Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham unveiled the first fleet of Bee Network buses at an event to mark one month until the launch of the network across Bolton and Wigan.

The 50 electric buses are set to take to the roads next month when the Greater Manchester Combined Authority takes control of everything from tickets to timetables.

On Thursday, at a depot in Ashton in Makerfield, Mr Burnham and his Transport Commissioner Vernon Everitt unveiled the first fleet of Bee Network buses to take to the roads on September 24 as well as the uniform of those who are set to work on them.

They set out a number of core commitments to their customers summarised in six words – Accessible, Accountable, Affordable, Reliable, Safe, Sustainable.

Mr Everitt, once one of the leaders of the Transport for London system on which the Bee Network is based, said: "We are delighted to present these changes, including clear commitments to our customers and a fleet of state-of-the-art, Zero Emission buses.

"This is the beginning of the transport revolution in Greater Manchester."

To achieve these core commitments the electric buses will be provided with improvements such as audiovisual announcements and two bays for wheelchairs.

They will be patrolled by 30 TravelSafe support and enforcement officers (TSEOs) tasked with interacting with customers and inspecting their tickets.

The Oldham Times: A Bee Network bus

On September 18, a Bee Network app and a Bee Network website are to allow passengers to track the buses, as well as the trams and the trains, and to rate their journey once this journey is complete.

Most of the tickets and timetables are set to remain the same although there is the addition of the combined Anybus + Tram ticket and there are some routes and services where the buses are set to run earlier, later and more often.

Mr Burnham said: “For those of us who are old enough to remember when the buses were deregulated, it came with turbulence.

"There might be some problems with our change but it is a change to take us in the right direction, not the wrong direction, which is what happened in the 1980s.

“This is a better service and if people bear with us it’ll improve the lives of our residents for many, many years to come.”

The Bee Network comes to Bury, Oldham, Rochdale and North Manchester in early 2024 and to Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and South Manchester at the end of 2024.

There is the intention to add some trains into the network by the end of the decade and to improve the infrastructure for walking, wheeling and cycling in the meantime.

This article was written by Jack Tooth. To contact him, email jack.tooth@newsquest.co.uk or follow @JTRTooth on Twitter.