Say yellow to the Bee Network

We’re going as fast as we can to improve things, but Greater Manchester has a huge transport network. Bringing it under local control is a big change to the way things are run. So we’re doing it in stages to get it right:

24 September 2023: The first bus services came under local control in Bolton and Wigan, as well of parts of Bury, Salford and Manchester. See a full list of Bee Network bus routes.

24 March 2024: Bee Network bus services launch in Oldham, Rochdale, and parts of Bury, Salford and north Manchester.

5 January 2025: Bus services on routes in Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, and the remaining parts of Manchester and Salford join the Bee Network. Every bus service in Greater Manchester is part of the Bee Network.

2025: Contactless payment trial on local train services from Stalybridge to Manchester Victoria; and Glossop to Manchester Piccadilly.

From 2030: Local trains join the Bee Network.

No matter how you get around, we’ve got the right ticket for you.

We’re keeping fares as low as possible. So if you travel on a bus in Greater Manchester you’ll never pay more than: 

• £2 for an adult single fare, £1 for a child. 
• £5 to travel all-day by any bus, £2.50 for a child. 
• £21 to travel by any bus for seven days, £10.50 for a child. 

You can also choose from a range of flexible tickets to travel on any bus, or any bus and tram in Greater Manchester. The AnyBus + Tram ticket is up to 20% cheaper compared to paying separately for bus and tram journeys.

There’s lots of convenient ways to pay – by contactless, smartcard, app, or cash and card.

The Bee Network app is available to download from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store:

• Get live departure times for local bus, tram and train stops and stations.
• Buy tram tickets, Bee AnyBus travelcards, and Bee AnyBus + Tram travelcards.
• See travel alerts for tram, bus, train and road.
• Rate your journey and get contact information.

In time we want the Bee Network app to be the one-stop-shop for public transport in Greater Manchester.

We’re listening to your feedback, and we’ve already added some new features, including the Metrolink zone map and disruption alerts.

We’re working closely with bus operators to make sure the live bus service information on the app is as accurate as possible. Thanks for bearing with us while we fine tune things.

Soon you’ll be able to pay for tickets on the app with Apple and Google Pay. And in early 2024 we’ll be adding a journey planner. So you can plan your journey, track your service, and get alerts when it’s time to get off at your destination – all in one place.

In the meantime, everything else you need to plan your journey, find the right ticket and passes, and get travel updates, is right here on our new look Bee Network website.

Be sure to let us know if we’re living up to our Bee Network Customer Commitments and help us deliver better services.

Use the new Rate Your Journey survey to quickly tell us how your journey was (by bus, tram, train, walking, cycling or wheeling).

You can still comment on your journey by phone or in writing too. 

We’re starting to bring bus services in Greater Manchester under local control. It’s the biggest change to how buses are run for around 40 years.

We are:

• Choosing bus operators and deciding where buses run, how often and at what times.
• Setting targets for buses to be reliable, run on time, and meet high standards.
• Taking action if bus operators don’t meet our standards.
• Offering low, flexible fares so you never pay more than you need to.

It will mean much higher standards for all Greater Manchester bus services, which will be part of the Bee Network by January 2025.

We’re going as fast as we can to improve bus services.

But Greater Manchester has a huge bus network. And bringing it under local control is a big change to the ways things are run.

It takes time to prepare the contracts. To invite bus operators to bid for routes. To choose the best operators, appoint them, and give them time to prepare.

So we’re doing it in three stages to get it right. All buses in Greater Manchester will be part of the Bee Network by January 2025.

• From 24 September 2023: The first bus services came under local control in Bolton and Wigan, as well of parts of Bury, Salford and Manchester. Go North West is running most Bee Network bus services in Wigan and Bolton. Diamond is running Bee Network bus services in Salford and parts of Bolton and Wigan. See a full list of Bee Network bus routes.
• From 24 March 2024: Bus services in Oldham, Rochdale and parts of Bury, Salford and north Manchester. Stagecoach, Diamond Bus North West and First Manchester will run services.
• From 5 January 2025: Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, and the remaining parts of Manchester and Salford.

Bee Network buses are now running in Bolton, Wigan and parts of Salford, Bury and Manchester. They’re easy to spot as they’re yellow! You’ll see the logo and signs onboard and drivers will be in a Bee Network uniform.

Some Bee Network buses might not have had a splash of yellow just yet. But no matter the colour, all services will meet high standards. Ask the driver if you’re not sure if you’re on a Bee Network bus.

We’re introducing better buses to the Bee Network gradually. We’ve already ordered 270 new, electric vehicles in Bee Network colours. 50 of these are running now, alongside other modern vehicles. A further 50 will be added in March 2024. By 2025 all local buses will be best-in-class and part of the Bee Network.

Eventually, we want all Bee Network buses to be:

• Yellow, featuring the Bee Network and bus operator logos.
• Modern and electric or low-emission, with USB-charging ports.
• Fully accessible, with ramps, wheelchair bays, hearing induction loops, anti-slip flooring and audio and visual announcement systems – including announcements of next stop and final destination, plus other features.
• Cleaned regularly to high standards.

We’re getting ready for bus services in the rest of Greater Manchester to join the Bee Network. In March 2024, buses in Oldham, Rochdale, and parts of Bury, Salford and north Manchester will join and by January 2025, buses in all areas of Greater Manchester will be under local control.

That means you may see a splash of yellow on buses, on bus stops and in interchanges. Some buses outside the current Bee Network service areas may be yellow or carry signs saying they are being prepared to join the Bee Network.

You can ask the driver whether your bus is part of the Bee Network or check the list of Bee Network services.

If your bus isn’t part of the Bee Network yet, then you can continue to contact your operator in the usual way.

We want your journey to be safe and enjoyable.

Thirty new TravelSafe Support and Enforcement Officers have now joined the Bee Network to:

• Patrol Bee Network bus services, interchanges and bus stations.
• Support passengers and staff.
• Offer reassurance and help to address antisocial behaviour.
• Offer customer support and carry out ticket inspections.

The team will expand their operations as the Bee Network rolls out and will be patrolling all bus services, stations and interchanges by 2025.

Through the Greater Manchester TravelSafe Partnership, we’re already having real success in tackling crime and antisocial behaviour on the public transport network. You can help.

It’s easy to report incidents quickly and discreetly to a live GMP call handler from your smartphone on the Live Chat service. They can help advise you and despatch the right response for the situation. Visit gmp.police.uk/livechat and start a chat using the message icon on the bottom left of screen. Or call 101 – or 999 in an emergency.

The 50 new electric buses all have a QR code linking to GMP LiveChat on the back of all seats.

We’re keeping bus fares as low as possible. You won’t pay more than £2 (adult) or £1 (child) for a single journey on any bus in Greater Manchester.

You can also buy a Bee AnyBus travelcard to travel on any bus service (including Bee Network buses) in Greater Manchester:

• 1-day Bee AnyBus travelcard: £5 adult / £2.50 child. 
• 7-day Bee AnyBus travelcard: £21 adult / £10.50 child.
• 28-day Bee AnyBus travelcard: £80 adult / £58 young person / £40 child.

While there are regular price increases on operator bus tickets, low Bee Network fares have been extended until September 2024.

If you want to travel by bus and tram, the AnyBus + Tram travelcard is up to 20% cheaper compared to paying separately for bus and tram journeys.

Most people will benefit from low bus fares, and the new flexible range of tickets. In a very small number of cases, the ticket for your Bee Network bus journey may cost more than before.

Find out more about the changes to tickets and fares.

No matter who you are or how you get around, we’ve got the right ticket for you.

That includes tickets for adults, children, young people, older people and students.

There are lots of convenient ways to pay – by contactless, smartcard, app, or cash and card.

Find the right ticket or pass for you.

Operator travelcards are not valid on Bee Network bus services. Please don’t buy a single operator 1-day, 7-day, 28-day or monthly ticket if you plan to use them on a Bee Network service.

You will need a single ticket, a Bee AnyBus travelcard, or a Bee Bus travelcard to travel on Bee Network services. They’re great value. See the full range of tickets available here.

There are no changes to travel passes for younger people, older people, disabled people and care leavers. You can use your pass as normal.

This includes the igo, Our Pass, ENCTS older persons, disabled and disabled plus pass.

We know that not all journeys start or end in Greater Manchester. Where you get on or off your bus will affect the tickets you can use.

You should buy a Bee Bus travelcard if your journey includes travel on a Bee Network bus service outside of Greater Manchester:

• 1-day Bee Bus: £5 for adults / £2.50 for children
• 7-day Bee Bus: be £21 for adults / £10.50 for children
• 28-day Bee Bus travelcard: £80 for adults / £40 for children

Find out more about Bee Bus travelcards and how to buy them.

If you need to start or continue your journey outside of Greater Manchester on a non-Bee Network bus, you’ll will need to buy another ticket from that bus operator.

The new Bee AnyBus + Tram travelcard range saves you money if you want to travel on both the bus and tram in Greater Manchester.

It’s up to 20% cheaper compared to paying separately for bus and tram journeys.

Your travelcard gives you unlimited travel on any bus in Greater Manchester and on any tram in your selected zones.

You can buy travelcards that last:

• 1-day
• 7-days
• 28-days

Visit our tickets and passes webpage to find the right tram ticket for you and see ways to pay.

At the moment you can touch in and out at Metrolink stops and we’ll work out the fare for you. You will be charged no more than the equivalent adult single and 1-day or 7-day travelcard prices.

When all buses have joined the Bee Network in January 2025, you’ll be able to simply ‘touch and go’ across both bus and Metrolink, and never pay more than you need to. In the meantime, the new AnyBus + Tram travelcard offers great savings.

We’re working with the rail industry to begin bringing touch and go payment to the region’s rail network in 2025, as we fully join up all public transport services and cycle hire.

Our six Customer Commitments have been developed with local people. We’re committed to delivering a Bee Network that is: 

• Safe: We will create a safe and secure network.
• Accessible: Everyone can use us.
• Affordable: We will keep the cost of travel as low as possible.
• Reliable: We will deliver a reliable network.
• Sustainable: We will take the lead in creating a greener, healthier Greater Manchester. 
• Accountable: We will use your feedback to shape the Bee Network.

You can read all about them and find out what to expect from the Bee Network here.

We're here to help. Whether you travel by bus, tram, train, walk, wheel or cycle we’d love to hear from you.

Let us know about your journey (if it’s not up to scratch or you have ideas to make it even better), report lost property, ask us a question or just get in touch:

• Rate your journey quickly and easily now (by bus, tram, train, walking, cycling or wheeling).
• Call us on 0161 244 1000 (Monday to Friday: 7am to 8pm / Weekends and Bank Holidays: 8am to 8pm).*
• Use the online contact form if you have a question, feedback or something hasn’t gone right.
• Email: hello@beenetwork.com.
• Write to us at: Transport for Greater Manchester, 2 Piccadilly Place, Manchester, M1 3BG

Your feedback will help us see how we are doing and help shape future Bee Network improvements.

You can visit our help and contact webpage for more.

*If you get in touch by phone, you can request LanguageLine Solutions. LanguageLine offer a telephone interpreting service for customers whose first language is not English.

We’re keeping a very close eye on Bee Network services to make sure they are running as they should.

We also want to know what your experience is. So we’ll keep track of all customer feedback to see how you feel about the Bee Network.

And the Bee Network Committee will get regular reports on how the network is doing (see Operations and Governance FAQs.

Mayor Andy Burnham and local councillors will represent you on the Committee, help shape the Bee Network, and give any improvements the go ahead.

We’ve set high standards for Bee Network bus drivers, customer service and vehicles and to make sure services run on time and are safe, accessible and reliable. Bee Network bus operators who fall short will face fines or could lose the contract.

The Bee Network app is available to download from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store:

• Get live departure times for local bus, tram and train stops and stations.
• Buy tram tickets, Bee AnyBus travelcards, and Bee AnyBus + Tram travelcards.
• See travel alerts for tram, bus, train and road.
• Rate your journey and get contact information.

In time we want the Bee Network app to be the one-stop-shop for public transport in Greater Manchester.

We’re listening to your feedback, and we’ve already added some new features, including the Metrolink zone map and disruption alerts.

We’re working closely with bus operators to make sure the live bus service information on the app is as accurate as possible. Thanks for bearing with us while we fine tune things.

Soon you’ll be able to pay for tickets on the app with Apple and Google Pay. And in early 2024 we’ll be adding a journey planner. So you can plan your journey, track your service, and get alerts when it’s time to get off at your destination – all in one place.

In the meantime, everything else you need to plan your journey, find the right ticket and passes, and get travel updates, is right here on our new look Bee Network website.

As well as the Bee Network app and website, you can

• call us on 0161 244 1000
• drop in to an Information and Ticket Office at your local bus station or interchange for travel advice.
• Follow us on social media:

X: Follow @beenetwork
Facebook: Follow beenetworkgm
Instagram: Follow @beenetworkgm
YouTube: Subscribe to beenetworkgm
TikTok: Follow @beenetworkgm

Your transport operator may also have a website and an app that provides more information about their services. This could include fares information and live journey times.

Find contact details for our Bee Network Customer Contact team and transport operators on our website.

You can contact the Bee Network Customer Contact team by email or by phone if you lose something on the Bee Network.

That includes Bee Network bus services and bus stops, as well as Bee Network interchanges and bus stations.

For non-Bee Network services you can continue to contact the relevant transport operator.

Find out more and report lost property.

With 99 stops and a network of lines across Greater Manchester, our fully accessible Metrolink tram system is a key part of the Bee Network.

We’re not making major changes to tram services for now.

But tram passengers benefit from other Bee Network improvements like the new Bee Network app and website, and the new Bee AnyBus + Tram travelcards.

We want to make it easier to get where you’re going. So the new Bee Network bus services will be planned to link up with Metrolink, local rail and the cycling and walking network.

The new Bee Network bus services will be planned to link up with Metrolink, local rail and the cycling and walking network to make it easier to get where you’re going.

You can get all your Metrolink travel information and more at the Bee Network website, including:

• live tram stop departure times,travel alerts and updates
• ticket prices
• where to buy tickets
• the tram map
• tram schedules
• advice on the quietest time to travel

You can also:

• Follow @BeeNetwork on X for updates.
• Use the new Bee Network app for live tram departure times, to buy tram tickets, and see travel alerts and the Metrolink Zone map.

In future we will have journey planning and disruption information on the Bee Network app too, making it a one stop shop for all Metrolink information.

You can also get in touch with the Bee Network Customer Contact Centre or drop by an Information and Ticket Office at bus stations and interchanges if you want to talk to someone.

There will be no changes to train services immediately.

Government has set out plans for city-regions like Greater Manchester to take more control over rail services in their areas, but this will take time to happen.

In 2025, we’ll be the first area outside London to trial contactless ‘touch-in/touch-out’ payment for some local train services in Greater Manchester.

Local rail services are expected to join the Bee Network by 2030.

In 2025, Greater Manchester will be the first area outside of London to trial contactless ‘touch-in/touch-out’ payment for some local train services.

If we get business case approval, the trial will take place on services between:

• Stalybridge and Victoria Station, Manchester
• Glossop and Piccadilly Station, Manchester

You’ll be able to touch in and out with a contactless payment card or device at the start and end of your journey.

We’ll automatically work out the best value fare for your journey, meaning you’ll never pay more than you need.

So you’ll be able to catch a train without buying a ticket in advance, make it a faster and easier way to travel.

We’ll tell you more about the 2025 contactless train travel trial nearer the time.

Government has set out plans for city-regions like Greater Manchester to take more control over rail services in their areas, but this will take time to happen.

In March 2023, Greater Manchester took a big step forward by signing a new Trailblazer Deeper Devolution Deal with the government. This sets out a roadmap to fully integrate local rail services into the Bee Network by 2030.

To help support this ambition, Greater Manchester has been working closely with the Great British Railways Transition Team. We’re developing a first-of-a-kind partnership between the rail industry and a devolved authority.

The Partnership will focus on delivering the Trailblazer Deal and integrating rail into the Bee Network by 2030. So far, this has included:

• The contactless touch-in/touch-out travel on local train services.
• A stations charter looking at land value and regeneration opportunities across central Manchester.
• Looking at wider opportunities for the integration of rail services, stations, co-branding and making fares simpler.

The Bee Network will include the UK's largest cycling and walking network.

We’re connecting every area and community in Greater Manchester with 1,800 miles of safe routes and 2,400 new crossings.

You can hire cycle hire bikes and e-bikes in parts of Manchester, Salford and Trafford. They’re affordable and easy to use. You can pay as you ride or buy cheaper minute bundles.

The scheme is powered by Beryl and the bikes are available to hire via this app.

To find out more about cycling and walking in Greater Manchester, visit the Bee Active website.

We can decide where and when Bee Network services run. So we can make sure it’s easier and cheaper to get to where you want to go.

We’re making sure buses link up with other transport systems like Metrolink, our accessibility-award-winning tram network. It has step-free access across all 99 stops and audio/visual announcements on all platforms and trams.

50 fully inclusive electric buses are running on the Bee Network alongside other modern vehicles. A further 50 are expected to come onboard in March 2024.

The buses have been designed with help from passengers and key groups like our Disability Design Reference Group, and we’ll keep listening to your feedback.

All buses operating in Greater Manchester meet legal accessibility standards.

The 50 new zero-emission electric buses on Bee Network routes provide enhanced accessibility features. This includes two wheelchair spaces, audio visual announcements and a hearing induction loop.

Buses already running in Greater Manchester will be upgraded over the next two years. We want all Bee Network buses to be fully accessible, to make the Bee Network as accessible as possible to everyone as quickly as we can.

We can arrange for you to test your wheelchair using a bus that is not in service. You’ll have the space and time you need to try it out.

If you want to do this, contact the Bee Network Customer Contact Centre:

• Call us on 0161 244 1000 (Monday to Friday: 7am to 8pm / Weekends and Bank Holidays: 8am to 8pm). *
• Email hello@beenetwork.com

The Ring & Ride accessible minibus service is also available for wheelchair users.

*If you get in touch by phone, you can request LanguageLine Solutions. LanguageLine offer a telephone interpreting service for customers whose first language is not English.

We’ve made sure the new Bee Network app meets all accessibility standards. *

We worked with people and groups with different disabilities and accessibility requirements to help develop the app. We also carried out user experience research.
This valuable feedback will help us keep improving the app. We plan to add new features and functionality in future.

The app includes the following accessibility features:

• Simple information, with icons used to help explain things.
• The app adjusts to the assistive settings of the user’s device, supporting colour contrast and the size of text and buttons.
• The app can be solely voice controlled using features of iOS and Android.
• It supports screen reader technology using your device’s assistive technology.

*App development was supported by a robust equality impact assessment in line with TfGM’s Public Sector Equalities Duty. The app complies with the Public Sector Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA. In some areas the design of the app meets the stricter AAA standard.

We have worked with a range of people and groups, to listen to different lived experiences.

This valuable feedback helped shape printed and digital customer information, the new Bee Network app, the design of the new zero-emission buses, the Bee Network brand, and the Greater Manchester Bus Strategy.

Groups involved in this activity include:

• TfGM Disability Design Reference Group
• Autism Consortium
• RNIB
• Dementia United
• Henshaws User Voice Group
• Manchester Deaf Centre
• Salford Deaf Community
• GM Disabled People’s Panel
• Guide Dogs
• GM Youth Combined Authority
• GM Youth Network
• GM Race Equality Panel
• GM Older People’s Network.

We’ll keep on having these important open conversations as we roll out the remaining Bee Network bus services across Greater Manchester through to January 2025.

We want to work together to make the Bee Network as accessible as possible to everyone as quickly as we can.

Commercial operators will run Bee Network services. But they will be under local control and answer to you, the passenger.

• Phase One Bus: Go North West and Diamond are now running the first Bee Network buses in Bolton and Wigan, and parts of Bury, Salford and Manchester.
• Phase Two Bus: Stagecoach, First and Diamond will run Bee Network bus services in Oldham, Rochdale, and parts of Bury, Salford and north Manchester from 24 March 2024.
• Phase Three Bus: Check back to see who will operate Bee Network buses in Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, and the remaining parts of Manchester and Salford.
• Metrolink trams: Keolis Amey Metrolink runs local tram services.
• Bike: The cycle hire scheme is powered by Beryl.
• Train: Local train services will join the Bee Network by 2030, so it’s too soon to say who will operate services.

Greater Manchester has a long history of campaigning for better bus services. Following direct pressure from Greater Manchester, the Bus Services Act 2017 was introduced.

This gave Mayors of city-regions the power to introduce a bus franchising scheme in their local areas.

In March 2021, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham decided to introduce a franchised network as the best way to improve local bus services in Greater Manchester.

This followed a major assessment of the existing bus network – and a 20-week long public consultation showing a high level of public support for the proposals.

Find all the reports summarising and setting out the response to the consultation on the GMCA website.

Under franchising, local bus services within Greater Manchester will be provided under three categories:

• Large contracts – ten contracts, each five years long (with the option to extend for two more years).
• Small contracts – approximately 25 contracts, each three years long.
• School service contracts – each three years long.

Increased local decision-making power and accountability will be at the heart of Greater Manchester’s Bee Network.

The Greater Manchester Bee Network Committee will watch over and make decisions about the Bee Network.

The Committee is chaired by Mayor Andy Burnham and has one councillor from each of the 10 Greater Manchester local authorities. The Mayor has also chosen four more councillors to sit on the committee for political balance.

So your local authority councillors will be able to represent you – and have a say on services in your area.

The Bee Network Committee will look at quarterly bus performance data for the network. This will allow them to hold TfGM and operators to account for how well they are running the network. Looking at things like services turning up on time, safety and drivers and buses meeting high standards.

The Committee also monitors the rest of the transport and active travel network.

The Committee will be involved in regular Bee Network reviews, engagement and consultations.

Full details of meetings and reports are available, where you can also watch the Committee meetings live.

The Bee Network will transform the way we travel.

It’ll mean low fares, joined up services and cleaner transport. This means it will be much easier for many people to switch from the car to sustainable transport for some journeys.

By 2030 we aim to see a 30% increase in bus use, with 200 million Bee Network bus journeys a year. That’s potentially millions of car journeys off the road, reduced congestion and harmful emissions.

The 270 zero-emission buses on order for the Bee Network are battery-powered, so they produce no emissions.

50 of these buses will be on the network from 24 September. We’re expecting a further 50 to be delivered for the next phase of the Bee Network in March 2024, running in Oldham, Rochdale, and parts of Bury, Salford and north Manchester.

As the Bee Network is fully rolled out, and more zero-emission buses are introduced, people and communities will benefit from improved air quality with cleaner, greener buses running on more routes and roads across Greater Manchester. We have plans for a zero-emission bus fleet by 2032.

The Greater Manchester Bus Strategy includes many more measures to reduce congestion. These range from better management of road works, to traffic signal improvements.

As well as local control over buses, we’re delivering the largest cycling and walking network in the country, to encourage active travel for shorter journeys.

Sub Area Map

Decision Notice

S123I Notice
S123I Notice(.pdf)

Ward franchise maps

Bolton
Bury
Manchester
Oldham
Rochdale
Salford
Stockport
Tameside
Trafford
Wigan