The Greater Manchester Combined Authority has approved the release of £59.1 million that will enable the procurement of around 220 further battery-electric buses for the region’s franchised Bee Network.
The first are expected to be in service by the end of 2026. They will predominantly be used on the Oldham and Hyde Road large franchise contracts that are in the hands of Stagecoach Manchester and Metroline Manchester, respectively.
The £59.1 million is to fund the incremental cost difference between a Euro VI diesel and a zero-emission example, papers from the Bee Network Committee on 27 November show.
It has been drawn down from the £1.07 billion City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement for Greater Manchester. Wider plans are in hand to convert the whole Bee Network bus fleet to zero-emission operation by 2030.
Almost 350 battery-electric buses are already in service on the Bee Network. Also approved on 27 November was £5.7 million towards a tram-train ‘pathfinder’ project and funding for a travel hub in Tyldsley.
Speaking about the drawdown, Transport Commissioner for Greater Manchester Vernon Everitt says: “The Bee Network is making public transport more affordable, frequent and cleaner and these further steps will deliver more improvements for the people and businesses of Greater Manchester.
“We are accelerating investment to introduce even more electric buses to add to those that already comprise 20% of our vehicles, marking another significant step towards the goal of a fully zero-emission bus fleet by 2030.
“Major improvements lie ahead for the tram network too as we look at modern tram-train technology to connect further parts of Greater Manchester directly to the Metrolink network. This will make journeys by public transport faster and more convenient and further build an integrated transport network for our growing city region.”
Separately, the Manchester city centre network of free bus services once known as Metroshuttle has been converted to zero-emission with 12 Volvo BZL single-decks. They are operated by Stagecoach Manchester from Queens Road depot.
