UK: Transport for Greater Manchester and the Great British Railways Transition Team have formally begun developing plans for a more locally accountable and integrated local rail network, supporting the Trailblazer Deeper Devolution Deal agreed between Greater Manchester and the government in March.
The work which got underway on October 18 will support the delivery of TfGM’s Bee Network vision for ‘sustainable, integrated, low-cost, high-frequency’ public transport. The ambition is to integrate local rail services into the Bee Network by 2030.
The plans include:
- pay-as-you-go payment to enable fares simplification and seamless multi-modal travel. Subject to confirmation by the Department for Transport and the securing of funding, a rail pilot is to be launched in 2025 on services between Manchester Victoria and Stalybridge and between Piccadilly and Glossop;
- better integration between train, Metrolink, bus and active travel under the Bee Network branding;
- Bee Network branding of stations, subject to final business case approval and funding.
GBRTT said a Partnership Oversight Group would bring together Network Rail, Transport for the North, the Department for Transport and others with the aim of ‘getting all the right people around the table’ to streamline negotiations and enable ‘dynamic and agile’ decision making.
This is seen as a precursor to the partnership with the future Great British Railways. Further partnerships would be rolled out across the country once GBR is established.
GBRTT is currently developing a partnership with the West Midlands, while negotiations with East Midlands councils and Transport for the East Midlands will ‘intensify’ in 2024.
‘Our current railway system has lost focus on customers and doesn’t align to the new model of political devolution’, said Interim GBRTT Lead Director Rufus Boyd. He said the Greater Manchester partnership ‘brings together key organisations involved in the city-region’s transport with the aim of enabling people to make and pay for journeys seamlessly across trains, buses, trams and bikes. This improved connectivity and joint approach can unlock jobs, housing and economic growth.’
