Greater Manchester’s Transport system is not fit for purpose according to its Mayor Andy Burnham as he launches a major overhaul of transport, beginning in 2018.

Addressing the Urban Transport Group in Leeds, he outlined his ambition to deliver a safe, reliable, affordable and fully integrated high capacity transport network, with customers at its heart.

“The public are telling me that things can’t carry on the way they are. Our trains are packed-out and clapped-out. Our buses are confusing and over-priced. And Northern cities don’t have the power to make sense of the chaos and integrate it all.”

Burnham added:

“The North has been treated as second-class over many years when it comes to transport investment, but that only tells part of the story. Our road, rail and bus services are not only poor individually, they can’t be properly integrated due to an inconsistent national policy framework in which they operate.

“We cannot have a transport system where different modes of transport operate completely independently from each other or, worse, actively competing and undermining each other as we have seen with bus operators and Metrolink.

“It lacks coherence, it’s confusing for passengers, and it doesn’t deliver for a growing 21st century city-region. It is time to bring some order to this chaos.”

All of Greater Manchester’s Transport Operators came under fire in the speech.

Of buses, he said that it doesn’t help that we haveve over 40 different bus operators, with 160 different types of ticket available.

“We have too many communities in Greater Manchester receiving no service at all – or having their service taken away with minimal notice.Fares are simply too high – a single journey can cost £3 or more – compared to £1.50 in London.”

On Metrolink, while praising the network overall,he noted that

“On three occasions in recent months there has been a complete suspension of Metrolink services, including a full suspension in rush-hour one Friday morning and on a busy Saturday evening. These incidents should be seen as ‘Never Events’ – and yet they are happening too often.” adding that:

“Ticketing is still confusing – 13 years after London launched the Oyster card – and at a time when the concept of using a smartcard to travel round London is almost archaic – we’re still playing catch-up, hamstrung by the fragmented bus fares and ticketing system that exists outside of London.”

But it was train services that came in for the biggest criticism, saying that overall passenger satisfaction with Greater Manchester facilities, seating availability, security and even just purchasing a ticket is below the national average.

He also added that Greater Manchester is also one of the remaining places in the country that has to put up with pacers. Trains that were designed with a maximum lifespan of 20 years still running across the North nearly 40 years later.

“Cancellations and delays are a regular occurrence, said the Mayor,” take Northern’s North Manchester Service Group performance,8 per cent of services were short-formed,5 per cent cancelled and only 45 per cent arriving at the destination on time.”

The Mayor announced plans for Greater Manchester to be the first city region to use new powers to improve bus services as well as the introduction contactless bank card payment on Metrolink in late 2018.

He also hopes to introduce a zone payment rate similar to that in London and ensure train operators do more to compensate commuters for poor service and to address the issue of late night running of trams.

He also announced the setting up of a Mayor’s Strategic Transport Board, which he will Chair with leader of Manchester City Council Sir Richard Leese. The board will be asked to provide regular updates on performance, monitor progress on improvements, and ensure decisions are made in a joined-up way.

 

 

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