After much talking, and much preparation, the first stage of Transport for Greater Manchester’s plans for a new franchised network got underway on Sunday 24 September, reports Jonathan Welch
It’s impossible to have missed the changes which were afoot in Manchester over the last year or so, but until late September, at least as far as the public-facing side of operations were concerned, little changed. Buses started appearing in the new yellow base livery, but operations carried on as before whilst behind the scenes, plans were made for depots, vehicles and staff to transfer from existing operators to the winners of each franchise.
The big winner in the first tranche of franchise awards was Go-Ahead, its Go North West taking over operations in Bolton and Wigan, though it is then to hand over its own Queens Road depot to Stagecoach in the second round of changes.
To help smooth the transition, the company invested around £40m in drivers to ensure that it could operate the newly-won services, bringing in colleagues and vehicles from across the country to assist, alongside 102 new buses. Services began at 0500hrs on Sunday 24 September as the Bee Network took to the roads for the first time, though initially at least still offering largely the same journey opportunities on the same routes as before.
Go North West said it has borrowed 85 drivers from its sister Go-Ahead bus companies across Britain for a three-month period to ensure the Bee Network launch goes smoothly and to provide cover while new drivers are being trained. All have volunteered for the secondment and have undergone extensive route training, an induction to Manchester and familiarisation with vehicles, the firm said.
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