockport offers us the perfect opportunity to build the first electric bus depot of its kind in Greater Manchester – one that is purpose-built and fit for the future. And it also means that the regeneration of the town centre can continue.”
