Greater Manchester Pay as You Go Fare Reform – Stakeholder Briefing

Overview

From Sunday 7 December 2025, train travel across Greater Manchester will become simpler, 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.

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

While this marks an important shift in fares bought on the day of travel, it is important to highlight that advance tickets and season tickets will still be available to customers who want to buy tickets before the day they travel. Advance tickets will still be available online and 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 train operators providing journeys on Greater Manchester’s rail network, passengers currently have a large variety of ticket types and operator-specific fares.

This reform simplifies ticketing by replacing multiple fare options with one clear system. Once introduced, everyone will pay the same fare for the same journey, regardless of operator.

Customers will benefit from greater flexibility, only paying for the journey they take.

It is part of a wider national programme to simplify rail fares across England by replacing them with clear, consistent pricing for the journey being made and is the essential first step in delivering contactless travel in Greater Manchester, and a fully flexible and convenient tap-in/tap-out system from 2026 onwards. Landmark legislation will be laid in parliament today (5 November) to establish Great British Railways (GBR). The Railways Bill will empower GBR to bring fares and ticketing into the 21st century, making travel more flexible and simpler.

The Government’s UK-wide transformation of fares includes the expansion of tap in tap out payments across the South East, trials of flexible long-distance fares on LNER services to and from London, and digital rail ticket trials on East Midlands Rail and Northern trains.

Customer benefits

• Simpler travel decisions: Customers no longer need to worry about which operator they are using or whether a return is better value. There will simply be one fare per journey.

• Cheaper single fares: More than half of journeys (52%) will become cheaper, as many single fares are reduced to half the cost of a return.

• Lower average fares: The change will mean that the average fare in Greater Manchester will fall by 5.6%.

• Better flexibility: Passengers travelling out during peak hours but returning off-peak will only pay for the cheaper leg, not a peak return.

For example, previously, travellers arriving into Manchester Airport faced a range of operator-specific fares and restrictions. From December, there will be one simple fare and one ticket valid on all operators, making travel easier for both regular commuters and international visitors arriving in the city region.

This means fewer barriers for tourists, business travellers, and residents, helping to create a more welcoming and connected region.

Transparent fare changes

While the vast majority of passengers will see cheaper or unchanged fares compared to what they are currently paying, some journeys will see small price increases that are necessary to make the whole system viable while still delivering cheaper singles and clearer pricing for everyone. Overall, this means:

• 52% of journeys will be cheaper.

• 48% will increase slightly — but for 85% of those, the increase will be 20p or less.

Season tickets remain unchanged until March 2026, when the next phase of reform in Greater Manchester begins to align weekly and monthly pricing ahead of the introduction of capping.

Customers who buy an off-peak ticket to travel between two destinations in Greater Manchester will be able to travel on any service which calls at both stations during off-peak periods (9.30am to 4pm and from 6.30pm onwards on weekdays, and anytime at weekends and on bank holidays).

For regional journeys, some passengers travelling into the Greater Manchester boundary from Glossop, Hadfield and Dinting will also benefit from simplified fares even though they are not part of Greater Manchester. This is due to how the Greater Manchester Ticketing Boundary is drawn.

With those exceptions, nothing will change for journeys into or out of Greater Manchester from other areas, although passengers travelling in to Greater Manchester to pick up a connecting service which starts and ends within the boundary will benefit on that connecting leg. Meanwhile, efforts are underway to align pricing and ticketing across borders to improve connectivity.

Paving the way for Bee Network integration

Greater Manchester will be one of the first areas in the country to benefit from this type of rail fares reform. It paves the way towards contactless, capped, multimodal travel across the Bee Network.

By aligning rail fares with those already in place on buses and trams, Greater Manchester is moving closer to a London-style system: one tap for all modes of public transport.

Future phases will:

• Introduce tap-in/tap-out contactless rail payments.

• Enable daily and weekly capping, so customers automatically pay the best fare.

• Integrate rail, tram, and bus fares into one seamless experience by 2028.

Next steps

• November 2025: New fares visible in ticketing systems and will be publicly announced on Thursday 6 November.

• 7 December 2025: Simplified fares go live across Greater Manchester.

• 2026–28: Gradual rollout of contactless rail PAYG and capping.

We would be grateful if you can help us ensure as many people as possible know about these changes before they come into effect. We have provided you with a series of FAQs, a copy of our press release (embargoed until 08:30am on Thursday 6 November), and social media graphics, and encourage you to share information through your networks and on your channels.

Further information

More information can be found on our dedicated webpage (from Thurs 6 November):
www.nationalrail.co.uk/GMfares

Social assets to share the update can be found here:
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