The new North East mayor must take control of the region’s ailing bus services away from private companies “as soon as they take power”, a passenger group has pleaded.
After months of bitter frustration over delayed and cancelled buses, politicians hoping to become the North East’s new figurehead have been urged to commit to bringing the network back into public hands. The power to put bus timetables, routes, and fare prices back under public control via a franchising system will be included as part of a £4.2bn devolution deal for the North East, which was announced last week and is set to see a regional mayor elected in May 2024.
It is an approach being taken by metro mayor Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester, which will this year become the first area outside London to have a regulated bus network since the privatisation of the 1980s and has already put a £2 cap on single journeys. Members of the Tyne and Wear Public Transport Users Group (PTUG) say that whoever becomes the North East’s new mayor must follow the same path to protect the “most used and valuable transport service in our region”.
