Burnham sets sights on rail plans to bolster London-style transport system | TheBusinessDesk.com

Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, is urging the new Transport Secretary to back the next phase of Greater Manchester’s Bee Network.

This would see the expansion to include eight commuter rail lines to create the first fully-integrated transport system outside London by 2028.

In a letter to Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, Mayor Burnham will make the case for the city region to oversee eight vital rail lines to improve services and support continuing growth of the city region’s economy.

He will say that Greater Manchester is ready to apply the same focus, momentum and pace to bringing rail into the Bee Network as it has done with buses, calling for a firm timeline to be published in January setting out the necessary steps to make it happen.

It comes as the Bee Network marks the one month countdown to the completion of bus franchising, with the city region on track to complete its pioneering work to bring buses back under local control on time and on budget.

On January 5, more than 250 bus routes in Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and parts of Manchester and Salford will join the Bee Network.

Greater Manchester is celebrating even more people choosing to travel by public transport and active travel. Metrolink notched up a new record high for passenger numbers – with 1.1 million journeys made in the week from November 25 to December 1, marking its busiest ever week.

Meanwhile, use of current Bee Network buses is up by five per cent since coming under local control, with money from bus fares nine per cent above forecast for the year.

Mayor Burnham said: “We’re just one month away from bringing all buses under local control, delivering a major part of our London-style public transport system on time and on budget by 5 January. It will be a worthy addition to Greater Manchester’s long track record of firsts.

“But we’re not stopping at buses – we want to do more. Our unreliable rail services are a brake on growth and we deserve better.

“By bringing them into the Bee Network we can deliver real change for our residents, increasing reliability and ultimately getting more people out of their cars onto public transport.”

He added: “I’m this week writing to the Transport Secretary to set out how we plan to approach bringing rail into the Bee Network, to create a true London-style public transport system. We’re committed to working with government and the rail industry to agree and publish a clear timeline in January of how we’ll make this critical next step a reality.”

The same focus that has been applied to bus franchising is now being applied to phase two of the Bee Network, with transformational plans being taken forward at pace for rail, including:

• Rail integration: A timeline, to be published in the new year, for eight local lines to join the Bee Network by 2028. The move will deliver major improvements to the city region’s train stations, services and the experience for passengers – including integrated ticketing across bus, tram and train. Work to enable contactless pay-as-you-go on services between Glossop and Manchester and Stalybridge and Manchester will start next year and be complete in 2026, with other lines joining by 2028.
• Rail accessibility: A rolling programme to make stations accessible for everyone. TfGM is currently delivering step-free access at Daisy Hill and Irlam stations, on course to complete in early 2025. TfGM will also deliver step-free access at three more stations in 2026 and two more in each of 2027 and 2028.
• New stations: The first of two new stations in Greater Manchester in more than 20 years will see Golborne open by the end of 2027.

Transport Commissioner for Greater Manchester, Vernon Everitt, said: “The Bee Network is delivering positive change for the people and businesses of Greater Manchester, and we are already seeing the results, with better buses, more reliable services, growing numbers of passengers, new night buses and record levels of customer satisfaction.

“We’ll be applying the same rigour and ambition we’ve shown with buses to bring rail into the Bee Network and will be setting out a roadmap for this ambitious programme of work in the New Year as well as a step change in making rail stations accessible, with upgrades at 13 stations over the next three to four years, compared with four in the last decade.”

Patrick Sibley, Regional CEO, Metroline Manchester said: “With just one month remaining until the launch of our services in Manchester, the Metroline Manchester team is hard at work preparing for this exciting step towards serving the local community.

“We are proud to support the Bee Network in delivering reliable transport services across the region and contribute to local job creation in Manchester.”