£19m transport cuts will hit jobs and services

FUNDING for transport in Greater Manchester will be slashed by £19 million over the next two years.

Transport chiefs say they are facing “unprecedented pressures.”

Children, commuters and the disabled will all fall victim to the cuts as Transport for Greater Manchester’s budget was frozen despite spiralling costs of services.

The cuts, announced at a budget briefing yesterday, mean that the 2014/15 budget will be £20 million less than it was in 2007/8.

It will slash £7.1 million from the general bus network, school buses and the Metroshuttle, while another £700,000 will be cut from the Ring and Ride service for disabled and elderly people.

Around £8.2 million will be slashed from operational costs, meaning 20 per cent of posts will go — on top of the 15 per cent of jobs already cut.

A voluntary severance scheme is underway and vacant posts will not be filled with compulsory redundancies not ruled out.

The budget will be considered for approval by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority at the end of January.