(28 Jun 2019, 10:27 am)tyresmoke wrote Is it more operators though? Rotala already operate a sizeable operation across north Manchester
I’d say so. 5 years ago the operator split of GM was straightforward, First in the north and Stagecoach in the south. Working east from Wigan we now have Stagecoach, Rotala, Transdev Rosso, Go North West and First networks interweaving.
First had created a hub and spoke network with local services feeding into the towns where mainline services would take passengers between towns or into Manchester. We’re now in the situation where the town network and the mainline route are ran by different operators. Naturally each new operator will now evolve their network focused on their local operation, rather than the regional scale First once had.
In GM I think things will get worse for the passenger before they get better. Stand around Piccadilly in a few months and you’ll see E400s all looking the same in Olympia livery but you’ll have to look harder to spot a logo to see whether it’s a First, GNW or DBNW bus.