Local buses that are coming under public control from next week

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham with Bee Network branding

In just over a week, the first of the region’s bus services to be run under public control in nearly 37 years will be hitting the streets of Greater Manchester – and some of them will be operating in the Rochdale borough.

The majority of the Bee Network buses operating from next week will be within Bolton and Wigan, but some services travel as far as Rochdale, Manchester city centre and beyond - with the yellow buses already being spotted on local routes, including the 6 Kirkholt circular.

Activists at Better Buses for Greater Manchester have released a list of services operating in the Rochdale borough from 24 September – obtained under a Freedom of Information Request to Transport for Greater Manchester.

All buses in the Rochdale borough are due to come under full control from April 2024.

The services set run under the Bee Network next week in the Rochdale borough include:

• 162 Norden – Middleton – Manchester
• 163 Bury – Middleton – Manchester
• 471 Bolton – Bury – Rochdale

Matthew Topham, a campaigner at Better Buses for Greater Manchester, said: “It’s fantastic to see the hard work of local people, unions, climate groups, and civil society pay off.

“For too long, bus services were run in the interests of private companies in an extreme Thatcherite experiment: services were axed, corners cut on reliability, and fares ever rising. All for the benefit of shareholders who don’t live in the region.

“This is the beginning of a process where the people of Greater Manchester are winning for themselves a network that is run by and for the region’s residents, not fat cats overseas.”