 Bee Network brandedAlexander Dennis Enviro400EV atShudehill Interchange in January 2025 | |
| Parent | Stagecoach |
|---|---|
| Founded | February 1996 |
| Headquarters | Cheetham Hill |
| Service area | Greater Manchester West Yorkshire Derbyshire Cheshire |
| Service type | Bus services |
| Routes | 155 |
| Destinations | Altrincham, Ashton-under-Lyne, Bury, Bolton, Eccles, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Trafford, Huddersfield |
| Hubs | Manchester Bury Oldham Middleton Stockport Tameside Trafford |
| Depots | 5 |
| Fleet | 596 (January 2025) |
| Daily ridership | 265,753 (December 2012) |
| Website | Official website |
Stagecoach Manchester[1] is a major bus operator inGreater Manchester, operating franchisedBee Network bus services on contract toTransport for Greater Manchester (TfGM). It is the largest UK bus subsidiary ofStagecoach Group outside ofGreater London, as well as the largest within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester by passenger numbers, carrying up to 96.2 million passengers in 2019/20.[2]
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In December 1993, GM Buses was split into two companies:GM Buses North[3] andGM Buses South.[1] It was planned that the two companies would compete against one another but, in practice, they stuck to the sides of Manchester as indicated by their names.
In April 1994, GM Buses South was sold in amanagement buyout. It faced an uphill struggle as over 40 competitors were operating GM Buses routes followingderegulation, although most of those competed with GM Buses North. However,Bee Line andMTL Manchester did go south;Finglands Coachways,Mayne and Walls were established competitors on lucrative south Manchester routes.
GMBS suffered from operating an elderly fleet. As a stand-alone (nil subsidy) arms-length company, GM Buses had not been able to buy new buses; thusDaimler Fleetlines andLeyland Atlanteans - the newest by then 15 years old - had to soldier on. Competitors were expanding and GMBS could not make the investment needed.
In response to increasing competition byMerseyside Transport, GMBS set up Birkenhead & District[4] inLiverpool, running Daimler Fleetlines in Birkenhead Corporation livery.
Stagecoach Holdings initially set up Stagecoach Manchester as aRibble Motor Services subsidiary,[when?] in order to compete on GM Buses South'sroute 192, operating the route mainly using a new fleet ofAlexander Dash bodiedVolvo B6 buses.[citation needed]
Throughout 1994, GMBS bought a large number of second hand buses, mainly Atlanteans andLeyland Nationals. Stagecoach responded with more new buses in the shape of newAlexander PS bodiedVolvo B10M-55s. GMBS used its Charterplan coach fleet to compete with Stagecoach Ribble'sroute X43 toBurnley. By the end of 1994, everything turned peaceful; Stagecoach agreed to no further competition on route 192 and hired 20Alexander Dash bodied Volvo B6s to GMBS,[5] eventually selling the Stagecoach Manchester operation, as well as the 13 buses based at itsBredbury depot, toEYMS Group subsidiaryFinglands Coachways in November 1995.[6]
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On 25 February 1996, GM Buses South was sold to Stagecoach for £40.7 million (equivalent to £96,496,000 in 2023), despite criticism from theLabour Party and protests from pensioners outside theFree Trade Hall.[7][8] GM Buses South was rebranded as Stagecoach Manchester shortly after the sale, despite Stagecoach claiming that the GM Buses South brand would be retained, with new vehicles in the group's corporate livery delivered the following March. The existing Charterplan Travel coaching arm and commercial driver training company GMS Training remained unaffected by the rebranding,[9] however Charterplan was later sold to the EYMS Group the following May, being integrated into the operator's East Yorkshire Travel coaching arm.[10]
On 21 January 2008, Stagecoach Manchester purchased the bus operations ofA Mayne & Son, with 38 buses all transferred to Hyde Road garage.[11][12]
On 10 August 2008, Stagecoach Manchester purchased the bus operations ofBullocks Coaches.[13] Bullocks retained their coach hire business and route 147Oxford Road Link operated as a subsidised university and hospital link. Bullocks' services included route 157, betweenWoodford and Manchester, which has since been renumbered X57 and made limited stop betweenEast Didsbury and Manchester.
In March 2011, Stagecoach started running the StockportMetroshuttle service.[14]
On 2 December 2012, Stagecoach Manchester purchasedFirst Greater Manchester'sWigan operation.[15][16] The transaction saw 300 employees, 120 vehicles (although 20 were owned byTransport for Greater Manchester) and the Wigan garage purchased by the former Mayne legal entity.[17][18] The business was rebrandedStagecoach in Wigan although it is managed by Stagecoach Manchester.
On 3 March 2013, Stagecoach purchasedBluebird with 40 buses, 80 staff and its garage lease atGreengate.[19][20][21] On 26 April 2014, Stagecoach took over the business ofJPT Bus Company with 41 buses.[22][23]
The first autonomous bus trial in the United Kingdom commenced in mid-2019, using amodified Alexander Dennis Enviro200MMC single-decker bus equipped with autonomous software fromFusion Processing able to operate in driverless mode within Stagecoach Manchester'sSharston bus garage, performing tasks such as driving to the washing station, refuelling point and then parking up at a dedicated parking space in the depot.[24]
In 2019, it was announced that theGreater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) were looking into improving the public transport network in Greater Manchester withbus franchising as the preferred option by both itself andTransport for Greater Manchester (TfGM),[25] ultimately becoming part of theBee Networkintegrated transport network. This announcement concerned a consortium of bus operators including Stagecoach, who as part of the OneBus group, criticised the franchising proposals as "frightening", claiming passengers would face fare increases and tax rises as a result of franchising. OneBus proposed operators could instead work with the GMCA and TfGM to make private sector investments into the local bus network.[26]
The Stagecoach Group, alongsideRotala, launched ajudicial review in March 2021 at theRoyal Courts of Justice of a GMCA public consultation that recommended council leaders andMayor of Greater ManchesterAndy Burnham approve plans to adopt bus franchising, with both parties criticising the consultation as "unlawful" and "flawed" for having not taken into account modal shifts in transport use brought about by theCOVID-19 pandemic.[27][28] However, it was ruled on 9 March 2022 that the GMCA consultation bus network was lawful, with an appeal against the ruling rejected in July 2022.[29][30][31] Tranche 1 of the Bee Network commenced on 24 September 2023, with Stagecoach not awarded any services and losing their Wigan depot and operations toGo North West as part of the first tranche of franchised bus services.[32][33]
On 23 June 2023, Stagecoach Manchester was announced to have been awarded Tranche 2 franchises from TfGM to run a total of 87 Bee Network franchised bus services in North Manchester from 24 March 2024. These services are operated from Stagecoach's Middleton,First Greater Manchester's Oldham andGo North West's Queen's Road bus depots, the latter two and their 947 staff being acquired from their respective operators.[34][35][36]
Following an initial postponement, it was announced on 28 March 2024 that under Tranche 3 of the Bee Network, commenced on 5 January 2025, Stagecoach Manchester handed over itsAshton-under-Lyne, Hyde Road (Ardwick) and Sharston depots toMetroline Manchester, who will operate from the three garages. However, Stagecoach is to maintain a significantly reduced presence in south Manchester with the awarding of the franchise for Bee Network services inStockport.[37]
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Stagecoach Manchester operates the largest number of services of any bus operator in Greater Manchester. It is primarily dominant in northern areas of the county.
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Stagecoach in Manchester mainly runs services in the northern areas ofGreater Manchester, serving Bury, Oldham, Salford,Stockport,Trafford,Tameside and centralManchester.
From March 2013, Stagecoach moved further into north Manchester by purchasingBluebird.[20]
Since 23 July 2017, the 22 route (Bolton – Stockport) that Stagecoach Manchester shared withFirst Greater Manchester has been separated into two routes. The new 22 route operates between Bolton and theTrafford Centre, currently operated byGo North West. The 25 route operates between Stockport and the Trafford Centre, and is operated by Stagecoach Manchester.
As of May 2025, they also operate four routes leading out ofGreater Manchester, of which the first two were acquired fromGo North West andFirst Halifax, Calder Valley and Huddersfield:
Since December 2012, Stagecoach has operated services in theWigan area under the brandnameStagecoach in Wigan, following the purchase ofFirst Greater Manchester's Wigan operation. Services from Wigan depot mainly run in the Wigan andLeigh areas, whilst also serving Manchester and Salford on routes 33 and 34/X34 (the former being shared with First Greater Manchester), while route 7 (formally 540) runs toBolton, which is also served byStagecoach Lancashire route 125. Route 113 is operated from Stagecoach Lancashire'sChorley depot. Since the start of Tranche 1 ofBee Network from 24 September 2023, the Wigan depot was acquired byGo Ahead Group and is currently operated underGo North West.
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TheMagic Bus brand was introduced by Stagecoach Manchester to theWilmslow Road bus corridor to compete against other cheaper bus brands. It offered lower fares than on regular Stagecoach liveried services by using older bus type fleets. Prior to its withdrawal on 5 January 2025 following the transfer of Magic Bus services 142, 143 and 147 toMetroline Manchester, the fleet consisted of older Alexander Dennis Enviro 400Hs transferred from the regular fleet branded in a blue and white livery featuring yellow star graphics.[38]
Free bus[39] is azero-fare bus system that operates inGreater Manchester, first introduced inManchester city centre in 2002 byFirst Manchester. These services were acquired byGo North West following the sell of Queens Road Garage in 2019.[40] Stagecoach acquired these routes, along with the garage in March 2024 following the rollout of Trenche 2 ofBee Network.
Stagecoach Manchester currently providenight bus service onroute 192 every 15 minutes on every Friday and Saturday night betweenHazel GrovePark & Ride andPiccadilly Gardens, hourly every Thursday to Saturday night onroute 135 betweenPiccadilly Gardens andBury Interchange androute 17 betweenShudehill Interchange andRochdale Interchange. Before the rollout ofBee Network, Stagecoach offered severalnight bus services in Manchester every Friday and Saturday night. The services ran every 15–60 minutes and the routes are mainly the same as the normal routes with some exceptions. Stagecoach also operated night bus services in Wigan. The network was largely based on the main Wigan services with some running an amended route to its normal routes. Wigan's Nightbus network runs on Friday nights/Saturday mornings and Saturday nights/Sunday mornings. The services also operate on New Year's Eve with additional journeys during the evening between 19:00 and 23:00, along with journeys onArriva North West's route 352 toOrrell and 362 toStandish and on Wigan Buses/Maytree Travel route 612 toWrightington Hospital.[41] 53 and 88 are examples even though at daytime they areFirst Greater Manchester buses.
As of June 2025, Stagecoach Manchester operates a fleet of 601 buses, most of which are branded in the yellow livery of the Bee Network.[42]
Stagecoach Manchester is to receive 170MCV-bodiedVolvo BZLbattery electric buses during 2025, 150 of these beingdouble-decker buses and the remaining 20 beingsingle-deck buses, which are to be delivered to Stockport depot to replace diesel buses based at the garage. This order, funded by theGreater Manchester Combined Authority's successful application to the UK government's Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) scheme, represents the largest zero-emissions bus fleet purchase so far by the Stagecoach Group as of April 2023.[43] However, severe delays relating to the construction of a new Stockport depot saw the fleet's delivery reallocated to Stagecoach'sMiddleton andMetroline Manchester'sAshton andHyde Road depots.[44]
Media related toStagecoach Manchester at Wikimedia Commons
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