Second phase of Bee Network expansion goes live

On Sunday 24th March, the second phase of Greater Manchester’s plans to bring bus services back under public control has taken place – bringing bus services in Oldham, Rochdale and parts of Bury, Salford and north Manchester into the Bee Network.

Services in Stockport, as well as Trafford, Tameside and South Manchester will be brought into the Bee Network by January 2025.

Passengers will benefit from the introduction of an additional 50 zero-emission vehicles, as well as more frequent, earlier, and later running services and better connections to first and last trams. A further 30 new TravelSafe Support and Enforcement Officers have also started work across the network, adding to the 30 already employed to boost passenger safety. A night transport pilot will also see bus services run at least every hour connecting Leigh, Bolton, Salford and Manchester on the V1 and 36 routes.

Alongside the expansion of the Bee Network, two new functions that make it easier for people to plan and track their bus journeys have been added to the Bee Network app.

A new journey planner and live bus tracking service are now live, complementing existing Bee Network app features including live departure times for local bus, tram and train stops and stations; the ability to buy tram tickets, Bee AnyBus travelcards, and Bee AnyBus + Tram travelcards; access to travel alerts and the ‘rate my journey feature’.

The journey planner enables people to plan any trip using public transport, whether it’s bus, tram or train, as well as walking, wheeling and cycling routes. The planner will also show Park and Ride locations and bike hire stations.

Meanwhile, the bus tracker allows customers to see where their bus is on a map. A Travelsafe Live Chat service, allowing passengers to report antisocial behaviour on public transport to police in real is the next feature set to be added to the app.

Expansion of the Bee Network follows the opening on the 17th March of Stockport Interchange, a new state-of-the-art bus station for the town centre, connected to the train station by a new walking and cycling route, and future-proofed to be able to accommodate future extension of the Metrolink tram network into the town centre.