Stagecoach Manchester and Vision Bus have been awarded home-to-school franchise contracts by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) as part of the first phase of bus reregulation in the region. It follows the award in late 2022 of franchises for public bus services under that initial tranche to Go North West and Diamond Bus North West.
The school services involved run in Wigan and Bolton, along with parts of Salford and Bury. Stagecoach has gained 17 of the 23 franchise contracts and Vision Bus six. They capture 31 schools and will commence operation at the start of the 2023-24 academic year.
TfGM advises that there will be no change to the educational establishments served or the number of buses used under the new contracts. As with other Bee Network services, a penalty payment regime will be in place for poor performance.
Bus Franchising Director Anne Marie Purcell says that TfGM is “pleased to have once again received such high levels of interest from operators” to run the first school services to form part of the Bee Network.
A mixture of the TfGM yellow bus fleet and vehicles supplied by operators will be utilised on the services awarded in the first school franchise round. Stagecoach says that its 17 contracts will require 51 buses to operate, and that 23 employees will transfer from current operators. It expects to confirm the location of the depot for its share of the work soon.
Adds Managing Director Lee Wasnidge: “The award of these contracts is a testament to the hard work, dedication and exceptional service delivered by our fantastic team at Stagecoach Manchester. We are committed to providing safe, reliable and efficient services to enable young people in Wigan, Bolton and Salford to access education.”
Tender papers show that TfGM expects to award six home-to-school franchise contracts under the second tranche of bus franchising (broadly covering Bury, North Manchester, Oldham and Rochdale) and around 25 such contracts under the third and final round, broadly covering South Manchester, Stockport, Tameside and Trafford.
