An 'army' of new buses will soon be introduced in Stockport, Transport for Greater Manchester has said.

These yellow buses will be introduced from 5 January 2025, as part of the rollout of the Bee Network in Stockport - that's the Greater Manchester-wide plan to bring all buses under public control.

The aim is to reduce the average age of the existing fleet, and to improve reliability and quality of bus services.

In the new fleet will be 140 brand new UK-built, plus a further 94 zero emission electric buses and 72 Euro VI buses bought from Stagecoach.

These buses will be introduced in Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Salford and some other parts of Manchester.

It will mean that the size of the franchised bus network in the city region will effectively double.

The buses are being held at Ministry of Defence bases, before the rollout on 5 January 2025 (Image - TfGM)

All the vehicles comply with the clean air framework. They will either replace older buses, or supplement the existing fleet.

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham said: "We're pulling out all the stops to ensure we hit the ground running on 5 January. It will be a huge moment in realising our ambitions for the Bee Network and see Greater Manchester once again making history.

"Taking back control of all bus services in Greater Manchester is a complex and major undertaking - we are effectively doubling the size of the franchised bus network overnight. There'll no doubt be some bumps along the road, but it's essential we ready our fleet of modern yellow buses to hit the streets. They will help deliver that step change our residents expect and deserve from their public transport network; cheaper, cleaner, safer and more reliable services.

"It's all part our joined-up plan to deliver our integrated Bee Network at pace. From introducing new services and encouraging more people to use public transport, to creating new jobs for our young people, we're proving that local control of public transport not only delivers for our communities, but can drive economic growth at a local, regional and national level."

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