It’s taken years of political lobbying and several legal battles to get to this point – and yet, the toughest task lies ahead.
After four decades of deregulation, Greater Manchester has finally taken all buses back under public control today (January 5). For years, Andy Burnham has promised us a London-style public transport system – in fact, it’s the reason his role as mayor was created.
Despite starting the bus franchising process all the way back in 2017, because of complex legislation and multiple legal challenges from bus operators, it took six years to come into effect. Buses in Bolton and Wigan have been part of the new Bee Network since September 2023 with the rest of Bury and Salford joining Oldham, Rochdale and north Manchester in the second stage last March.
The final stage, which covers more than 250 routes across Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and south Manchester, will now see all buses in the region under public control. It’s a huge undertaking, not least because it involves half of Greater Manchester’s bus network.
But it also means the mayor’s promises of a London-style public transport network can finally be fulfilled in a way that passengers actually notice. Perhaps the biggest difference for passengers so far has been the introduction of a standard £2 fare across all services.
Long gone are the days of different bus fares set by each operator varying by route and distance travelled. The £5 day ticket, which was introduced alongside the single journey fare in September 2022, has also made it cheaper and simpler to use multiple services.
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham launches the Get On Board campaign in summer 2023
(Image: Local Democracy Reporting Service)
Greater Manchester was ahead of the game when it introduced capped bus fares months before they were rolled out across the rest of the country. But the move also meant that when the first Bee Network buses were launched in Bolton and Wigan a year later, the only difference passengers who weren’t lucky enough to board one of the 50 new electric buses would notice was a change in colour.
More services were gradually introduced on certain routes, with two new night buses serving Bolton, Leigh and Salford and the first completely new bus route between Wigan and the Middlebrook retail park in Horwich launched last autumn. But Mr Burnham’s proudest boast is most likely that Bee Network buses are more reliable, with passenger numbers up by 7m more journeys in a year.
Now his toughest task lies ahead. The final stage of the rollout involves bringing 688 buses across 253 different routes – around half of Greater Manchester’s bus services – under the mayor’s control, effectively doubling the size of the franchised bus network overnight.
It’s not just about the sheer scale of the operation – south Manchester has high standards too. It’s fair to say that, before the Bee Network was launched, the south of the region was the best served part of Greater Manchester when it comes to buses.
The Wilmslow Road bus corridor, which runs all the way from the city centre to Didsbury – serving the universities on Oxford Road as well as Rusholme, Withington and Fallowfield – has long been described as the busiest of its kind in Europe. It’s also been home to the legendary Magic Bus, which students and alumni fondly remember for its extraordinarily cheap fares with services running late into the night.
The Magic Bus is no more
(Image: Manchester Evening News)
The Bee Network spells the end of the much-loved Magic Bus and gives transport bosses the unenviable task of improving services on this busiest of bus corridors. But if Mr Burnham pulls it off, the prize of taking control of all these buses will be truly transformational.
With the whole network under his control, the Labour mayor can finally bring in the changes required to create his London-style system. Now, every single bus fare will be a ‘hopper’, allowing passengers to take as many buses as they like within an hour for £2.
A new season ticket will also be available from today (January 5), offering regular bus users savings of up to £240 a year. The new Bee Bus Annual Ticket will, for the first time, provide unlimited travel on all buses for the equivalent of just £2.20 a day, with passengers able to pay the £800 fee up front or spread the cost into weekly or monthly instalments through participating local credit unions.
Then, in March, a new contactless payment system will be introduced allowing passengers to tap in and tap out on buses and trams with fares capped each day as they are in the capital. And just like in London, there will also be a weekly cap too meaning that in Greater Manchester, using any bus or tram across all ticket zones over seven days will cost no more than £41 with a contactless card.
Bolton Interchange – where the Bee Network journey began
(Image: Manchester Evening News)
These fares aren’t new – tickets have been available at this price since September 2023. But no longer will passengers need to plan ahead and buy the right ticket from machines at tram stops or on an app – they just need to tap in and tap out for the cheapest fare.
It sounds so simple – but that’s the point. It makes travelling by public transport as easy as it should be in a modern city like ours.
The next big task will be bringing trains into the Bee Network as well. Mr Burnham wants to bring eight commuter railway lines across Greater Manchester into his London-style system by 2028 – and more by 2030 – so passengers can tap in and tap out on trains too.
But despite having the government’s support, there’s still a long way to go before rail becomes part of the Bee Network. Mr Burnham will first have to finish the job with buses and prove that, even in places where standards are high, public control brings big benefits.
Ultimately, what matters is that public transport improves. Greater Manchester is growing fast and the traffic chaos in town before Christmas shows the desperate need for cheap, reliable and easy-to-use public transport options if we are to continue on this path.
If London can do it, so can we. But more importantly, we must do it to unleash our potential as the world-class city we want to be.