Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has revealed a three-phase plan to bring rail services and stations into the region’s Bee Network, integrating commuter rail routes with trams and buses.

The plans envisage simple fares using contactless smartcards, permitting ‘tap in, tap out’ travel on all public transport. The first phase, covering trains between Manchester, Glossop and Stalybridge, is expected to be completed by the end of next year. The second phase would follow two years later, with the third in 2030. By that time, the network would cover eight commuter lines and 64 stations.

The Bee Network branding would also be extended to trains, while Transport for Greater Manchester said it will work with the rail industry to make more suburban stations step-free. More than 60 per cent of stations will have step-free access by 2028, compared with 43 per cent at the end of last year. Work at Irlam and Daisy Hill stations is set to be completed this year, and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority will be considering funding allocations for more stations at a meeting next week.

Alongside this project plans for a new station at Golborne have also moved ahead, because the government has approved the outline business case. The £32 million station will bring trains back to Golborne for the first time in more than 60 years, and the full business case will now be developed this year. It is hoped that the new station will open in 2027.

Andy Burnham said: ‘Our rail system today is acting as a brake on growth and, as the UK’s fastest growing city-region, Greater Manchester deserves better. We need a railway that is reliable and fully integrated with the rest of the Bee Network to drive growth and deliver new homes with public transport connections on the doorstep.

‘Building on the success of bringing our buses back under local control, we’re planning a phased approach to bringing eight commuter lines and their stations into the Bee Network. It will start with lines between the city centre and Glossop and Stalybridge and then expand each year between now and 2028.

‘Our plan puts passengers first by delivering a simplified, joined-up public transport network, with better services, stations and overall experience. Only by making travel by train more reliable, simpler, flexible and accessible to everyone, will we convince more people to leave the car at home and make the switch to the Bee Network.

‘Delivering change on the railways is notoriously complex, but our phased plan has been drawn up with and has the backing of the rail industry. We’ll continue to work with government as Great British Railways is established, to support them on the national reform of the railways, enacting the rail powers outlined in the English Devolution White Paper and supporting the Government’s agenda.’