Northern Trains will introduce new fares from 7 December, delivering passengers in Greater Manchester simpler and more convenient train travel when a confusing range of fares are replaced by two simple options – anytime and off-peak.
More than a dozen different fares are currently available for journeys on certain routes, including many which restrict customers to travelling on a particular service or with one train operating company. The new fares will be valid on rail services run by all operators and all single journeys will be half the price of return trips. Overall, the change will mean the average fare in Greater Manchester will fall by 5.6%.
They will be available to buy from the 96 stations in Greater Manchester and online. Other types of tickets will still be offered to those who book in advance. The new system aims to make ticketing simpler and prices more transparent, so passengers can trust they have got the best value fare for the journey they are making.
Greater Manchester will be one of the first areas in the UK to benefit from this type of rail fare reform, which will also pave the way for contactless payments and integration with the Bee Network from December 2026.
52% of train journeys in Greater Manchester will be cheaper, with customers saving up to GBP 1.50 on some trips, as many single fares will be reduced to ensure they are half the price of a return. It could also save money for around 4,000 customers a week who are not currently getting the best deal, by using anytime tickets to travel during off-peak periods. On the remaining 48% of journeys, customers will see a slight price increase. But for 85% of these trips, it will be a rise of 20p or less.
The new system has not been implemented to increase revenues for train operating companies.
The introduction of new fares in Grater Manchester “will make train travel much simpler, provide customers with more choice about which services they travel on and stop thousands from overpaying for their journeys,” Alex Hornby, Northern’s commercial and customer director, said.
TransPennine Express (TPE) services between Stockport and Manchester, Manchester and Stalybridge, and Manchester and Manchester Airport will be included in the fare reform. Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) said it is working with the government and the rail industry to bring services and stations into the Bee Network to deliver a fully joined-up public transport system for the city region. In March 2025, tap and go payments were launched across Greater Manchester’s Bee Network, with capped fares across its buses and trams – giving passengers more flexibility. TfGM is now looking to expand daily and weekly fare caps to also include train travel.
When the simplified rail fares are introduced in December, Advance Purchase tickets and season tickets will still be available to those who book before the day they travel.
The announcement of simplified fares in Greater Manchester follows landmark legislation in parliament to establish Great British Railways (GBR). The government said the Railways Bill will empower GBR to bring fares and ticketing into the 21st century, making travel more flexible and simpler.
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