Seven more Mellor small buses will enter service on the third tranche of bus franchising in Greater Manchester from January 2025, with Mayor Andy Burnham (pictured, centre) having recently visited the manufacturer’s plant in Rochdale to inspect those vehicles.
They will join 21 Strata models on the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter underframe that are already in service on existing franchised routes. The seven further buses are part of what Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) says is “hundreds of new vehicles being manufactured in the UK” for the Bee Network.
The contracting body adds that franchised bus services in Greater Manchester are creating “a new model for driving economic growth and boosting the UK’s homegrown manufacturing industries.”
Those words follow concern from Alexander Dennis about other orders with public subsidy that are being fulfilled outside the UK, although not all the buses on order for franchised services are being built here.
In visiting Mellor in Rochdale, Mr Burnham met some apprentices who have seen positions created thanks to the orders for Bee Network buses. The procurement has supported 15 new apprenticeship roles at Mellor.
“I was particularly pleased to meet the young apprentices with bright futures ahead of them and who are benefitting thanks to the Bee Network. As we develop our plans to transform technical education through the MBacc, we want to encourage even more young people into the industry,” he says,
Such transformation includes work underway to create “clear pathways for young people into diverse, skilled careers offered by creation of the Bee Network MBacc pathway,” TfGM adds.
The Mellor apprentices are following an 18-month programme in collaboration with Hopwood Hall College. They will rotate across various departments at Mellor and are the first cohort of recruits under the new Woodall Nicholson Apprentice Scheme. It will lead to a qualification as a vehicle converter.
Suggesting that Bee Network new bus procurement is now focused on UK builders, Mr Burnham says that the region is “proving how investment in public transport supports economic growth, not just in Greater Manchester but across the UK, with franchise contracts and bus orders helping to secure jobs and deliver new ones – like those at Mellor.”
Of other UK manufacturers, Alexander Dennis is building 415 buses for the Bee Network. Wrightbus is manufacturing 162.
TfGM adds that the Mellor small buses delivered and an order will work services that “were often not prioritised by operators before franchising, with companies tending to target busier, more profitable routes.”
