Liverpool buses to come under public control, Mayor Steve Rotheram announces

The public-owned network could be on the roads in the next three years, Mayor Steve Rotheram says. Credit: PA Images

Liverpool's buses are going under public control, making them the second region outside of London to run a publicly operated bus network. 

The announcement by Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram at a meeting with the region's combined authority on Friday 6 October confirmed the decision to adopt a franchising model.

This gives them the power to set fares and routes across the six council areas: Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens, and Wirral.

The Liverpool Mayor said: "Currently, bus operating companies decide the routes they want to run. If we have to run other routes, we have to subsidise them.

"What will happen when we franchise - we will choose the routes, and we will choose the company that runs those routes on our behalf."

He added: "All of the livery and the colour of the buses will be the same, and it'll be the same as what we have got on our trains.

"And all of that is to pull together and integrate a public transport system."

The new bus network is expected to start running by late 2026. Credit: Liverpool City Region Combined Authority

Mayor Rotheram's decision follows a 12-week consultation which revealed 69% of the public support franchising, and all six of the region’s local authority leaders believe a franchised system would provide the best value to the taxpayer.

The new plans allow buses to better integrate with other modes of transport - including the regions newest £80m battery-powered trains.

A tap-and-go system will make ticketing easier and more convenient, and daily fare caps will ensure passengers pay the cheapest fare across the network.

Franchising will be introduced in phases, with the first buses running in St Helens by late 2026 and the full system in place by the end of 2028.

Liverpool is the second city outside of London to reverse the deregulation of the public transport system, with Greater Manchester's publicly-owned Bee Network having launched 24 September 2023.

Mr Rotheram said he had been inspired by the work done down the M62 and had taken lessons from his Mayoral colleague’s fight to take over the Manchester bus network.He said: “I think what they’ve done in Greater Manchester is brilliant and pioneering in many ways. We’ve had to take advice at every single stage, otherwise the bus operating companies could have taken us to the high court and that would have cost millions and millions of pounds, and we just don’t have that to throw away on barristers.“Instead we’ve got this right and we want to see its implementation, it’s going to take us a little while. I’m frustrated it’s going to take as long as it will but what we’ll see is, people will notice new livery, we’ll go to a really vibrant yellow colour and they will match with our brand new trains and they will also become one brand new system.“People will start to notice not only the colour of ours, but the standard, we want them to be not only net zero emission buses but also more accessible, better connectivity similar to what we’re doing on rail.”

A three year transition period will be implemented to allow network improvement measures – such as bus prioritisation infrastructure and the reintroduction of bus lanes in Liverpool  – to be introduced before the first franchised services begin in St Helens as soon as 2026 as part of a phased introduction across the wider Liverpool City Region. “We’ll buy a new fleet, we will invest in zero emissions technology, we will have control of the routes, the fares, the way the whole system starts to integrate together with trains, ferries and active travel.

"It’s going to take a couple of years yet before we see the system and the buses themselves all changed over but that’s time that will be spent making sure we get all the mechanics right.”

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