UK: Local rail services around Manchester are to be brought into the region’s expanding Bee Network by 2028 as part of a public transport development strategy unveiled by Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham on July 10.
As part of an ambitious ‘Rapid Transport Strategy’ to develop bus, train, tram-train and heavy rail services throughout the conurbation, eight local rail routes would be integrated into a new contactless payment system being rolled out from 2025, enabling seamless travel across all modes.
The eight priority routes are:
- Manchester Victoria – Rochdale stopping services;
- Manchester Victoria to Ashton-under-Lyne and Stalybridge;
- Manchester Piccadilly to Glossop, Hadfield and Rose Hill Marple via Guide Bridge;
- Manchester Piccadilly to Alderley Edge and Buxton via Stockport;
- Manchester Piccadilly – Manchester Airport stopping services;
- Manchester – Wigan via Golborne;
- Manchester – Wigan via Atherton (continuing to Southport);
- Manchester – Wigan via Bolton (also continuing to Southport).
Burnham said government support for these services was currently running at £100m per annum, adding ‘we think that gets pretty poor value for money, because it doesn’t maximise the number of passengers on those lines and it doesn’t give those people other public transport benefits’. Incorporating them into the Bee Network would ‘unlock a lot more for that money that’s already going in’, he suggested.
Service improvements would see the introduction of new, environmentally friendly trains with improved onboard facilities and better accessibility, along with more fully-accessible stations, including new stations at Golborne and Cheadle. All stations would be served by a minimum of two trains an hour ‘where possible’ and up to four where demand warranted. There would also be integrated fares and clear Bee Network branding across the rolling stock fleet, together with better customer information.
Explaining that a customer-focused plan had been developed for rail integration, based on Bee Network principles, Burnham suggested that the initial eight routes could be joined by others by the end of the decade, boosting ridership and serving as a catalyst for economic growth.
Integrated ticketing
Burnham confirmed that Vernon Everitt had been reappointed as Greater Manchester’s Transport Commissioner for the next Mayoral term, with a specific remit to oversee the next phase of Bee Network expansion; he will also chair the Transport for Greater Manchester board. Paralympian Dame Sarah Storey has been reappointed as Active Travel Commissioner.
‘Safe, reliable and affordable transport is core to enabling Greater Manchester’s sustainable economic growth and productivity and access to new homes, jobs and opportunity’, said Everett. ‘The next four years will see further rapid improvements to transport for the people and businesses of the region. This includes bringing together Metrolink, buses, trains and active travel into a joined-up Bee Network, all linked by simple and affordable fares, ticketing and customer information.’
With the final round of bus franchising due to be introduced from January 5 2025, Burnham said this would see a reduction in fares and mark the start of work to integrate bus, tram and local rail services into a single network, with integrated ticketing and ultimately fare capping which mirrored the offer available in London. He noted that Metrolink tram fares had been frozen since 2020, adding that the ‘Anybus + tram’ ticket launched in September 2023 had been successful, making combined journeys up to 20% cheaper.
Plans for combining the bus and tram networks into a single touch in/touch out contactless pay-as-you-go system have been deferred until March 2025 to decouple the risks from the bus expansion. However, Burnham reported that record numbers of people were now travelling by tram, with usage up by more than 20% over the past year and Metrolink ridership in May being higher than any month in its 32-year history.
Tram and tram-train expansion
Emphasising that ‘transport is an enabler’, Everitt outlined a range of proposals for the coming decade, including bus priority measures, a replacement fleet of light rail vehicles, and the introduction of tram-train services to integrate the light and heavy rail networks.
Additional capacity is seen as vital, as the number of public transport trips in Greater Manchester is expected to double by 2040. Sites for new stops and stations have been identified and plans are being developed to improve others, working towards full accessibility at a faster rate than the current Access for All programme.
Around 15 ‘emerging priorities’ have been identified for new, extended or converted rail corridors.
A ‘pathfinder’ tram-train route from Bury to Oldham via Heywood and Rochdale is being progressed to an Outline Business Case using funds from the Department for Transport’s City Regional Sustainable Transport Settlement. This would include the acquisition of ‘next generation vehicles ’. The 25 km route brings together lines currently operated by Metrolink, Network Rail and the heritage East Lancashire Railway, and TfGM emphasised that all existing passenger and freight services had to be considered as part of the planning process.
Other projects for consideration include options for a tram or busway from North Manchester towards Middleton and the so-called Northern Gateway, plus the introduction of tram-train services through East Manchester on the routes towards Glossop, Hadfield and Marple. Tram-trains could also be introduced on the orbital link from Tameside to Stockport via Denton and Reddish, with the possibility of services being extended to Manchester Airport.
Extension of Metrolink’s East Didsbury line to Stockport could see the introduction of tram-trains running through to Hazel Grove, possibly linked to the Tameside route.
Tram-train services are also envisaged radiating to the northwest, west and southwest from Manchester Airport, possibly linked to completion of the long-planned ‘Western Leg’ of the Metrolink airport line serving Wythenshawe Hospital, Airport City and an expanded Terminal 2. Tram-trains could also operate over the route to Warrington Central and on the line to Wigan via Atherton, while spurs from the Atherton line towards Leigh and Bolton are to be considered.
Plans are being evaluated for Metrolink extensions from Trafford Park to Salford Stadium and Port Salford, from Salford Quays to Salford Crescent, and from the city centre to Salford Crescent. In addition, radial routes could connect the northwest to the southeast and southwest to northeast, joining up many of the proposed tram or tram-train services.
Noting that tunnelled options are to be considered to provide additional capacity through the city centre, Burnham pointed to ‘the need to go underground at some point, and not do everything on the surface. Start to develop, as a second city anywhere else in Europe has done in recent decades, going underground to support continued economic growth.
‘We have a government now that has a growth mission and Greater Manchester is ready to play its full part in that mission. But I am saying that if we are to do that we obviously will need much greater levels of devolution and funding support to be able to build the infrastructure in the way that we’ve described.’
Burnham and his team noted that even short-term improvements would require infrastructure improvements, but when asked whether this would include electrification ahead of any move to tram-trains, he pointed out that alternative technologies such as battery might need further evaluation. This needed to be considered in conjunction with the fleet procurement exercise currently underway at state-run rail operator Northern, to ensure the ‘right’ decisions were taken in line with the Rapid Transport Strategy.
Insiders confirmed to Rail Business UK that any new tram fleet was likely to consist of longer vehicles, with one unit replacing a pair of coupled trams. Further capacity enhancement would require extensive infrastructure work, as many of Metrolink’s existing platforms were built to accommodate a pair of the M5000 trams currently in service.
