New partnership aims for rail network improvements in Greater Manchester

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT) have formally started work on a more accountable and integrated rail network in Greater Manchester.

The Great British Railways project is a proposal announced in 2021 by the Conservative government, which aims to integrate rail services across the UK, and create a franchising model akin to what is practiced by Transport for London.

GBRTT is a government organisation recently established to oversee the transition to Great British Railways in the UK.

The plans aim for more “sustainable, integrated, low-cost, high-frequency” public transport.

Integration between train, Metrolink, bus, and active travel (i.e. walking and cycling) is another key aim of the partnership.

The partnership supports the “tap-in, tap-out” method for transport, to add “simplification” and ease for journeys on different modes of transport.

The plans come after the expansion of TfGM’s Bee Network this year, which aims at expanding public ownership to all buses in Greater Manchester by 2025.

The collaboration supports the ambitions outlined in the Trailblazer Deeper Devolution Deal, which was agreed between Greater Manchester and the Government in March 2023.

Interim GBRTT Lead Director Rufus Boyd said “[o]ur current railway system has lost focus on customers and doesn’t align to the new model of political devolution.”

He continues, “[t]his improved connectivity and joint approach can unlock jobs, housing and economic growth across the city region.”

Vernon Everitt, Transport Commissioner for Greater Manchester, said: “By setting up this partnership […] we will work together to integrate local rail into the Bee Network by 2030.

Focus on Manchester’s rail network has been heightened since the discussion, and confirmation, of the cancelled HS2 leg between Birmingham and Manchester.

Rishi Sunak, at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, instead promised funding for other transport schemes across the North.