Reregulation of bus services in Greater Manchester completed on 5 January with the rollout of the third tranche of franchising. That final segment broadly captures the southern half of the region and is significantly bigger in scope than the first and second tranches.
The latest work has seen Metroline Manchester take up three large service contracts from four depots at Ashton-under-Lyne, Hyde Road, Sharston, and Wythenshawe. The Stockport large franchise contract is with Stagecoach Manchester. Diamond Bus North West and Go North West were winners of the four small franchise contracts.
Commencement of the final tranche saw Arriva’s presence in Greater Manchester become a small number of routes that operate into the conurbation under local service permits. Other SME bus operators saw their involvement in bus service provision in the conurbation reduce or end entirely, a change that has generated controversy.
That aside, there are now 1,600 buses and 577 routes under the franchised Bee Network that will collectively deliver more than 160 million passenger trips per year.
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) recently said that 25% of the Bee Network fleet will be zero-emission by the end of April as part of the procurement of hundreds of new vehicles. By the end of March, over 50% of the buses used on Bee Network services will be new, and 75% will be less than four years old.
The overarching Bee Network integrated transport approach will now move onto its second phase involving the incorporation of eight commuter rail lines.
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has underlined previous comments made in 2022 that TfGM will be able to assist other local authorities that are “looking to follow suit” by franchising their bus services and improve them “after decades of decline.”
Mr Burnham adds that while completion of bus franchising in Greater Manchester is “a nationally significant moment that we can all celebrate,” TfGM will now adopt “an unrelenting focus this year on delivering a truly integrated, London-style transport system across bus, tram and train.”
A further element of that is introduction of a hopper fare. It permits unlimited bus journeys within an hour of purchase, with the cost of an adult single on the Bee Network having been held at £2 for 2025 by TfGM.
The franchising body says that rollout of the reregulation process has been “delivered on time and on budget,” with the cost of running a franchised network reduced by one-third compared to intervention in a deregulated market. Work in Greater Manchester “is setting the blueprint for others to follow,” TfGM adds.
Although Greater Manchester leads the way in reregulation of bus services, various other areas are destined to follow suit.
That is already confirmed in the Liverpool City Region and West Yorkshire. Others including Wales in its entirety via the Welsh Government and local authorities in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, North East England, South Yorkshire, the West Midlands and Strathclyde have indicated their favour of franchising for delivery of bus service reform.
