Greater Manchester sets out powers it wants over local rail

Greater Manchester transport leaders have set out their asks from government over the city-region’s plans to take increased control over local rail services.

Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has set out its plans in its response to the government’s consultation ahead of the creation of Great British Railways (GBR), a new public body that will oversee nationalised rail services and track maintenance.

Greater Manchester’s response to the consultation calls of government ensure Mayoral Combined Authorities such as in Greater Manchester have a statutory role in developing and local rail networks.

For Greater Manchester specifically, the city-region is seeking powers over branding, customer experience and service requirements that are consistent with other aspects of the Bee Network, including buses and trams. The city-region also seeks to have a formal role in ticketing arrangements and setting fares within Greater Manchester and its wider ‘Travel to Work’ area.

The consultation response also sets out a call for some degree of financial devolution for the Greater Manchester’s railways, including the ability to invest in enhancements to the network and its stations.

The response, which will be signed off by the city-region’s Bee Network Committee and GMCA at meetings on 27th and 28th March respectively, follows the publication in January of proposals for Greater Manchester to integrate local rail services into the Bee Network by the end of the decade. The city-region’s plans would see a number of commuter services in Stockport, including via Hazel Grove to Buxton, via Cheadle Hulme to Alderley Edge, and services to Marple, among the first routes to be brought into the Bee Network.

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said:

“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rewire how the railways are run, and we want to work with the government and Great British Railways to ensure our railways work for everyone and support regional and national growth ambitions.

“We’re already delivering change in Greater Manchester and have seen the positive benefit that greater local control and accountability for our tram, bus and active travel has had, with increasing numbers of people getting on board – but rail is the missing piece of the jigsaw.

“Our ambitious plans to integrate train services into the Bee Network will be transformative for the people who live in Greater Manchester. A Bee Network fare cap – including rail – would mean that people commuting into the city at peak times from Glossop could pay a cap of around £14 including return train travel as well as trips on buses and trams.

“Devolution is working for people in Greater Manchester, but we know that many other areas are at different stages of their journey. We want to ensure the government’s Railway Bill has enough flexibility as to the role we’ll play in this new era of rail – whether that’s having more of a say on service frequencies, making stations more accessible, deciding how much our passengers pay, and using the stations as a catalyst for regeneration.

“We know the government share our ambition to restore confidence and get more people choosing the train, and we’ve been really encouraged by our conversations so far on how things can be done differently.”

Vernon Everitt, Transport Commissioner for Greater Manchester, added:

“Reliable rail services are central to enabling sustainable economic growth and higher productivity and opens up access to jobs, homes, public services and opportunity for all. Bringing local rail services into the Bee Network alongside statutory powers for the Mayor over how rail operates across Greater Manchester will help deliver major benefits across all of those areas.“