en.Wedoany.com Reported - Wedoany News, The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority recently signed bus franchising contracts with Huyton Travel and Warrington's Own Buses. According to the agreements, Huyton Travel will operate 94 dedicated school and college routes, covering educational institutions in Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens, and Wirral; Warrington's Own Buses will take over the 322 service connecting Warrington Interchange via Haydock to Ashton-in-Makerfield. This marks the second batch of operators entering the system following the awarding of core network contracts for St Helens and Wirral in January this year.

Huyton Travel, with 40 years of operational history in the region, is participating in this initiative by leveraging over 30 years of franchising experience from its parent companies, Tower Transit and Kelsian Group. Under the new contract terms, the Combined Authority will implement strict performance assessments for all operators, linking operational qualifications directly to metrics such as punctuality, reliability, and vehicle cleanliness.

Jamie Ross, Transport Director of the Combined Authority, confirmed that by the end of 2027, the authority will fully take over control of bus routes, fares, and timetable setting across the entire city region. Previously, in 2023, the authority decided to terminate the current privately managed model and return the bus network to public control. Later this year, the Combined Authority will initiate the next round of competitive tendering for the remaining bus services.

Ben Wackley, General Manager of Warrington's Own Buses, stated that the team is responsible for implementing a series of service improvement measures to ensure the frequency of cross-regional routes such as the Haydock service. With the addition of new operators, Liverpool's bus system is transitioning from a fragmented operation to a unified, regulated franchising model, aiming to address long-standing issues of insufficient route coverage and opaque fare structures.

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