Contactless PAYG system on Metrolink to include Bee Network buses from 23 March 2025

[Edvid]

TfGM presser and fare chart below.

Date set for Bee Network’s move to a London-style touch-in, touch-out payment system

news.tfgm.com

• Contactless, pay as you go to launch on Bee Network buses from 23rd March 2025, building on the system already in place on Metrolink.
• Passengers will be able to travel seamlessly between bus and tram, with fares automatically worked out for them.
• Passengers can enjoy unlimited journeys on Bee Network buses and trams from just £7.80 a day (off peak).

The Bee Network – Greater Manchester’s bold plan for a London-style transport system – is set to take a huge step forward next spring with the launch of contactless pay as you go across buses and trams – making travel easier and guaranteeing passengers pay the right fare for their journey.

With just three months to go until all buses in Greater Manchester are back under local control, the date for the introduction of capped contactless payments on Bee Network buses and to support multi-modal travel has been confirmed as 23rd March 2025.

Similar to how customers currently travel on Metrolink, passengers will be able to use their bank card or smart payment device to touch in on all Bee Network bus services, knowing they will be charged the lowest fare up to the daily cap of £5 or the new weekly cap of £20.

As well as extending the system to bus travel, passengers will also be able to travel across both Metrolink and Bee Network bus services and be charged a single, multi-modal fare, instead of having to plan or buy tickets in advance – similar to the experience of travelling in the capital.

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said: “In March 2021 I announced that Greater Manchester would bring all of its buses back under local control as part of the Bee Network – providing cheaper, easier and more convenient transport and simple, easy-to-understand fares and tickets.

“Just over a year ago the vision started to become a reality when the Bee Network launched, and we saw the first phase of buses joining the Bee Network – representing the biggest change to the bus network in almost 40 years. On 5 January next year that process will be complete. Every bus in the region will be working as a part of the Bee Network and accountable to passengers.

“We’ve already started to see the benefits franchising is delivering with bus services now cleaner, cheaper and more reliable than before with record numbers of passengers and there is more to come.

“From 23 March pay as you go will be launching across Bee Network buses, building on the system that has been in place on Metrolink since 2019. This is a massive step forward in terms of delivering a London-style transport network for the people of Greater Manchester, putting our region on par with not only the capital but also major cities across the world that offer seamless, integrated travel by public transport.

“Moving to this pay as you go system is going to make public transport more affordable and easier to pay for. It will take the worry out of choosing the right ticket for passengers and encourage many more people to get on board with the Bee Network.”

Under the new system, people travelling by Bee Network bus will simply touch on as they board, and their fares will be worked out for them, ensuring they pay no more than the daily or weekly cap.

Passengers who use both Bee Network bus and Metrolink can use pay as you go for unlimited, all-day travel across Metrolink and any bus in Greater Manchester costing a maximum of £9.50 - or £7.80 if starting your journey after 9.30am or at weekends. Journeys will be cheaper if travelling across fewer Metrolink zones.

Like Metrolink and the transport system in London, pay as you go travel will operate initially with adult fares only.

Fran Wilkinson, TfGM’s Customer and Growth Director, said: “Improving the experience for customers travelling on the Bee Network has been our number one priority since the launch of bus franchising in September.

“The pay as you go system will give greater flexibility for our passengers and will be introduced alongside an extensive customer communication programme to ensure customers understand how they can benefit from this new, easier way to travel across Greater Manchester.”

Editor’s Notes

The table below summarises the daily and weekly pay as you go caps that will apply to bus-only and to bus and Metrolink following the introduction of the system in March 2025. Pay as you go will be available across all Bee Network buses but will not be available on non-Bee Network services that operate under a Service Permit in Greater Manchester.

Cap	1-day Anytime	1-day Off-Peak	Weekly
Bus only	£5.00		£20.00
Bus and any one Metrolink zone	£6.00	£5.40	£24.80
Bus and Metrolink zones 2+3 or 3+4	£6.70	£6.40	£28.40
Bus and Metrolink zones 1+2	£7.30	£6.70	£30.30
Bus and Metrolink zones 2+3+4	£7.60	£7.00	£32.50
Bus and Metrolink zones 1+2+3	£8.70	£7.30	£36.40
Bus and all Metrolink zones (1+2+3+4)	£9.50	£7.80	£41.00

 

[plugwash]

similar to the experience of travelling in the capital.

That is seriously stretching the truth, given that mainline rail services are not included.

 

[Vespa]

It would be better if it includes rail service like Tfl, they missed a trick there, when they could have had a Bee network card like Oyster and just like London including ALL transport options within GM.

 

[Edvid]

Plans are already afoot to integrate rail services with the Bee Network over the coming years - there was a thread (currently locked) on the topic several months back.

Rail services to be included as part of Bee Network: how should this be achieved?

Andy Burnham has announced that plans to bring rail services into the Bee Network have been brought forward. The Greater Manchester mayor said that eight train lines will be part of the new local transport network by 2028. This means that passengers will be able to pay for their journeys on...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[johncrossley]

So they are continuing with separate bus and tram fares, why?

 

[Ethano92]

So they are continuing with separate bus and tram fares, why?

No different to paying different prices for the bus and tube in London

 

[Bletchleyite]

So they are continuing with separate bus and tram fares, why?

No different to paying different prices for the bus and tube in London

Which I've always thought to be mad. Though there is a demographic issue there. Increasing bus fares to tram levels isn't going to be tenable (generally poorer people go by bus), so there would need to be a lot of thought into how to deal with that, which is probably a way off. Though having lower bus fares than tram fares does pressure TfGM to duplicate tram routes with buses, which is unnecessary cost.

(Curiously in London tram fares and bus fares are the same, though the Croydon tram is more of a replacement for bus than rail in terms of the sort of journeys it is used for, even though like Metrolink it largely replaced old rail routes)

 

[johncrossley]

(Curiously in London tram fares and bus fares are the same, though the Croydon tram is more of a replacement for bus than rail in terms of the sort of journeys it is used for, even though like Metrolink it largely replaced old rail routes)

The London tram replaced mainline routes between Wimbledon and West Croydon, and between Addiscombe and Elmers End.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The London tram replaced mainline routes between Wimbledon and West Croydon, and between Addiscombe and Elmers End.

Calling those mainlines is pushing it, they were minor local railways.

 

[johncrossley]

Calling those mainlines is pushing it, they were minor local railways.

I just mean they were part of the national rail network, but I didn't want to use that term in case they were still BR at the time.

 

[sprunt]

The London tram replaced mainline routes between Wimbledon and West Croydon, and between Addiscombe and Elmers End.

it did also literally replace part of at least one bus route - the 54 which now terminates at Elmers End used to continue to Croydon.

 

[johncrossley]

The main bus route replaced that didn't have a previous rail alternative was the 130 Croydon to New Addington and its peak time express version. Although there are still regular bus routes along the same roads served pre-tram.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Which I've always thought to be mad. Though there is a demographic issue there. Increasing bus fares to tram levels isn't going to be tenable (generally poorer people go by bus), so there would need to be a lot of thought into how to deal with that, which is probably a way off. Though having lower bus fares than tram fares does pressure TfGM to duplicate tram routes with buses, which is unnecessary cost.

They don't though, in many cases. I commute one zone on the tram for £1.30 single or £1.90 return, which would be £2 single and £4 return (by way of two singles) on the bus, for example.