Manchester mayor ‘sorry’ after buses made children late for school

A mayor has apologised to a group of mums who said cancelled or delayed buses made their children late for school.

The Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has admitted the 203 service between Stockport, Reddish, Debdale Park and Piccadilly Gardens has “not been good enough”.

Several mums told BBC Radio Manchester the service had either been late or had not turned up since a publicly-run system was rolled out in the area last month.

One of the mothers, Kimberley Rhodes, said she had “ordered taxis” to get her children to school because she needed to get to work afterwards.

The Bee Network was launched in the south of Greater Manchester in January – meaning the whole region now has a publicly-run bus system.

The 203 service was previously operated by Stagecoach and is used by mums to take their children to school in the Reddish area of Stockport.

Stephanie Conwell uses the 203 bus to take her son to Abbingdon Primary School in Reddish.

“It’s been absolutely horrific since the Bee Network was launched. We’re never at school on time. It is costing me £20 a week and I’ve had to use taxis,” she said.

“Everything was great with Stagecoach. The buses always turned up.”

Under the Bee Network, bus services in Greater Manchester are still run by private companies – but the mayor sets the fares, timetables and routes.

Andy Burnham said: “I’d like to apologise to those mums – and others – who’ve been affected by this service. It’s not been good enough.”

But the mayor added: “Overall, bus services in the south of Greater Manchester are already as good as – if not better – than the ones they replaced.”

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) said: “We are sorry for the delays on the 203 and the impact this had on pupils, parents and other bus users.”

TfGM added: “The service has been impacted by roadworks which are due to end shortly and should result in an improvement to the punctuality of the service.”