Greater Manchester Pay as You Go Fare Reform

From Sunday 7 December 2025, train travel across Greater Manchester will become simpler, as a confusing range of fares are replaced with just two options for anyone buying 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 fall within the Greater Manchester Ticketing Boundary).

Single fares will be priced at half the cost of a return. This change is part of the Government’s plan to modernise the railways and make them simpler, more flexible and passenger-focused.

The reform applies at all 96 stations across Greater Manchester and supports the long-term ambition to create a fully integrated Bee Network, with contactless Pay As You Go travel to follow in phases from 2026–28. This marks the first step towards an integrated rail, tram and bus network and is a key milestone in Greater Manchester’s wider devolution and transport reform.

Advance tickets and season tickets will still be available for customers who want to buy before the day of travel. Advance tickets will continue to be sold online, through apps, and at station ticket offices.

Off-peak fares are valid from 9.30am to 4pm and from 6.30pm onwards on weekdays, and anytime at weekends and on bank holidays.

Why it matters

With six different operators running services in Greater Manchester, passengers currently face a large variety of ticket types and operator-specific fares. This reform simplifies ticketing by replacing multiple options with one clear system. Everyone will pay the same fare for the same journey, regardless of operator.

Customers will benefit from greater flexibility and will only pay for the journey they take. This is part of a wider national programme to simplify rail fares across England and is an essential step towards delivering contactless travel and a fully flexible tap-in/tap-out system from 2026.

Landmark legislation laid in Parliament on 5 November will establish Great British Railways (GBR). The Railways Bill will empower GBR to modernise fares and ticketing nationwide.

The Government’s UK-wide transformation also includes expansion of tap-in/tap-out travel across the South East, flexible long-distance fare trials on LNER, and digital ticket trials on East Midlands Rail and Northern.

Customer benefits

• Simpler travel decisions: One fare per journey, regardless of operator.
• Cheaper single fares: More than 52% of journeys become cheaper as singles are reduced to half the cost of a return.
• Lower average fares: Average fares in Greater Manchester will fall by 5.6%.
• Greater flexibility: Passengers travelling out in peak hours but returning off-peak will only pay the cheaper leg, not a peak-priced return.

Example: travellers arriving into Manchester Airport will move from multiple operator-specific options to one simple fare, valid across all operators.

Transparent fare changes

While most passengers will see cheaper or unchanged fares, some journeys will see small increases to support the system. Overall:

• 52% of journeys will be cheaper
• 48% will increase slightly
• 85% of increases will be 20p or less

Season tickets will remain unchanged until March 2026, when the next phase of reform will align weekly and monthly pricing before fare capping is introduced.

Off-peak ticket holders travelling between two destinations in Greater Manchester can use any service that calls at both stations during off-peak periods.

Passengers from Glossop, Hadfield and Dinting—just outside Greater Manchester—will also benefit due to the Ticketing Boundary. For other journeys into or out of Greater Manchester, nothing changes, though passengers connecting onto a service wholly within the boundary will benefit on that leg.

Paving the way for Bee Network integration

Greater Manchester will be among the first areas in the UK to receive this type of fare reform. It paves the way for contactless, capped, multimodal travel across the Bee Network.

Aligning rail fares with existing bus and tram structures moves Greater Manchester towards a London-style “one tap for all modes” system.

Future phases will:

• Introduce tap-in/tap-out contactless rail payments
• Enable daily and weekly capping
• Fully integrate rail, tram and bus fares by 2028

Next steps

• November 2025: New fares visible in ticketing systems; public announcement on Thursday 6 November
• 7 December 2025: Simplified fares go live
• 2026–28: Gradual rollout of contactless PAYG and fare capping

We would appreciate your support in helping as many people as possible understand these changes before they come into effect. FAQs, the embargoed press release and social media graphics are provided for sharing across your networks.