Plans for a 24/7 ‘night bus’ trial to start on some popular services in Greater Manchester have now been revealed.
Details of the long-awaited pilot have been revealed alongside the launch of ‘phase two’ of Bee Network public transport franchising in across the region this week – but, at this moment in time, the trial is still subject to “ongoing engagement, funding, and approval”, according to Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM).
TfGM says the so-called ‘night bus’ pilot is set to launch in phase one bus areas, and is anticipated to include the V1 and 36 services.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, and transport bosses at TfGM are keen to introduce 24/7 services to “supporting people working in the night time economy”, as this means customers will never miss the last bus home, whatever time of the day.
Daytime fares and tickets would apply on night services, TfGM has confirmed, so a single trip would be capped at the standard £2 fare.
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"People here will have better, more frequent bus services…"
Hear from @MayorofGM, Andy Burnham who today visited Bury Interchange to mark almost one month to go until the launch of the second phase of the #BeeNetwork in Bury, Rochdale, Oldham and parts of Salford.
Services could also run hourly to “fill the gap in current provision” – which is thought to be between around 1am and 5am – seven days a week, and TfGM says it is currently in the process of working with partners to look at “the right level” of ‘TravelSafe’ support to make sure people feel as comfortable as possible on these services when it comes to their personal safety.
Andy Burnham has confirmed the trial will start “later this year”.
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He added that the aim of the pilot is to “ensure that people working in hospitality, manufacturing, healthcare, or any number of other roles can get to and from work safely using public transport”.
“The details are currently being developed, and are subject to further engagement,” Mr Burnham continued, “but it will provide us with a blueprint as to what can be achieved as a part of the Bee Network in support of people in Greater Manchester.”
Plans for 24/7 ‘night bus’ trial on some services in Greater Manchester have been revealed / Credit: TfGM
As mentioned, details of the proposed 24/7 ‘night bus’ pilot have been revealed alongside the unveiling of what ‘phase two’ of the Bee Network means for Greater Manchester.
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In case you’re unfamiliar, the Bee Network launched back in September of last year, and is our region’s “vision” for an integrated ‘London-style’ public transport system that “changes the way people travel” across all 10 boroughs – with the ‘phase one’ rollout bringing bright yellow buses to Bolton, Wigan, and parts of Bury and Salford.
‘Phase one’ consists of 188 bus routes, but ‘phase two’ is set to, quite literally, cover new ground.
When we launch the 2nd stage of the @BeeNetwork on 24/3, we will make improvements to your timetable.
This will include more frequent services and/or earlier and later running on the following routes: 17, 18, 52, 59, 67, 67a, 83, 97, 98, 100, 135, 350, 409, 423, 467, 468.
That’s because, on Sunday 24 March, buses in Oldham, Rochdale, and further parts of Bury, Salford, and north Manchester will come back under public control for the first time in almost 40 years.
The change will mean a total of 324 bus routes – 188 routes in ‘phase one’, and 136 routes in ‘phase two’ – totalling 50% of the bus network in Greater Manchester, will be managed TfGM as part of the Bee Network.
Services in ‘phase two’ will be operated by Stagecoach, First Group and Diamond under a franchising arrangement.
Find out more about the Bee Network on the TfGM website here.
Featured Image – TfGM
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‘Busiest’ Easter bank holiday weekend expected as 19 million people hit the roads
Emily Sergeant
It’s expected to be one of the busiest Easter bank holidays in three years, as millions of people travel across the UK.
With the four-day weekend upon us, and people nationwide prepare to make the journey to visit family or friends over their extra couple of days off work or school, the RAC has now issued one of its annual travel warnings – anticipating that 19 million people could be hitting the roads from this Thursday evening onwards.
It’s all according to a new study of drivers’ spring getaway plans carried out by the RAC and traffic analytics specialists INRIX.
Research is suggesting that traffic will be equally severe on Thursday 17, Good Friday, and Saturday 19 April, with drivers planning around 2.7 million trips every day during that period, but the number of planned trips does drop slightly on Easter Sunday to 2.5 million.
Sadly, that dip is only short-lived, as the number of trips increases once again to a further 2.7 million on bank holiday Monday as millions of people look to return home.
19 million people are expected to hit the roads over the Easter bank holiday weekend / Credit: Geograph | Pxfuel
To make matters even worse, it’s thought that a further 6.2 million journeys are anticipated at some point over the Easter bank holiday weekend, but drivers planning these trips are still unsure exactly when they’ll travel.
The ‘notorious British weather’ is likely to be a big factor in travel decision making, according to the RAC.
INRIX expects that tomorrow (Thursday 17) will be the worst day for traffic, when jams are likely to increase by nearly a third (30%) more than usual.
Meanwhile, on Good Friday, the lengthiest hold-ups are expected between 11am to 1pm, so drivers are therefore being advised to start their trips as early as possible in the morning, or delay them until later in the afternoon.
Motorists are being warned to plan their journeys in advance / Credit: pxfuel
“The bank holiday weekend clashes with the end of the Easter break for many schools, which we think will change the nature of this year’s getaway,” admitted RAC breakdown spokesperson, Alice Simpson.
“Although journey numbers are still very high, we’re anticipating more day trips and weekend breaks than people heading off on one and two-week stints… [so] this could lead to a ‘hat-trick of hold-ups’ on Thursday, Friday and Saturday as drivers visit family and friends.
“But while getaway journeys may be shorter in length, we’re still expecting to see extremely high levels of traffic from Thursday onwards, with the greatest number of Easter getaway trips planned for three years.”
Alice warned that drivers should expect queues if they ‘don’t plan the best time to set off’.
“It’s always best to travel as early as possible in the morning or later in the day when most of the traffic has eased,” she added.
Featured Image – Geograph
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Onlookers ‘in tears’ after tiny duckling rescued from storm drain in beauty spot
Daisy Jackson
The RSPCA has shared a heartwarming video of a reunion between a tiny duckling and his mum, after the baby bird fell into a storm drain.
The charity, with the help of staff in the nearby Grandpa Greene’s Luxury Ice Cream Parlour, managed to fish the tiny bird out of the storm drain in a painstaking two-hour-long operation.
Miraculously, the duckling was unharmed, and his mum was waiting nearby on the canal in Saddleworth ready to be reunited with her baby.
The RSPCA has now thanked the staff member who helped rescue the duckling, and issued a warning to the public to keep dogs on a lead when near wildlife, believing the poor bird was chased by a dog before falling down the five-feet-high grid.
The rescue operation too place in Diggle last Wednesday 9 April, with Animal Rescue Officer Lee Ferrans taking on the ‘long and painstaking’ process of tempting the duckling into a net.
Lee said: “I wasn’t able to lift the grid so the only thing I could do was push an extendable pole straight down and try to catch the duckling in a net. There wasn’t a lot of room for manoeuvre and the net kept catching on all the debris.
“Just when I thought I’d been successful, the duckling kept disappearing into a drain on one side and then popping out again. A member of staff from Grandpa Greene’s had just finished her shift and came across to the other side of the canal to help me. I unscrewed the top of the pole with the net and held it down on one side of the drain while she used another section to gently encourage the bird to go into the net.
“It was quite a long and painstaking rescue but we eventually managed to bring the little one back up safely after more than two hours.”
The pair then placed the duckling into a cardboard box before heading further up the canal to reunite them with their mother and six sibling ducklings.
The adult duck ‘instantly recognised’ the chirping and swam straight towards it.
Lee added: “A little crowd had gathered and as the family were reunited people were shedding tears. It was a really lovely moment to see them all back together.
“I’d especially like to thank the member of staff from Grandpa Greene’s who offered an extra pair of hands – I couldn’t have done it without her – and to all the people in the area who stopped and were concerned.
“Storm drains can be a bit of a menace for ducklings, especially at this time of the year when there are babies around, and this brood was only a few days old.”
Emily Sergeant -
20th February 2024 
