Shareholders of bus firms rake in £184m
...DESPITE ROUTES BEING AXED AND FARES RISING BY 55 PER CENT
SHAREHOLDERS of the region’s three top bus firms have raked in an average of £18.4m a year over the last decade – as passengers suffer a shrinking network and rising fares.
New research shows shareholder windfalls in the north west amount to £184m over the 10 years.
Stagecoach has led the way with an average yearly pay-out of £10.4m, followed by First, which dished out £6.7m.
Arriva shareholders were paid an average of £1.3m a year. Meanwhile, fares have increased by at least 55 per cent in a decade.
The Companies House figures were revealed as campaigners launch ‘Better Buses for Greater Manchester’ in a bid to get buses handed back into public control – to be run like they are in London.
Currently Greater Manchester’s bus market is deregulated, with around 80 per cent of services provided by private firms.
Council bosses and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) battle with ever-diminishing funds when it comes to forking out to support non-profit-making services but have no say over how buses are run.
That means private bus operators like First and Stagecoach set their own routes, frequencies, timetables, fares, and standards for most services.
Some 22 operators run 440 services across the region, with 140 types of tickets available.
Campaigners are fighting for a franchising model over the alternative partnership system. Franchising would transfer to local authorities decision-making power over routes, frequencies, standardised fares and quality of service.
A partnership model, favoured by operators like Stagecoach and First, would leave bus firms with more power over factors including pricing.
Over the past four years, Greater Manchester has lost a staggering eight million miles of bus routes – a reduction of a tenth. But buses still remain by far the most popular form of public transport in our region.
Campaigner Mark Burton, 66, from Chorlton and a regular bus user, said: “Andy Burnham needs to re-regulate the buses, but to integrate that with planning to actually transform the transport system in Greater Manchester so we reduce the amount of private cars, so that we deal the amount of air pollution, and make it a nicer place to live in.”