Several school bus services will run earlier in an effort to be more reliable, Bee Network bosses have announced.

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has made the move after a litany of complaints from parents about school services being 'horrifically late', missing stops, and drivers not following assigned routes.

Much of families' anger was aimed at children arriving at school late, prompting TfGM to run morning services earlier. 

From Monday (February 24), buses will run 10 minutes earlier to several Stockport secondary schools. Afternoon services remain unchanged.

For their first week of operation, another bus will also run to the previous timetable 'to help pupils and parents adjust to the new times'. The new timetable will be published on Wednesday (February 26) via the Bee Network app, website, and will be shared with schools.

Stephen Rhodes, TfGM's Director of Bus, said: "Since completing bus franchising in January, we acknowledge that the performance of some school services in the south of Greater Manchester has not been good enough, with services not having enough capacity or arriving late. 

"Having worked with operators to make changes to the routes to improve reliability, we are confident that these new measures will make the buses more reliable and turn up when they should do. By having a more accountable network, we can respond quickly to issues and make changes that should improve reliability, and we will continue monitor these routes as they are rolled out. 

"By changing the timetable we are showing that we value and listen to our customers. The safety and welfare of all passengers, especially children, is our top priority, and we remain committed to using the feedback we are getting to work with our operators to make changes to the network and ensure people going to school, work or appointments get where they need to on time."

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