UPDATED: Burnham ‘irrational’ to support bus franchising while operator partnership was ‘abandoned’
Reporter: Niall Griffiths, Local Democracy Reporter
Date published: 01 June 2021
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham was ‘irrational’ to support bus franchising when a partnership with operators was ‘simply abandoned’ by transport bosses, a court has heard.
The claim made by Stagecoach, which is challenging the legality of the decision making behind the scheme, was disputed by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) on the final day of High Court judicial review proceedings.
Mr Burnham and GMCA leaders approved the £134.5m proposals in March after deciding that it represented the best value for taxpayers’ money to improve the public transport network, and that it would be ‘robust’ enough to stand up to uncertainty created by Covid-19.