Greater Manchester pioneers return of locally controlled bus services in historic first
All bus services across Greater Manchester are now under local control for the first time in 40-years
Greater Manchester has heralded a new era in public transport, transforming how people get around the city-region.
Following a phased approach, all bus services – totalling 577 routes, 1,600 buses and accounting for more than 160 million trips per year – are now under local control and accountable to the people, businesses and communities of Greater Manchester.
The Bee Network said they are making history as the first area in the country to do this in 40 years: "Greater Manchester has taken steps to reverse decades-long decline to deliver improved services, better buses and more affordable fares, including:
"Better connections: Making changes to around 75 different routes to provide earlier, later, more frequent and better-connected services; the first new Bee Network service and night bus pilot services. Ongoing reviews will ensure the Bee Network makes it easier for people to get where they need to go through affordable, joined up, reliable services.
"More reliable services: Punctuality of the first buses to come under local control is now consistently above 80% (up from c.69% on the pre-franchised network). Reliability in the second area – Oldham, Rochdale, Bury, Salford, and north Manchester – is also better than before, with work ongoing to replicate the improvements seen in phase one areas across the whole network.
"A step-change in the standard of buses: Hundreds of new, greener and more accessible vehicles are now on the roads. By the end of March 2025, more than half (52%) of Bee Network buses will be new and 75% of the fleet will be less than four years old (compared to an average fleet age of 9.5 years in 2019). The number of electric buses in the fleet also continues to grow rapidly, from fewer than 1% before franchising to 25% from April 2025.
"Affordable fares: Average ticket costs reduced by 15% with the £2 fare that will remain in place throughout 2025. A cheaper, simpler fare structure is now in place across all Bee Network buses – with new products including a ‘hopper’ fare, reduced weekly and monthly ticket, and passengers able to spread the cost of an unlimited annual ticket with participating credit unions. Contactless capping across bus and tram – where people can tap and go and have the correct fare worked out for them automatically – is also coming from 23 March 2025.
"Jobs and opportunities: The Bee Network has created hundreds of jobs and new opportunities in Greater Manchester and across the UK, with contracts to operate franchised services and orders for hundreds of new buses manufactured in Britain.
"All delivered on time and on budget, with a 5% increase in passengers over a 12month period, revenues above forecast and the cost of running franchised services reduced by a third (compared to having to intervene in the private deregulated market), Greater Manchester is setting the blueprint for others to follow."
Completion of bus franchising marks the end of phase one of the Bee Network, with the same focus and momentum now being applied to transform rail travel across the city-region. The next step will be to bring eight priority train lines into the Bee Network by 2028, as well as deliver the first new stations in more than 20 years and significant upgrades to make more stations accessible.
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said:
“This is an historic moment for Greater Manchester. We are proud to be the first area in England to complete the re-regulation of buses and to have done it on time and on budget.
“From today, every community in Greater Manchester will be served by cheaper, cleaner and greener buses and run in a way which puts people before profit. We are now ready to help other areas looking to follow suit and improve their bus services after decades of decline.
“Greater Manchester is currently the growth success story of the UK. We have an £80bn economy, a growing population and world-leading businesses, and our rate of growth is outstripping that of the South East. But we’ll only be able to reach our full potential, and make life better for all our residents, with a world-class public transport system.
“Whilst this is a nationally significant moment that we can all celebrate, it’s by no means job done. We'll have an unrelenting focus this year on delivering a truly integrated, London-style transport system across bus, tram and train - the next chapter of the Bee Network’s story.”
The Bee Network is integral to the overall success of the city-region and Greater Manchester’s strategy to support a growing population by building 175,000 new homes and creating 100,000 new jobs.
Other regions are already taking steps to regain control of buses, and the government is introducing new legislation to make it easier for other areas to follow in Greater Manchester’s footsteps.
Secretary of State for Transport, Heidi Alexander, said:
“Greater Manchester’s Bee Network is a trailblazer in delivering better bus services for passengers and we want local authorities across the country to look to it as a shining example of what can be achieved through local control.
“This Government has prioritised supporting and improving bus networks across the country as we know how important they are for communities – but for too long, too many people have suffered from unreliable and infrequent services.
“People across Greater Manchester now have buses they can depend on. With our Bus Services Bill and £1 billion in support for services across the country, we will help ensure that similar success reaches across the country.”
Transport Commissioner for Greater Manchester, Vernon Everitt, said:
“We see from examples in Europe and elsewhere that city regions with high quality public transport are more productive, drive economic growth and deliver greater access to new homes, jobs, education and opportunity. Today marks a highly significant moment for Greater Manchester in delivering such a system through the Bee Network, which is integrating buses, trams and active travel and which will soon embrace rail as well.
“The job though is never done. There will continue to be a relentless focus on continuously improving punctuality and frequency of services while keeping fares as low as we can. We will look to expand the night bus network to core routes in every borough and use formal network reviews to make sure buses serve the needs of local communities and businesses. Improvements also include delivering contactless pay-as-you-go payment on buses and trams in March which will automatically calculate the lowest fare.
“We are also working with the Government and rail industry to improve and then transform rail services. We will set out a clear timetable later this month for our collective plans to integrate, at pace, eight core lines by 2028, delivering major improvements across train stations and services and delivering a railway that people can rely on.
“I’d like to thank TfGM, our bus operators and all the hardworking staff out there delivering services every day for taking us to this point.”
Based on learning, experience and performance of Greater Manchester’s journey so far, a leading think tank has found that he benefits of bringing buses under local control are manyfold and could kickstart a ‘strong renewal of local buses in England’.
Dr Maya Singer Hobbs, senior research fellow from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) North, said:
“Franchising and improving bus networks can have environmental, social and economic benefits and the success of Greater Manchester's Bee Network shows what can be achieved when local leaders are empowered to deliver change. The Better Buses Bill, in conjunction with a widening and deepening of devolution, offers a real opportunity for the government to learn from Greater Manchester's experience and unlock these benefits for the whole of the country.”
An integrated public transport network for Greater Manchester:
As well as growing numbers of people on buses, Metrolink patronage is up by around 20% over the past year, with November 2024 the network’s busiest ever month in its 33-year history (4.28m journeys).
And from 23 March, passengers will be able to use contactless pay-as-you-go on buses and trams and only pay the best daily or weekly fare.
Metrolink continues to be a Greater Manchester success story, and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is continuing to explore how it can support continued growth and prosperity, with 15 priorities identified for new, extended and converted lines.
To create a healthier city-region, Greater Manchester has a collective and ambitious target of achieving carbon neutral living by 2038. A key part of that is having a zero-carbon transport network and a shift-change in how people make journeys, with one million more sustainable journeys every day by public transport or walking, wheeling or cycling by 2040.
Ensuring safe and accessible routes is key to enabling people to choose active travel for some or all of their journey, and Greater Manchester is building the UK’s largest cycling, walking and wheeling network that will ensure 95% of Greater Manchester residents live within 400m of a high-quality route.
Over 117km of that network has now been delivered, and the cycle hire scheme recently surpassed 1 million rides, with 2.5million kilometres ridden.
Active Travel Commissioner for Greater Manchester, Dame Sarah Storey, said:
"In Greater Manchester tens of millions of journeys are made by car that are 1km or less, and whilst these could have been walked in less than 15 minutes or cycled even quicker, people still choose their vehicle for myriad reasons, including safety and connectivity.
“Across the region over the past 12 months, steady progress has been made in delivering more segregated routes for cycling and better-connected routes for walking, wheeling and cycling and that will continue with earnest in 2025.
“Just as important is the connections into public transport, to enable more people to choose to make their longer journeys by bus and tram - including a successful trial of bikes on trams which will soon unlock new opportunities for those who need to travel with their own bike.
“Training and equipment grants continue to be provided to enable communities to develop their own solutions and to give access via bike libraries to those who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford to ride.
“The Starling Bank Bike scheme clocked over 1 million rides in November and continues to be a popular solution for short journeys across the city centre and into Trafford and Salford.
“Travel to school has again been a significant focus, with multiple school visits conducted across the year, a visit to the Youth Travel Ambassador conference and the exciting development of installing 100 School Streets by 2028.
“This year we will also see the step up in delivery of the Vision Zero action plan with the important target of eradicating death and serious injury on the regions roads."