Buses in Manchester

Free bus service around Manchester city centre

Buses in Greater Manchester are managed by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM),[a] under the Bee Network brand. The ceremonial county of Greater Manchester has an extensive bus network of 577 routes[b][1] including the night bus service, which is one of the most extensive outside London.[2] The bus network had an annual ridership of 145.8 million passengers in 2023.[3]

Greater Manchester was the second county, after Greater London, to bring buses back into public control after their deregulation in 1986.[4] The introduction of the Bee Network, after a three tranche process in 2025, saw new branding, a integrated ticketing system and new vehicles, along with other improvements, being brought to Greater Manchester's bus system.

History

Origins

Buses in Manchester had their origins in 1824, when John Greenwood, the keeper of a toll-gate in Pendleton, purchased a horse and a cart with several seats and began an omnibus service.[5] Horse buses continued to operate in the city throughout the 1830s.[5]

By 1850, records showed that 64 omnibuses were serving the centre of Manchester from outlying suburbs, many by rival concerns. In 1865, Greenwood and the other principal operators merged to form the Manchester Carriage Company with a fleet of over 90 horse-drawn vehicles. In 1877, the company acquired the concession to operate the newly constructed tramway in Manchester and Salford, under the title Manchester & Salford Tramways.[6]

Between 1906 and 1921, 18 new Daimler buses were introduced into the vehicle fleet. The first purpose built bus depot was opened at Parrs Wood, in East Didsbury; the bus fleet, which operated out of various tram depots, was moved there in 1923.[7] By 1930, Manchester had a fleet of a 100 motorbuses.[8]

Post-war

A Greater Manchester Transport bus, in the traditional orange and white livery of the 1970s

Chorlton Street bus station was opened in 1958, together with a revamped Manchester Piccadilly bus station on 4 December of the same year.[7]

Until 1969, the conurbation surrounding Manchester was divided between the two counties of Lancashire and Cheshire, with a number of county boroughs, such as Manchester, Salford, Stockport and Bolton. To comply with the Transport Act 1968, on 1 April 1969, the SELNEC Passenger Transport Executive was formed.[c]

In 1974, Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) public body was established; it became responsible for public transport in Greater Manchester.

Modern era

A preserved Scania N113DRB in the GM Buses livery of the early 1990s

Following bus deregulation on 26 October 1986,[9] there was no compulsion for operators to use the national symbol; several passenger transport executives like West Yorkshire Metro's rapid transit and Merseyside adopted a new bus stop flag design featuring their capital M logo. GMPTE inherited their own curly M-shaped logo and began to use it from the late 1980s. It has introduced this subsequently to a new design for bus stop flags; initially used in 2002 on high-priority routes and later erected across the entire GMPTE area.

Greater Manchester bus stops were replaced over a five-year period. The older bus stop flags were based on a nationally-adopted design featuring a single-decker bus and were used across the country, with the exception of London.

The Government felt that GM Buses had a monopoly of bus services in the Greater Manchester area and wanted to increase competition. On 11 December 1993, it was split into two separate companies:[10][11]

First Greater Manchester operated a number of overground services; high frequency colour-coded services connecting Manchester with many large towns around the conurbation including Bolton, Bury, Oldham and Rochdale. The colour-coded branding was dropped largely since the start of the 2010s and are only used to advertise specific routes.

First Greater Manchester operated night buses on many of the most busy routes, but these were later dropped; the last services on most routes is on or around midnight. At their height, it operated on the 135 route between Bury-Manchester, which operates every six to ten minutes, in competition with Metrolink's Bury Line. This service was operated using only articulated buses, but they were later moved on to other services, such as the 471 on its route between Bolton, Bury and Rochdale; they have since been withdrawn.

A GMPTE bus stop displaying the double M logo, 2006

In April 2011, GMPTE became Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM); the remit of the transport authority changed and a modified M brand was implemented.[17]

In 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, several hundred bus drivers in Manchester working for Go North West went on strike for two months.[18]

Franchising

Following the enactment of the Bus Services Act 2017, mayoral combined authorities, including the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, have had the power to bring buses back under the control of local government by means of a franchising scheme. The GMCA was the first combined authority to use the powers under the Act.[19]

The GMCA re-regulated its system in three tranches:

  • The rollout of the Bee Network began from December 2022, with the awarding of two large and seven small franchises to Go North West and Diamond North West respectively in Bolton, Wigan, and parts of Bury and Salford.[20]
  • The second tranche aligned into the network on 24 September 2023
  • It was completed on 5 January 2025.

Accidents and incidents

  • In June 2025, a Bee Network double decker was driven at speed under a low rail bridge, shearing off the bus's roof. Fifteen people were injured, three seriously.[21]

Operations

Buses are now operated under the Bee Network brand by companies including Metroline Manchester, Stagecoach Manchester, Go North West, Diamond North West and First Greater Manchester.

Main bus stations

Piccadilly Gardens
Shudehill Interchange

There are two main bus stations in Manchester city centre:

Chorlton Street coach station is the focal point of coach services operated by National Express and Eurolines.[24]

Main bus corridors

The route with highest passenger volumes is the Wilmslow Road bus corridor, often claimed to be "one of the busiest bus corridors in Europe."[25][26]

Other key bus corridors include:

Services

Two Bee Network-liveried buses at Oldham Interchange

Some notable bus routes in Greater Manchester include:[22][23]

A bus on guided busway rapid transit

Rapid transit routes on the Leigh-Salford-Manchester Bus Rapid Transit are the V1, V2 and V4.

Free bus services are also provided in the city centre. From 28 October 2018, due to declining passenger numbers,[28] it was reduced to two routes and rebranded as Free Bus.[29]

The night bus network includes the following routes: 43, 86, 103, 112, 142, 143, 192, 201, 203, 216 and 219.[30] Most depart from Piccadilly Gardens bus station.[22]

Ticketing

Following an agreement between transport officials and credit unions in November 2024, a new annual bus ticket was introduced from 5 January 2025; this applies for routes that have been aligned to the Bee Network, along with a £2 "hopper fee";[31] this was followed by contactless fare caps in March 2025.

Vehicles

An Alexander Dennis Enviro400EV operated by Go North West in Bee Network livery on route 471, December 2025

Stagecoach Manchester introduced 30 new Alexander Dennis Enviro400H double-deck hybrid electric buses on routes 42 and 43 in September 2010. The vehicles were funded through the Department for Transport's Green Bus Fund.[32]

The first batch of 50 BYD Alexander Dennis Enviro400EV battery electric buses were rolled out across the boroughs of Bolton, Wigan, and parts of Bury and Salford on 24 September 2023; they were allocated to the Bolton garage of Go North West. The fleet was expanded with the second batch of 50 Enviro400EV buses in the boroughs of Oldham, Rochdale and the remainder of Bury on 24 March 2024.[33] A further order of 67 Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMCs was secured by Diamond North West for its Bolton and Eccles garages, for use on its Leigh and Wigan services.[34]

In a deal with Wrightbus, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, announced 50 new electric buses in March 2026, as part of a wider £66 million investment for the Bee Network.[35]

Future developments

In July 2024, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority published its Draft GM Rapid Transit Strategy, which proposed priority schemes for expansion of rapid transit of all forms across Greater Manchester up to the year 2040.[36]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Maps of bus routes and a public transport journey planner for the Greater Manchester are on the Bee Network website.
  2. ↑ As of 2025
  3. ↑ SELNEC stood for South East Lancashire North East Cheshire, a joint authority of the various local councils.

References

  1. ↑ "Greater Manchester pioneers return of locally controlled and accountable bus services in historic first". Transport for Greater Manchester. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  2. ↑ "Night bus services". TfGM. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  3. ↑ "Greater Manchester Bus Performance Report 2023" (PDF). Democracy.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk. 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
  4. ↑ "Greater Manchester pioneers return of locally controlled and accountable bus services in historic first". Transport for Greater Manchester. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  5. 1 2 "Greater Manchester Transport Timeline". Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  6. ↑ "Manchester Corporation Transport 1901-1969". Local Transport History. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  7. 1 2 "Manchester Corporation: The Buses 1906-1969" (PDF). Lthlibrary.org.uk. 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  8. ↑ "Manchester Corporation: The Buses Part 3: 1951-1969" (PDF). Lthlibrary.org.uk. 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  9. ↑ "The Public Service Vehicles (Registration of Local Services) Regulations 1986". The National Archives. Retrieved 23 June 2026.
  10. ↑ "Greater Manchester Transport and beyond". SELNEC Preservation Society. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016.
  11. ↑ Jarosz, Andrew (18 December 1993). "Split GM Buses ready to be sold". Coach & Bus Week. No. 96. Peterborough: Emap.
  12. ↑ Companies House extract company no 2818607 First Manchester Limited formerly Greater Manchester Buses North Limited
  13. ↑ "Men in lemon celebrate First's 20 years". Buses Magazine. No. 648. Ian Allan Publishing. March 2009.
  14. ↑ Companies House extract company no 2818654 Greater Manchester Buses South Limited
  15. ↑ "Business and City in Brief". The Independent. London. 12 July 1993. Retrieved 10 June 2023. Manchester's main bus company, the publicly-owned GM buses, will be split in two and offered to the private sector. The split will be on geographical lines with the northern half becoming the larger entity, containing over 900 buses with a turnover of £60 million. The southern section will run more than 700 buses with a turnover of £50 million.
  16. ↑ Tooher, Patrick (26 February 1996). "Pensioners lead protest at £41m Stagecoach takeover". The Independent.
  17. ↑ "All change: Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive becomes Transport for Greater Manchester – with a new logo of course". Manchester Evening News. 11 January 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  18. ↑ "Go North West bus drivers start strike in jobs dispute". BBC News. 28 February 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  19. ↑ Topham, Gwyn (8 October 2019). "Manchester to consult on bringing buses under public control". The Guardian.
  20. ↑ "Greater Manchester appoints first bus operators for new system". BBC News. 23 December 2022. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  21. ↑ Housden, Tom (22 July 2025). "Dramatic video shows Manchester bus roof sheared off by low bridge". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  22. 1 2 3 "Piccadilly Gardens bus and tram services". Bustimes.org. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
  23. 1 2 "Shudehill bus and coach services". Bustimes.org. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
  24. ↑ "Manchester Central Coach Station". Visit Manchester. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
  25. ↑ "Memorandum submitted by the Longsight Transport Project". Transport Select Committee. 23 May 2006. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
  26. ↑ Pidd, Helen (6 March 2007). "Where cyclists dare". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 May 2009. It is often said that the main route from the south of Manchester into town from Fallowfield, along Wilmslow Road and Oxford Road, is the busiest bus lane in Europe.
  27. ↑ "New solar-powered on-street ticket machines for Manchester". Stagecoach Group. 10 October 2008. Archived from the original on 21 October 2008. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
  28. ↑ "Metroshuttle Contract Award". TfGM Committee. Archived from the original on 9 December 2018. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  29. ↑ "Enjoy free travel around Manchester city centre on a free bus" (PDF). TfGM. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  30. ↑ "Night bus services". TfGM. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  31. ↑ "Annual bus pass aims to save commuters £5 a week". BBC News. 6 September 2024. Retrieved 21 February 2026.
  32. ↑ "Hybrid Enviro400Hs arrive in Manchester". Bus and Coach Professional. 15 September 2010. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
  33. ↑ "TfGM orders 50 Enviro400EVs for Bee Network". Route One. 22 September 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  34. ↑ "Rotala orders 67 Enviro200s for Manchester franchises". Route One. 30 June 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  35. ↑ "Andy Burnham announces major new Greater Manchester bus deal". Manchester Evening News. 14 March 2026. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  36. ↑ "Draft GM Rapid Transit Strategy" (PDF). Democracy.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk. 12 July 2024. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
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