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SALFORD BUSES TO COME UNDER LOCAL CONTROL
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Star date: 25th March 2021 GREATER MANCHESTER TO BE FIRST CITY REGION OUTSIDE LONDON TO HAVE BUSES UNDER LOCAL CONTROL Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, has, at last, made the decision to take control of local buses, which will be the first time since deregulation in 1986... "My decision will mean that we can integrate our buses as part of a joined-up network, so passengers can easily switch between different types of transport" he says "It means simpler fares and ticketing with price capping, so no-one pays more than they need to." Full details here...
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After years of campaigning by groups such as Better Buses For Greater Manchester, today Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, made the decision to make the region the first outside London to take control of local buses, setting the routes, frequencies, fares and standards. Local control, or franchising, will see franchised buses starting to run in Bolton and Wigan, and parts of Salford and Manchester in early 2023, and across the whole of Greater Manchester by 2025. "As Greater Manchester recovers from the pandemic and grows in the future, we must develop our public transport network, alongside walking and cycling, to support the increasing number of journeys we will all be making" says Andy Burnham. "...My decision will mean that we can integrate our buses as part of a joined-up network, so passengers can easily switch between different types of transport" he explains "It means simpler fares and ticketing with price capping, so no one pays more than they need to. It also means a 'one-stop-shop' for travel information and a single identity for the whole public transport network, which is attractive, clearly recognisable and easy for passengers to navigate and understand. "...Bringing buses into local control will be the biggest change to Greater Manchester's buses since de-regulation in 1986" he adds "But as with all change for the better, it will take time; it won't happen overnight and we are just at the start of our journey. I hope the people, businesses and communities of Greater Manchester come with us on the journey, so we can create a joined-up public transport network that works for the benefit of passengers and our city-region." Pascale Robinson, from Better Buses for Greater Manchester adds: "This decision has been a long time coming, but is absolutely game-changing for public transport across Greater Manchester. Bringing our buses into public control will transform our bus network so that it can work for passengers, rather than for private profit. “For too long private bus operators have used our buses as a cash cow, sucking juicy profits out of the network while cutting routes and undermining the rights and conditions of workers" she explains "Today’s decision is an important step in consigning that deregulated system into the dustbin of history. Andy Burnham can now have control over who the network serves, so all communities have a service and staff can be offered region-wide pay guarantees. “With Andy Burnham making the right call today, it’s now time for the Mayors of England’s other city-regions to follow suit, and deliver a proper bus service, run for the benefit of our communities up and down the country.”
For further details from Transport for Greater Manchester – click here
For a full background to the campaigns see previous Salford Star articles - click here and click here
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Darren Born Bred. wrote
at 12:31:29 on 26 March 2021 |
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| People can still see all the old buses from "back in the day" at the Manchester bus museum, it's at Boyle street cheetham hill behind go*northwest bus depot and they do about 8 big bus events every year.. There is also the northwest bus museum in st Helens full of old buses.. There is also 2 local bus collectors groups that restore old northwest buses called "selnec preservation society" on Facebook and the other group called "northwest vehicle restoration trust" and both groups have about 30 old buses between them.. Also every year in the first week of September there is a big vintage bus display in Heaton park with over 100 old local vintage buses and coaches taking part, it's called the "trans lancs transport show". For all you bus geeks. |
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wrote
at 12:10:16 on 26 March 2021 |
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| the return of the buses to public control will not be utopic but it will be a lot better than paying shareholders money for sweet fa and the money which goes to them will instead be invested back in to bus services and the issue is not about andy burnham politicians come and go we want and need a fit and proper public transport system for the future look to londons transport system it works in london it will work in manchester aswell and the detractors probably car users used the buses in stead of polluting and congesting the roads the buses will be even cheaper to run and the roads will be safer for bikes and scooters and pedestrians . |
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Paul Kellys Fan Club wrote
at 09:55:22 on 26 March 2021 |
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| Does anyone know how this will affect those poor first group drivers who are currently out on strike ?
It will be very interesting to see the pay terms and conditions offered by the Andy Burnham Better Bus Company once this re-nationalisation has taken place. |
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Hedley Hopper, Salford Star’s Own, Geriatric Curmudgeonly Political Commentator, Fashionista, Entertainment Correspondent, Drummer and Weather Forecaster meets Bertie the Bus wrote
at 08:17:48 on 26 March 2021 |
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| Yesterday afternoon, I was trundling along Bolton Rd on my trusty electric scooter, having been released from the Salford Maximum Security Twilight Home for Bewildered Geriatrics (rated as “Outstanding” by the CQC) because I’ve had my double Jabs of the Boris Zeneca “Freedom” injections. Matron Myra was soooooo relieved that it wasn’t the Pfizer version, in case it had side effects similar to its “little blue tablets” of which I have no need!
Matron Myra had no choice (despite her vehement protestations), based on the advice of Matt Hancock, Chris Twittey and the charismatic JVT (Jonathan something or other) and with threats received of civil disobedience from the Mary Ferrer Non-Aligned Independence Resistance Movement for Claremont & Enosis With Parts of Duchy Movement but to remove the padlocks, deadlocks, Bramah and Chubb Locks from all internal, external doors and perimeter gates. But I digress…..(which I AM permitted at my age)….
Anyway…. my trusty electric scooter’s brakes were overheating so I parked up by the bus stop near the Vets and my favourite shop, “Alildl”. My old mate Bertie the Bus (called so due to his Cymreag heritage) turned up driving a big triaxle coach because of the Go Bus strike rather than his eco-friendly, Greta-favoured, minibus.
Bertie the Bus was looking flushed and Gammon-cheeked because, I thought, of him having to drive his Public Transport Leviathan around the various narrow street on his route. But I was further from the truth than I have been in years!
Bertie was fuming!
“Integrated Transport! Andy “EyeBrows” Burnham has evidently not watched the 1982 episode of “Yes Minister” entitled “The Bed of Nails”!
Bertie blustered on, “‘Integrated’ transport falls apart if any component – albeit a tram or bus or train – is a minute late. Perpetual Motion is easier to encompass and to arrange than an ‘Integrated’ transport system! (or Perpetual Immotion in the latter’s case!). “Integrated Transport” is a political poisoned chalice, unicorn and mermaid!!
I thought it best not to question him further on his discord and dis-ease, so sped away on my trusty steed.
Round the corner on Acresfield Rd, I phoned my old matey, Andy Argoose, the White Van Man. “Would you travel to work by public transport?” I asked.
“Yes, if a bus ran at 0415 between my home address and Manchester Fort! But, no doubt the bus would be late or missing!
A non-starter, me thought.
SO, Andy “Eyebrows” Burnham, and your acolytes, your desires are entirely laudable but implausible and impossible to implement because an integrated transport service is impossible and a non-starter due to timetabling and train, tram and road incidents preventing implementation, is not cost efficient and a figment of an imagination not rooted in reality!!
In other words, buses will still be late, “missing”, not running when users would like them and unprofitable.
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paul kelly wrote
at 00:02:50 on 26 March 2021 |
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| Campaigned for over thirty years along with many others against the privatisation of our bus services what is amazing is its taken so long for common sense to prevail and take back control of a valuable and basic human need to get to work to find employment and to travel to meet others and socialize to get to hospitals etc. privatising bus services have been a disaster for the mostly poorer people and elderly and disabled when thatcher tried to sell the idea that privatisation would offer more competition and the opportunity for the opening up of more bus routes and more choice cheaper fares and any body with a psv could open a bus company for the bus free for all we did chortle what a con artist. First disaster the destruction and sell off of national express coaches yes it was a nationalised asset with very cheap fares and a fantastic time table which took you to all parts of the UK. The local bus services of course became absolutely appalling many people could relate tales missed buses no shows time tables that were a fantasy rude drivers many of them happy to drive past people stood at bus stops flicking the v because the bonkers schedules they operated put the passengers last and then of course we all remember the bus wars on Oxford road one bus per 60 seconds and other parts of the city one bus every 2 hours if one turned up at all and the battle on lower Brouhton road where i witnessed a mass fight between drivers from different firms involved in a mass brawl fighting to get the trade and when one mob won the fight and this happened all over the city when a monopoly was established by one company or an other slashing routes and putting fares up every other week and screwing the public so the greedy shareholders got rich for doing not one bit of work we ended up paying these parasites money for nowt and then ended up with less people using buses they being so expensive people could not afford to pay the fares and fares which went up on sometimes on a monthly basis a massive reduction in routes having to pay twice to different companies to cross the city. Tt is a great news day for people who rely and use buses on a regular basis and when the services are delivered should encourage more journeys to be made by public transport easing car use and easing congestion i think we should go back to the green buses of Salford city transport the taking back of our buses and all rail and trams needs to be done across the whole country the public demand it and so does the environment. |
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wrote
at 19:32:20 on 25 March 2021 |
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| Who is going to pay for this bus service ? it will end up again with big council tax rises.
Since Mr Burnham took over that's all he has done free bus for students bang £10 on all council tax payers we need extra police bang another £15 on the council tax and I need extra for the mayoral office let the council tax payers pay it.
For something none of us wanted.
Failed in Westminster and he will fail greater Manchester |
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bob wrote
at 19:04:22 on 25 March 2021 |
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| Darren is obviously not as old as me, because if he was, he would remember the old green buses run by Salford council.We had all the latest buses, and the lowest fares, and the buses always ran on time.When selnec took over, they painted all the buses orange, and sent the crap ones on the Salford routes. The fares went up a bit as well, and all the old timers kicked off about it.Implimentation of the clean air act, and the green salford buses were one thing our council did better than anyone else. Labour knew how to run councils then. |
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Darren born bred wrote
at 17:38:33 on 25 March 2021 |
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| One big bus company in greater Manchester charging all the same prices like it was back in the 1970s with selnec buses, then it was GMT, then in the mid 1980s it became GM buses. Hopefully bring back the orange colour as well, Sounds good to me. |
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