The first tranche of bus franchising went live in Greater Manchester on Sunday, September 24, with operations in Bolton and Wigan transferred from operator control to that of the Combined Authority.
Go North West now runs buses out of the former Diamond depot in Bolton, and the Stagecoach one serving Wigan, with all fares and timetables determined by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. As winner of the large franchises, it has taken over much of the Diamond fleet, many already repainted in the yellow Bee Network livery, as well as running 50 BYD / Alexander Dennis Enviro400 electrics, newly purchased by GMCA, for use at Bolton.
The Bolton franchise also includes the Vantage guided bus service, previously run by First, with the fleet of 25 purposebuilt Volvo B5LH/Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 also transferring to Go North West. The new franchisee has added extra buses to the fleet, no longer branded as Vantage, equipping three former London Volvo B5LH/MCV EvoSetis with guidewheels.
No vehicles have been acquired from Stagecoach, nor any from Arriva, which also saw some commercial operations fall under franchising. Instead, Go North West has obtained buses from other group companies, some permanentl…
