Bus passenger fares to be capped at £2 as part of sweeping reform to public transport in Greater Manchester

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Bus passengers could soon be travelling across Greater Manchester for no more than £2 a ticket in a new era for public transport, it will be announced today.

Heralded by Mayor Andy Burnham as a ‘blueprint for city-regions’, the new charging system caps adult fares for a single journey at £2, while children pay no more than £1.

It means passengers could finally be freed from a ‘fragmented’ system involving more than 830 services run by 30 operators with 150 different ticket types.

READ MORE: Green light for bus reform: What does it mean for passengers?

The scheme would bring pricing more in line with London's £1.55 'Hopper' fare, meaning passengers will no longer have to fork out, for example, up to £4.50 for a single 20-minute journey from Middleton to Manchester city centre.

Passengers in some parts of the conurbation should be on the road to cheaper fares by Autumn 2023, with Bolton, Wigan and parts of Salford and West Manchester the first to receive franchised services.

Bury, Rochdale, Oldham and areas of North Manchester will follow in Spring 2024, with Stockport, Trafford, Tameside, south Manchester and other parts of Salford to be up and running by the end of 2024.

From this date, customers will be able to take advantage of capped fares across the whole region on buses run by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM).

The £2 ticket will function as a 'hopper' fare - meaning the same ticket can be used for any change of bus within 60 minutes of the ticket being bought, regardless of how many times a person changes buses within that hour.

The M.E.N has asked officials about other types of fares - including return tickets - and understands these are still under consideration.

The fares commitment forms part of