Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor sees new Metro buses take to the roads on Sunday in what he says “signals a new era” for public services. Tony McDonough reports
Passengers in St Helens are the first in the Liverpool City Region to benefit from more frequent services, better evening and weekend connections, and new Metro buses as the region’s bus network returns to public control for the first time in almost 40 years.
Mayor Steve Rotheram’s franchised network gives the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority greater control over routes, timetables and standards, ensuring services are shaped around local communities. The £2 single fare cap will also remain in place across the city region.
St Helens is the first area to make the switch, which follows investment in the new £35m St Helens Transport Interchange. Wirral will follow later in the autumn, before the network expands across Liverpool, Knowsley and Sefton by the end of 2027.
Benefits to passengers includes more frequent services including evenings and weekends, better connections, improved hospital and rail links, and a new express service to Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
Mayor Rotheram has also committed to keeping bus travel affordable, with the £2 single bus fare cap remaining in place across the Liverpool City Region.
The new UK-built buses are part of a wider transformation of public transport, joining the city region’s new Merseyrail trains and first new Mersey Ferry in more than 60 years.
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From 2028, Merseyrail will also return to public control, creating a more integrated bus, rail and ferry network.
On the unveiling of the new buses on Sunday, Mayor Rotheram said: “Seeing those new yellow buses out on the streets of St Helens yesterday was a really proud moment.
“We’ve spent years working to take back control of our buses because, for too long, passengers have had to put up with a system that simply hasn’t worked well enough for them.
“People don’t ask for the earth. They want a bus that turns up on time, that doesn’t cost a fortune and that gets them where they need to go – whether that’s work, school, the hospital or home to see their family. Taking back control gives us the power to start delivering that.
“This is the biggest change to our buses in nearly 40 years and I’m incredibly proud that St Helens is leading the way. But we’re only getting started. Wirral is next and, by the end of next year, the whole of our city region will be part of a network run in the interests of the people who actually use it.”