The Government has announced a package of 'more than £150m' to fund buses and trams across England for the next six months.
The 11th-hour reprieve followed urgent appeals from transport leaders in Greater Manchester after a brutal two years of falling passenger numbers, staff absence and over £200m in Government bail-outs.
However, the announcement may not be the saving grace transport bosses had hoped for.
READ MORE: ‘Communities could be cut off’: Third of bus services affected by £70m blackhole
The Manchester Evening News is awaiting a response from Mayor Andy Burnham and Transport for Greater Manchester(TfGM).
But on Friday, the chairman of the Greater Manchester Transport Committee had cited the need for £30m for buses and £40m for Metrolink over the next finanical year.
And while the DfT are yet to reveal how their 'safeguarding' funding will be shared between the regions, Greater Manchester's ask for the financial year was around half of what is on the table for the next six months for the whole of England.
Not only that, but the pot will be the 'last tranche', according to the DfT statement.
And the money comes with a caveat. At the end of the statement, the DfT says the money is 'dependent on local areas and operators co-designing a financially sustainable and passenger focussed public transport network, that works for changing travel patterns post-pandemic'.
The concern for leaders now is that 'financially sustainable' could translate to service cuts and price increases.
Coun Phil Burke, member of the TfGM Committee and Rochdale's transport lead, said he was 'appalled at the attitude of Government'.
He added: "We've been warned by bus companies that we are going to see routes cut.
"In Rochdale alone we've seen bus services go from 20 minutes to 40 minutes, to two hours, leaving vulnerable people isolated, not being able to get to their doctor or hospital. Kids are struggling to get to school.
"I've got a real fear of these people being penalised yet again because of the Government's funding package."
That was certainly the fear last week when the Transport Committee warned that they risked having to cut services if they were not given the £70m funding for buses and trams.
Unsure at the time that any funding would be forthcoming, they added: "As reflected by the report published by the Urban Transport Group this week – and following discussions with local bus operators – we expect around one third of our bus services to be affected, with a wide-scale reduction in frequencies and around 30 routes withdrawn completely."
Urging the Government to reconsider, Coun Burke added: "They need to sit up and wake up and listen to our concerns. Put your money where your mouth is and give Greater Manchester the money we need."
He said the Government were pushing local authorities to develop clean air policies and that public transport funding was vital to make that happen.
John Moorhouse from TravelWatch NorthWest, meanwhile, described the funding as 'laughable'.
He added: "It's a drop in the ocean, that's going to do nothing.
"I'm not impressed with that figure at all. We have to relieve road congestion and be aware of the environment."
During the pandemic, Metrolink received £120.2m over two years, while bus operators and TfGM were handed more than £100m for buses.
In an interview last month, Metrolink boss Danny Vaughan warned of rising costs, including a predicted £6m on top of the usual electricity bill for the next financial year.
The Government meanwhile, insists that the £150m builds on ‘unprecedented Government support’ of £2bn for buses and light rail throughout the pandemic and that the new hand-out will ensure services continue to run ‘as operators and local authorities work towards a sustainable future’.
This ‘final tranche’, theys said, would run to October 2022 while authorities ‘adapt to changing travel patterns’ and develop new models of public transport, like Greater Manchester’s partnership scheme, which is currently being held up by a legal challenge from Stagecoach.
However, in January it was revealed that £3bn promised funding for bus transformation - dubbed ‘Bus Back Better’ by Boris Johnson when he unveiled his pet project in 2019 - is also at risk of being scaled back.
A letter sent to Local Transport Authority directors by the Department for Transport on January 11, seen by the Observer, was said to reveal that the budget for the 'transformation' of buses has shrunk to £1.4bn for the next three years.
When the Manchester Evening News approached the DfT for confirmation, they initially denied this but then said some of the funding had gone toward pandemic hand-outs.
Grant Shapps, Transport Secretary, said: “The funding I’ve announced today will ensure millions of us can continue to use vital public transport services, and brings the total we’ve provided to the sector to keep services running throughout the pandemic to over £2 billion.
“Not only that, as we look ahead and continue our work to overhaul services and build back better from the pandemic, this funding will also help authorities and operators work together to provide even better services for people right across the country.”
The Government said it was investing over £3 billion into bus services by 2025, including £1.2 billion to improve fares, services and infrastructure, and a further £525 million for zero emission buses.
Graham Vidler, Chief Executive of the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) said: "This welcome funding will help operators have the certainty they need to run an extensive network of services over the coming months as we all adjust to life after the pandemic.
“In the longer term the bus network will need to adapt to meet passengers’ new travel patterns. Over the coming months operators will be working closely with local authorities to plan future bus networks and introduce plans to grow passenger numbers. To aid these local efforts we look forward to working with the Government to loudly promote bus travel.”
They said more details on the allocation of the funding would be provided in due course.
