Burnham: Bee buses will get region buzzing

MAYOR SAYS TRANSPORT CHANGES WILL HELP GROWTH IN GREATER MANCHESTER

- JOSEPH TIMAN

THERE'S just a month to go until Bee Network buses will hit the roads in two Greater Manchester neighbourhoods.

Passengers will start noticing differences to travel within weeks.

All buses in the region will be brought under public control by 2025, with the first franchised buses to be rolled out in Wigan and Bolton next month.

This will be the first time in 40 years that buses outside of London are under the control of local leaders allowing them to set fares, pick routes and control the timetable.

On September 24, there will be 50 new yellow electric buses in Bolton and Wigan on routes serving parts of Bury, Salford and Manchester too. These new buses will have audio-visual announcements and charging ports for mobile devices.

Some of these new buses were unveiled at a bus depot in Wigan yesterday. At the event, mayor Andy Burnham also made a series of announcements. He revealed some changes to bus timetables - although they will not all come into effect immediately. The frequency of V1 and V2 services on the Leigh Guided Busway will be increased to eight buses in each direction every hour.