A 2050 Vision for the Future of Rail in Greater Manchester
On Wednesday 3 December, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, unveiled Greater Manchester’s ambitious new vision for rail ‘On the Right Track for Growth: A 2050 Vision for the Future of Rail in Greater Manchester’ during a speech at the Public Transport in the North of England conference in central Manchester.
Developed alongside rail industry partners, it sets out a roadmap to improve, grow and ultimately transform rail; doubling passenger numbers, supporting 75,000 new homes and unlocking £90bn in economic uplift across the North West area of the Northern Arc by 2050. The new vision also seeks to address the challenges our current system faces to ensure we move to a more responsive, inclusive, and dependable network supporting residents, businesses and communities.
The vision looks to ensure that we are in a position to act, as the government moves forward with their wider plans for rail reform – a reminder that we are keen to work with GM MPs as the Bill progresses to ensure this legislation best supports our ambitions for rail.
+ A PDF of the On the Right Track for Growth document
+ A suite of assets you can use to promote the vision
Greater Manchester Fare Simplification
The announcement comes ahead of train travel across Greater Manchester becoming simpler from Sunday 7 December 2025, as a confusing range of fares are replaced with just two simple options for everyone who buys a ticket on the day:
+ Anytime
+ Off-peak
These new fares will be valid with all train operators on all journeys that start and end at a Greater Manchester station (all stations in the Greater Manchester city region plus Glossop, Hadfield and Dinting which are within the Greater Manchester Ticketing Boundary).
Single fares will be priced at exactly half the cost of a return. It is part of the Government’s plans to modernise the railways and make them simpler, more flexible and passenger focused.
To se the full document click the link here: GM fares December stakeholder update