Weather challenges historic day for Manchester’s Bee Network

Greater Manchester’s now publicly owned bus service the Bee Network has been challenged by weather warnings and disruption over the weekend and at the start of the first full working week of the new year.
But Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham insists the completion of bus franchising is just the start and that he intends 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.
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.”
He claims 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, described the Bee Network as a “trailblazer” and said she wants local authorities across the country to look to it as a “shining example of what can be achieved through local control.”
A Bus Services Bill will come with £1 billion in support for councils to take bus services into public ownership and control.
But officials have also been keen to claim the economic benefits of integrated public transport. 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.”
He added: “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.”
Burnham will be hoping his launch event this morning (6 June 2025) at Wythenshawe Forum won’t be disrupted by the threat of more wet and icy weather. The Met Office has issued an Amber Warning and flooding is likely in parts of south Manchester.
Bringing the remaining half of bus services into the Bee Network and under local control is a major undertaking, including the take over of five large depots, two small depots, a TfGM storage site at Manchester Airport, a site at Old Trafford and a storage facility in Chorley.
The change has seen more than 500 vehicles transfer overnight between Saturday and Sunday, many requiring kits and branding installed, including ticket machines on 702 buses, and moving across multiple locations. In total over 800 buses will be moving across Manchester between 6pm 4th January and 8am 5th January.
Over 1300 staff will be transferred to the employment of incoming operator Metroline.