Manchester Bee Network is a new franchise that is happening in Manchester over the coming years.

The first faise called Tranche 1 has already begone in parts of Manchester linking all parts of Manchester to Bolton and Wigan including Leigh the second faise called Tranche 2 will begin in 2024 linking the North of Manchester to the Bee Network.

This website is going to hopefully bring interest and more news about what is happening with the Bee Network.

'The Bee Network is a game changer': A new era begins for Greater Manchester's buses - with passengers in the driving seat

"In the old world that we are leaving behind, if you are standing at a bus stop and your bus doesn't turn up or is late, there's just nothing you can do because the private operators have had the run of the road. They have been able to suit themselves. In this new system, the buses have to work for the travelling public. That's what public control means"

'The Bee Network is a game changer': A new era begins for Greater Manchester's buses - with passengers in the driving seat

"In the old world that we are leaving behind, if you are standing at a bus stop and your bus doesn't turn up or is late, there's just nothing you can do because the private operators have had the run of the road. They have been able to suit themselves. In this new system, the buses have to work for the travelling public. That's what public control means"

A new era begins in Greater Manchester this weekend - with bus passengers in the driving seat.

For the first time in almost 40 years, private operators will have no say over routes, fares, frequencies, timetables and overall standards, giving power back to the paying public. Franchising - beginning on public services on Sunday - marks the biggest shake-up of bus services here in a generation.

It's the first step for the Bee Network - Greater Manchester's bold and much-needed plan for an integrated, London-style transport network – and a drive to reverse the decades-long decline in bus patronage.

What to expect

The overhaul promises to bring low fares and a more joined up and reliable public transport system to communities. Fully-realised, it promises an end to the days where some routes are starved of transport, while others are overwhelmed with vehicles fighting for passengers.

The cost of public transport is being cut to mark the launch. The new Bee Network app that puts real-time bus, tram and train travel information at customers' fingertips for the first time allows them to buy combined bus and tram tickets at 20 per cent cheaper.

Mr Burnham said: "From Monday on the Bee Network app, people will be able to buy an any bus ticket, unlimited bus travel on any day, plus a zone on Metrolink or two zones, whatever that will be, at a cost that works out 20 per cent cheaper than what they would have done had they paid separately."

It follows more than a decade of campaigning, and is the first stop in a planned transport revolution for the city region.

Figures show that since deregulation in 1986 the number of bus journeys made in London has doubled. But in Greater Manchester, bus use has fallen from 355 million passengers in 1986/87, to just over 182 million at the end of the last decade.

On-street bus improvements are planned to be delivered across 70km of key routes within seven years. But the plan isn't fully funded. The franchise model is estimated to cost £135 million, although all revenue will be ploughed back into TfGM. The £135m, we reported in May 2021, would be funded through a combination of one-off local authority contributions, income from previous and future rises to the mayor's precept and cash returned by the government under Greater Manchester's devolution deal.

Depots taken away from the public purse in the 1980s are also being bought back. There are 10 in Greater Manchester and two, Wigan and Bolton, are now owned outright by the GMCA, which is in the process of buying or taking over the leases of the others.

https://oxfordroadcorridor.com/bee-network-cycle-hire-scheme-trails-on-oxford-road-corridor/