Bus fares across Greater Manchester are to be capped at £2 for adults under new plans to transform public transport in the region.
Following a judicial review last week, where a judge ruled in favour of the region’s buses being brought back under public control, mayor Andy Burnham has today announced a series of major steps to move Greater Manchester towards a London-style public transport system, according to Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA).
During what has been described as “a major event to outline a new era for Greater Manchester”, Mr Burnham has set out a revised timetable for the introduction of bus franchising.
Regulated buses will first introduced in Bolton, Wigan, and parts of Salford and west Manchester from next autumn, before Bury, Rochdale, Oldham, and areas of north Manchester will follow in spring 2024, and then Stockport, Trafford, Tameside, south Manchester, and remaining parts of Salford are expected to run by the end of 2024.
From this date, customers will be able to take advantage of capped fares across the whole region on buses run by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM).
As mentioned, these newly-announced plans by the Mayor come after a legal challenge brought by bus operators against the city-region’s bus franchising plans was dismissed last week, and are said to signify “a key next step towards the delivery of the Bee Network vision”.
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Some good news to start the week.
From next year, as we take control of our buses, we will:
▪️cap adult fares at £2 ▪️cap child fares at £1
The era of people paying £4 or more for a single journey is coming to an end.
The new £2 capped ticket will function as a ‘hopper’ fare.
This means that the same ticket can be used for any change of bus within 60 minutes of the ticket being bought, regardless of how many times a person changes buses within that hour.
This move clears the way for a new franchising model taking control over buses away from profit-focused operators and placing it instead in public hands – which makes the region the first outside London to have this power in more than 30 years.
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The franchise model is estimated to cost around £135 million and means fares, timetables and routes will be set by local authorities instead of private companies, but operators may continue running services under a franchise system.
Speaking on the new bus fare caps ahead of the official unveiling of the plans later today, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said: “The court ruling means we now have the green light to deliver on our plans to deliver a London-style public transport system [and] make travelling by public transport more appealing, easier, and significantly, put our people before profits.
“The government has signalled its intention to support our ambitions many times over and we now need them to work in partnership with us to help us turn our shared vision into a reality.”
Greater Manchester will have a new Transport Commissioner to take a leading role in the delivery of the Bee Network, with former Transport for London (TfL) Managing Director of Customers, Communication and Technology, Vernon Everitt, having been appointed.
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🗣️ "We will make travelling by public transport more appealing, easier and, significantly, put our people before profits."
🚍 Today Andy will set out the major steps we're taking to deliver a London-style public system for Greater Manchester.#NewEraGMhttps://t.co/89NaDuZGmX
— Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham (@MayorofGM) March 14, 2022
“I’m delighted to welcome Vernon onboard, as we deliver a new era of London-style transport for Greater Manchester,” Mr Burnham added.
“He is a great signing for this city-region [as he] spent 14 years as a Managing Director at Transport for London, leading on London’s integration of public transport through simple and intuitive fares, ticketing and customer information.
“In Greater Manchester we are leading the way and developing a blueprint for other city-regions to follow when it comes to improving intra-city transport and connectivity between our villages, towns and cities.
“My ambition is that soon here in Greater Manchester it will be simpler, cheaper, and more reliable to get around on public transport.”
Wigan Warriors make history after yet another Super League Grand Final victory
Danny Jones
Wigan Warriors have made Super League history after winning yet another Grand Final following what can only be dubbed a spellbinding season.
Beating Hull Kingston Rovers 9-2 in what was their 13th Grand Final, not only have they now lifted the trophy for the seventh time but they have also become the first team in the Super League era to win the hallowed quadruple.
To make things even more special, the landmark evening in Manchester saw them match the same achievement of winning all four major pieces of silverware 30 years on from their famous Wigan predecessors in 1994, and are one of just a handful of teams to ever do so.
Matt Peet’s side signed off on an incredible year after winning not only the Challenge Cup and World Cup Challenge but by lifting the League Leaders’ Shield and retaining their Grand Final.
Star-man Bevan French put them ahead in the game before Harry Smith gave them breathing room before half-time and despite Hull KR answering back with a penalty in their first-ever visit to the final, Adam Keighran’s kick helped make sure the Warriors made it over the line.
That’s a couple of Challenge Cups, two lots of League Leaders’ Shields, a World Cup Challenge and a pair of successive Super League Grand Final wins in just 99 games over eight months as head coach for Peet too. Generational.
While the likes of Bradford and St Helens have won all four prizes up for grabs over the course of two seasons, a record like this is simply sensational and well and truly puts them up there as one of if not the greatest rugby league side ever – as if they weren’t in the conversation already.
You can see how much it meant when they lifted the trophy:
Things look to be only getting better for the Cherry and Whites under the Wigan local and they seem to be more fitting of their Warriors title under his watch than arguably ever.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, winner of the inaugural Rob Burrow Player of the Match award French said: “It’s been an emotional week. We knew history was on the line, with the chance to be the first to win all four in a calendar year.
“This one just meant more. The club went above and beyond to surprise me by flying my brother and uncle over, so this is special. I might not ever get to feel like this again. I’ve got to take it all in.”
Winning the quadruple in the modern era doesn’t just beckon Wigan Warriors into the history books, it could signal the start of a new period of dominance as was seen in the 1980s and 90s. Are the Saints about to make way for a new Northern super-power?
You can watch the highlights from the 2024 Betfred Super League Grand Final and see how Wigan completed the quadruple down below.
Wigan Warriors are now third in the table of all-time Super League Grand Final winners too.
— Barefoot Spooky Bartender 👣💀🍹 (@barefoottiki) October 10, 2024
“Be assured there won’t be 14408mph winds, hurricane force winds or overnight temperatures of 404°C.
“It is being looked at and hopefully sorted asap.”
BBC Weather shared: “You may have noticed some data issues on our app and website. We are working hard to fix it quickly. Sorry – please bear with us.
“In the meantime here are Thursday’s weather headlines: -Colder, clearer air moving in -Rain and drizzle in south -Blustery showers near east coast”
And national treasure Carol Kirkwood said live on air: “We are having a technical glitch at the moment. It’s showing wind speeds far too fast, in fact, hurricane strength and that is not the case at all.
“Please don’t be alarmed. We are aware of it and on it.”
At the time of writing, the BBC Weather forecast service is still predicting hurricane force winds for the UK. Eek.
BBC issues statement after UK forecast shows ‘hurricane force winds’ up to 14,000mph
Emily Sergeant -
14th March 2022 
