The future of public transport in Bolton was clear for all to see when big yellow buses pulled up in Victoria Square.

The countdown is on - four months - until bus services in Bolton come back under public control as part of Greater Manchester's Bee Network vision.

Buses serving the borough will be operated by Go North West.

The plans to bring buses under public control are set to deliver ‘a higher quality service’, and is the biggest change in public transport since 1986 starts in Bolton.

Anne Marie Purcell, Bus Reform Director at Transport for Greater Manchester, said the new franchising will include electric buses.

She said: “The purpose of bus franchising is to deliver a higher quality service, so the contract we will have with Go North West and the other operator Diamond across Wigan and Bolton.

"There will be a performance regime so they will have to follow a strong performance regime around reliability and punctuality, so that is really positive.

“The aim is to deliver safer and cleaner transport for customers and hopefully cheaper as well.

“The biggest changes that residents will see includes, hopefully, an improved performance by the operators, we have got a massive brand and we have got 50 zero emission buses coming into Bolton in September which are electric so that is a big change.”

The Bolton News: Mayor of Bolton, Councillor Mohammed Ayub, Nigel Featham, Managing Director of Go North West and Bolton Council Leader Nick PeelMayor of Bolton, Councillor Mohammed Ayub, Nigel Featham, Managing Director of Go North West and Bolton Council Leader Nick Peel (Image: NQ)

Bolton Council Leader Nick Peel said: “Bolton has been chosen as the first borough in Greater Manchester to start the franchising so that will begin from September but to be ready the bus operators need to recruit new drivers.

“It is a really positive recruitment drive with more than 300 drivers needed so the economic benefits for people in Bolton are also extraordinary on top of the new London style plan transport system, the first of its kind outside of London and Bolton has been chosen to spearhead it.

“It is really exciting times; affordable, reliable, clean, safe public transport is really what is needed to reduce congestion and get people using buses again.”

Nigel Featham Managing, Director of Go North West, said: “The bus service will be taken back under public control which has been a very popular request and the mayor has been proud to bring that London style system to Bolton and from our perspective this is an opportunity for people to come and join the industry.

“I read the other day that bus drivers have the most thanked occupation in the UK, so this is the chance for Bolton residents who are looking for work and thinking of joining the transport industry, this is the way to get in at the ground floor.”

Go North West, a part of The Go-Ahead Group, plans to hire up to 300 drivers for a newly created Elite Bus Driver Academy.

The Bolton News: 'Safer and cleaner’ transport from September'Safer and cleaner’ transport from September (Image: NQ)

The successful applicants will operate routes in Bolton and Wigan, earning upwards of £28,000.

As part of the recruitment, applicants will be urged to become ‘the best of the best’, to find the thing that will make them awesome and to brace themselves for a career with ‘wheels…that you’ll steer’. 

The drivers will operate yellow Bee Network buses in Bolton and Wigan from September – the first two areas to be franchised under Transport for Greater Manchester’s new vision for local buses.

Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, has set out a vision of an integrated London-style transport system bringing together buses, trams, rail, cycling and walking.

In an initial step towards this, Go North West was selected by TfGM in late 2022 as the winner of its first two bus contracts.

The Mayor of Bolton, Cllr Mohammed Ayub, said: “I think it is great to see opportunities with launching the buses, I think especially for the environmental aspects.

“Andy Burnham is working really hard on bringing in London style buses, so this is the beginning of it, and I am really pleased that it is starting from Bolton and Wigan.

“We are the first ones to roll them out.”

Once the new contracts are underway, Go North West will operate more than 500 buses from Bolton, Wigan and from its existing Queen’s Road depot in central Manchester.

And the company’s facility in Bolton will be the largest UK bus depot outside London.