Andy Burnham has made calls for ‘London-style’ bus fares across the North of England.
The Mayor of Greater Manchester appeared at the Transport for the North conference in Leeds yesterday and claimed that fares set at £1.55, just like in the capital, would be a “game-changer” for millions of northern residents and has “the potential to elevate us”.
Mr Burnham told the Yorkshire Post that Greater Manchester could act as a “template” for the idea of a standard £1.55 fare for single journeys to be adopted across the North.
With Greater Manchester due to take buses back into public control under a franchising system from 2023, Mr Burnham said that the region could have the fares system in place by mid-2024.
This is providing the government offer sufficient support.
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Off to Leeds for the big @Transport4North conference where I will call for London-level bus fares for the North of England.
£1.55 a journey would be a game-changer for millions here.
“We could be a template for the rest of the North, particularly for combined authorities where the powers do exist to put buses under public control,” Mr Burnham told the Yorkshire Post.
“We think what we would do would be helpful to Leeds, helpful to Liverpool and helpful to other places as they look to go down a similar path.
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“It’s perfectly doable.”
Giving a further insight into how the standardised transport system could work in Greater Manchester, the Mayor said: “In our case, we would integrate the buses with the tram system. As well as it being £1.55 for a bus journey, you would have a daily cap on what people could expect to pay on any given day, no matter how many buses or trams they took.
“This would be a big shift from the very overpriced transport system we have got at the moment to a London-style system which I think would bring huge benefits.
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“It could be done [in Greater Manchester] by the middle of 2024 [as] we’ve got a plan to do that, but it does require the government to back us properly with obviously the funding but also the powers we need.
“It is a big vision but it is the best example of levelling up I have seen so far.”
🗣 “Greater Manchester is a world class city-region in many ways, but our transport system is not,” adds Andy at @Transport4North#TfN21
“A London-style transport system, with London-level fares for 2.8 million people, has the potential to elevate us – that is levelling-up.” pic.twitter.com/cpRvV6Hjqm
Addressing the concept of a London-style bus fares in a statement issued earlier this month regarding Greater Manchester’s plans to be carbon neutral by 2038, Andy Burnham said: “We know that transport sits at the beating heart of all city-regions and the fact is that ours is just not fit for purpose.
“A single 20-minute bus journey between Middleton and central Manchester can cost £4.50 – compared to the £1.55 hopper fare in London. Around one third of our residents do not have access to a car [and] those that do, drive a lot due to a lack of better alternatives [so] half of all trips in our city region are less than two kilometres, and, shockingly, four in 10 of those trips are currently made by car.
“A single, London-style, integrated transport network that is accessible, affordable and reliable will unlock Greater Manchester’s economy.
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“It will significantly improve air quality and it will help us to level up our communities.”
After asking the government to give the region the “money and powers” needed to “get the job done”, Mr Burnham then added: “Our people deserve much better and this is the first phase of our plan to give them a world-class transport network.”
Featured Image – Flickr
News
The Tour de France is coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
It’s official: both the male and female Tour de France are coming to Greater Manchester and nine other destinations across the UK in 2027.
As one of the biggest locations on the list, it’s another big sporting landmark for us Mancs.
Confirmed on Thursday, 15 January, the men’s race and the Tour de France Femmes (TdFF) will be passing through our region next summer.
Revealing the news in an exciting announcement video on social media, you can see the other cities and towns that the world-famous endurance event will be hitting here:
With Greater Manchester boasting not only the National Cycling Centre, but having already hosted the Tour of Britain – which has passed through Altrincham on multiple ocassions – we’re well-versed when it comes to the sport.
It’s been more than a decade since the Tour de France last took place in the UK, with London and Yorkshire hosting three stages of the biggest date on the annual cycling calendar back in 2014.
Fast forward a dozen years, and not only will they both be participating again, but Great Britain will see dual Grand Départs for men and women for the very first time.
Not only are we buzzing that the racing will be returning to our friends in Leeds and Sheffield, but also nice to see other Northern regions lending their roads and stunning landscapes, such as the Lake District and wider parts of Cumbria.
You can see the full route map broken down below.
🇬🇧 Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, London 🇬🇧
💛 Grand Départ Great Britain 2027: in the footsteps of the pioneers!
— Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) January 15, 2026
Speaking in an official press release, race director Christian Prudhomme said: “The UK has always welcomed the Tour with passion and pride, and the route details we are revealing today reflect the beauty and diversity of Britain’s terrain.”
“Bringing both Grand Départs here is a testament to the strength of our partnership with British Cycling and the enthusiasm of the UK.”
TdFF counterpart, Marion Rousse, added: “The UK has played an important role in the history of women’s cycling, with champions such as Lizzie Deignan.
“Starting the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift in Leeds is a strong choice, closely linked to this heritage and to the enthusiasm of a public that knows and loves the Tour. These stages clearly reflect the race’s ambition: to continue growing women’s cycling and to inspire future generations.”
Manchester Airport to launch seven new ‘exciting’ routes across the world in 2026
Emily Sergeant
Mancs will soon get the chance to travel to some of the most beautiful and underrated places on Earth for the first time.
Now that 2026 is here and well underway, the new year is shaping up to be ‘groundbreaking’ for Manchester Airport – especially with its decade-long, £1.3 billion transformation of Terminal 2 due to be completed in a matter of weeks, and a project to redesign and improve other areas and terminals also rapidly progressing.
But if that wasn’t exciting enough as it is, the promise of seven new flight routes to destinations across the world being added into the mix should do it.
Four of the destinations are even completely brand-new to the Airport too.
Manchester Airport has launched seven new routes for 2026 / Credit: Daphne Richard | Denilo | Henrique Ferreira (via Unsplash)
Already described as being ‘the UK’s global gateway in the North’, Manchester Airport offers a route network that’s unparalleled outside London, with more than 200 destinations served by 50 airlines – but that network is set to widen again this year, with seven new services already confirmed from the likes of easyJet, Jet2.com and Ryanair.
From stunning French cities and Italian islands, to Greek landscapes and even the chance to see one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, there’s so much to choose from on the roster of new destinations.
easyJet’s service to Montpellier – one of the biggest cities in southern France, offering an array of cultural and archaeological sites, museums, galleries, beaches, and more – launches on Monday 30 March, while Jet2 begins flying to the Canary Island of La Palma form Friday 3 April, and the first direct service from Manchester to Palermo, the largest city on the island of Sicily, starts on Friday 1 May.
2025 has brought exciting developments for our airfield and Terminal 2! ✨
Manchester Airport is looking better than ever and there is still more exciting improvements to come.
Preveza and Samos, both in Greece, the Spanish city loved by locals, Castellon, and the ancient Turkish gem of Bodrum round out the list of new destinations.
More routes are also expected be confirmed over the course of this year too, so keep your eyes peeled for announcements.
“Our route network is unrivalled, with more than 200 destinations across the planet,” commented Chris Woodroofe, who is the Managing Director at Manchester Airport.
“Here we have a list here of what we refer to as our biggest unserved destinations – that’s the destinations that we don’t have direct flights to but have the greatest demand, demonstrated by people from the region travelling to them either on connecting flights or from other airports.”
The Manc -
21st September 2021 
