This weekend will be one of the busiest of the year for Greater Manchester, with huge events taking place right across the region – and strikes happening right across the public transport network.
Tens of thousands will flock to the city for Manchester Pride Festival (with its iconic parade), for Noel Gallagher‘s High Flying Birds’ gig at Wythenshawe Park, and for Manchester United‘s game against Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford.
Saturday is expected to be the busiest day of the already very busy August bank holiday weekend, with TfGM warning of particular time frames where you can expect parts of town to become crowded.
They have said that they anticipate the busiest times on the transport network to be between 12pm and 2.30pm on Saturday, around the St Peter’s Square, Deansgate and Old Trafford areas and again between 5pm and 7pm.
Amidst all the celebrations and events around town will be industrial action on buses and trains, putting extra pressure on tram services.
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There’ll be very limited services on trains due to planned RMT strike action, and only a few First Manchester buses will run across the whole weekend. Stagecoach has called off its industrial action over the bank holiday.
People are being warned to avoid driving into the city centre because of congestion due to road closures and bus diversions.
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Noel Gallagher. Credit: Publicity picture, Matt CrockettManchester Pride Festival. Credit: SuppliedMajor events happening this weekend as Manchester travel advice is issued
The Metrolink tram network will be best way to get around Manchester this weekend, with services on the Airport line to be ‘significantly boosted’ for the Noel Gallagher concert.
TfGM also stressed that ‘steps have been taken to ensure there is still adequate capacity and a stable, resilient service for those going to enjoy the Pride Parade or watch Manchester United – as well as for the overall network’.
Sean Dyball, TfGM head of customer experience, said: “It’s shaping up to be a fantastic bank holiday weekend in Greater Manchester and we want everyone to enjoy it to the full – whatever they’re doing.
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“That’s why we’re urging people to plan ahead for their journeys and allow plenty of time to get to their destination, whether that’s the city centre, Wythenshawe Park, Old Trafford or somewhere else.
“While it’s good news that Stagecoach has called off its industrial action, it’s still really important people follow our advice to avoid disruption and congestion and make the most of their long weekend.
To help everyone’s weekend go as smoothly as possible, Transport for Greater Manchester, promoters, local authorities, and the emergency services have all been involved in the planning and delivery of the transport operation for the events.
Royal Mail fined £21m by Ofcom failing to meet its delivery targets
Emily Sergeant
Ofcom has fined Royal Mail a whopping £21 million for failing to meet its delivery targets in the last financial year.
Each year, it’s the watchdog’s job to look at and measure Royal Mail’s delivery performance against nationwide annual delivery targets, and for the 2024/25 season, the company was required to deliver 93% of First Class mail within one working day of collection, and 98.5% of Second Class mail within three working days.
If Royal Mail misses its annual targets, Ofcom will first consider evidence of any ‘exceptional circumstances’ beyond the company’s control, and whether it would have achieved its targets had those events not occurred.
However, even after accounting for extreme weather events, Royal Mail was still found to have fallen short of its targets… and this time, they’ve been fined their highest sum so far.
We have fined Royal Mail £21m for missing its 2024/25 delivery targets, without justification.
The company must now urgently publish, and deliver, a credible improvement plan.
This is the third time in a row that Ofcom has found the company to be in breach of its regulatory obligations, after it was first fined a substantial £5.6m in November 2023, and then a further £10.5m in December 2024.
Royal Mail only delivered 77% of First Class mail and 92.5% of Second Class mail on time between April 2024 and March 2025.
Ofcom says it has therefore decided that the company breached its obligations by failing to provide ‘an acceptable level of service’ without justification, and took ‘insufficient and ineffective’ steps to try and prevent this failure.
“Hiding behind the pandemic as a driving factor in failures at Royal Mail does not cut it.”
Royal Mail has been fined £21m by Ofcom failing to meet its delivery targets / Credit: Royal Mail
The watchdog says this is likely to have impacted millions of customers who did not get the service they paid for.
“Millions of important letters are arriving late, and people aren’t getting what they pay for when they buy a stamp,” explained Ian Strawhorne, who is the Director of Enforcement at Ofcom.
“These persistent failures are unacceptable, and customers expect and deserve better.
“Royal Mail must rebuild consumers’ confidence as a matter of urgency, and that means making actual significant improvements, not more empty promises.
“We’ve told the company to publicly set out how it’s going to deliver this change, and we expect to start seeing meaningful progress soon. If this doesn’t happen, fines are likely to continue.”
Featured Image – Royal Mail
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Thousands of elderly and disabled people to get free 24-hour bus travel across Greater Manchester
Emily Sergeant
Hundreds of thousands of elderly and disabled people in Greater Manchester are set to benefit from round-the-clock bus travel for free.
Currently, as part on an ongoing pilot scheme, people with a Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM)-issued concessionary travel pass have free unlimited travel on Bee Network buses between 9.30am and midnight during the week, and all day on weekends and public holidays.
The rule was lifted in August on a trial basis for a month, meaning older and disabled residents in Greater Manchester had access to unlimited free bus travel any time between the allocated hours.
During the August trial, more than 100,000 journeys were made by older and disabled people – with up to 6,000 people a day making use of the pilot.
But now, after proving to be a huge success, the pilot is being extended even further, so that 400,000 eligible residents will now get free bus travel 24-hours a day, seven days a week, starting from 1 November.
If you travel with a TfGM-issued concessionary travel pass, from 1 November you’ll be able to use it on #BeeNetwork buses before 9.30am as part of a second month-long trial.
As well as free early-morning bus travel, during the trial starting in November, eligible residents will be able to board the Bee Network’s night buses for free too.
TfGM says allowing concessionary pass holders to travel at any time will ‘better connect’ them to healthcare, leisure, and retail opportunities.
“The last trial in August was a brilliant success, which saw more than 100,000 journeys made by our older and disabled people before 9.30am,” commented Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.
“We are now carrying out this second trial, at a busier time of year, to see whether we can safely remove the restriction permanently and help our older and disabled people to get to work, go shopping, and get to medical appointments.
“We want the Bee Network to be the best public transport system possible and this means it needs to support all of our residents and communities to make the journeys they need to make and use the bus more.”
Daisy Jackson -
22nd August 2023 
