Bolton buses saved after Breightmet and Horwich campaigns

The intervention comes after campaigns to save two Diamond Bus services in particular, from Bolton to Breightmet and Bolton to Horwich.

The campaigners started two petitions which were supported by more than 2,000 residents in total, and which were presented to the Greater Manchester Transport Committee on Friday.

On the same day, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) said a plan was in place to save these two services, as well as four others also set to be slashed from April 16. 

READ MORE: Bolton: New bus operators announced for Bee Network.

Ahead of the announcement Sean Fielding, an ex-Oldham Council leader who was involved in the Breightmet campaign, said: "There was a lot of defeatism at the start of our campaign, but I said the only way we can be certain the buses won’t be saved is if we don’t try.

"I am overwhelmed by the support the local community has thrown behind saving our buses, including volunteers tramping the streets to get more signatures."

Previously Rotala, the owner of Diamond Bus, said the decision to cut the buses was down to the plan to bring buses back under public control in Bolton and Wigan on September 24.

Diamond Bus was awarded a number of franchises in and around the two towns towards the end of last year, but it missed out on the two largest franchises awarded to Go North West.

George Butler, who was involved in the Horwich campaign, said: "It’s not acceptable that bus companies can just run whatever services they like or don’t like, leaving communities like the Old Lord’s Estate cut off from the transport network.

"Andy Burnham’s public control of buses in September can’t come soon enough, though in the meantime I hope our petition will pressure Transport for Greater Manchester to fund the service to continue after April to bridge the gap until then."

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The services affected are the 21, 163, 520, 527, 561/562 and 575.

Diamond Bus will operate the 21, while the other services will operate on subsidies from Transport for Greater Manchester.

Funding will partially come  from money allocated to the city-region from the Bus Recovery Grant (BRG) and Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP).  

Metro Mayor Andy Burnham said: "People right across Greater Manchester rely on bus services to go about their daily lives, and so we have taken decisive action to ensure communities are not cut off. It is really important that people have access to a stable and reliable network, particularly when, in just a few months’ time, we start to bring buses under local control for the first time in nearly 40 years.

"We have heard loud and clear the concerns from residents and I hope the announcement today will reassure passengers that their bus service is safe and demonstrates our long-term commitment to investing in, and bettering, public transport through the Bee Network."