Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram has marked a major milestone for public transport as the first buses in the region in four decades began operating under public control — winning praise from Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
The first services under the new franchised system began running in St Helens on Sunday, beginning a wider transformation that will ultimately bring buses across the Liverpool City Region back under public control.
Rotheram joined passengers on board one of the first services, describing the launch as a “historic day for public transport” in the region, as the first publicly controlled buses hit the road.
Under the new system, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority will have greater control over routes, fares and timetables, while bus companies will operate services under contract.
Passengers in St Helens will see a series of immediate improvements, including more frequent services on key routes, expanded evening and weekend timetables and extended connections to hospitals, colleges and railway stations.
A new X3 express service will also provide a direct link between St Helens town centre and Liverpool John Lennon Airport, while passengers will begin travelling on a new fleet of publicly owned, low-emission Metro buses.
Rotheram: ‘A monumental moment’
Ahead of the launch, Rotheram said the change represented the beginning of a new era for transport across the region.
“This is a monumental moment for St Helens and the first major step in building a world-class, integrated public transport system across our entire region.”
He said passengers would see tangible improvements from the outset, with accessibility, reliability and affordability placed at the heart of the network.
The changes form part of Rotheram’s wider ambition to build a fully integrated transport system across the Liverpool City Region and put passengers ahead of private profit.
The rollout will continue in Wirral later this autumn, before extending to Knowsley, Liverpool and Sefton during 2027.
Burnham: ‘This is what putting power back into communities looks like’
Prime Minister Andy Burnham welcomed the achievement, congratulating Rotheram and the Liverpool City Region on the landmark change.
Sharing Rotheram’s announcement, Burnham said:
“Congratulations to Steve and the Liverpool City Region for today putting buses back under public control after 40 years of deregulation.
“This is what putting power back into communities looks like.”
Burnham’s intervention comes as his government places greater public control of essential services and the transfer of power away from Westminster at the centre of its political programme.
In his recent Commons address, the Prime Minister argued that communities should have greater control over the services and infrastructure on which their local economies depend.
A Labour model for public transport
The Liverpool City Region reforms provide an early example of that approach in practice.
Rather than private operators deciding which routes are commercially attractive, the franchised model gives the Combined Authority responsibility for determining routes, frequencies and fares, allowing decisions to be shaped around passenger and community needs.
Rotheram has also overseen wider investment in the region’s transport network, including new trains, rail improvements, plans for a new St Helens transport interchange and investment in the Mersey Ferry fleet.
For Labour, the return of buses to public control is likely to be presented as evidence that devolution can give local leaders the tools to reshape public services around the needs of the communities they serve.
For Rotheram, Sunday’s first journey marks the culmination of years of work — and the beginning of what he hopes will become a genuinely integrated, affordable and publicly accountable transport network for the Liverpool City Region’s 1.6 million residents.
