Potential strikes by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) staff just weeks before half of the city-region's buses are taken into public control are a 'concern', the mayor has admitted.

Bus services in the southern half of Greater Manchester will be taken over by the Bee Network on January 5, 2025, in the final tranche of 'franchising'. Once complete, every single bus service in our region will be run by TfGM.

However, with one month to go before the overhaul, Andy Burnham has admitted he's 'concerned about' strikes set for late December by back-office TfGM staff. Workers will walk out from December 12-15 in a row over what trade union Unite calls a 'poverty pay' offer.

Speaking from a bus depot in Roundthorn, Wythenshawe, on December 5, Mr Burnham said: "I am obviously concerned about that, and we always try to be as fair as possible with our staff on the Bee Network."

He added: "We just ask colleagues now — this is a big moment for Greater Manchester, we've all been working at this for years — is this really the right time to do this?"

The Bee Network is due to roll out in Stockport on 5 January 2025 (Image - TfGM)

Transport chiefs have also warned 'there will be teething problems' when the 'complicated' switchover comes in the new year.

"This is a massive transformation," explained Anne Marie Purcell, the TfGM boss overseeing the programme. "It's so complicated, there's so many component parts — it's not just about people, it's not just about fleet, it's not just about tech, it's the whole thing.

"There will be teething problems, and I always tell Andy [Burnham] that. The key thing is how we manage them and avoid as much disruption as possible."

Ms Purcell added that some problems seen when tranches one and two took place won't recur. She went on: "We don't have agency drivers, that's a big thing… we learned from tranche one. Training is really key, we learned that from tranche two."

After buses are franchised at the start of the year, passengers will be able to tap in and out using a contactless card on all buses and trams from March, TfGM has also announced.

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