Zack Polanski backs public control in Green Party Policies bus pitch
Zack Polanski said green party policies on buses should move services back into public control, calling bus privatisation an “unmitigated disaster” during a visit to Newcastle on Tyne’s central bus station. He said the case for change is stronger in the North East, where bus planning is already moving toward franchising.
Polanski said buses must be brought back into public control and said he welcomed franchising systems like the one introduced by Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham. He also said he welcomed cities owning their own bus companies, setting out a model that goes beyond the private operator setup he criticised.
Newcastle on Tyne bus station
He spoke from the central bus station after arriving late to a nearby campaign rally where hundreds of supporters had paid to hear from him. In an interview with TransportXtra, he said politicians need to be making a much bigger case for buses.
Polanski said poor bus connectivity costs the UK economy up to £23bn and said every pound put into bus services brings £4.50 back into the local economy. He also said the cost of renationalising buses is between £12m and £23m according to the National Audit Office, putting a price on a change he argued should be treated as a public investment decision rather than a narrow transport fix.
Kim McGuinness and the Angel Network
The North East context is already moving in the same direction. Labour’s North East mayor Kim McGuinness is planning a franchise-based takeover of the region’s buses under her proposed Angel Network, due in autumn 2029, and the North East Combined Authority cabinet recently voted to proceed to the next stage of setting up a regional bus franchise system.
Under that proposed system, operators such as Arriva, Stagecoach and Go North East would bid for contracts to run services. McGuinness said, “I’m delighted to see the Green Party leader come to the North East to announce what Labour are already d”.
Polanski tied the policy argument to service levels in rural areas, saying, “it is not that you can’t get a bus every couple of hours – it is that you can’t get a bus every couple of days.” He also said, “If you don’t invest in public services and don’t invest in your communities, things still won’t be good enough.”
The immediate question now is how fast the North East franchise plan moves from cabinet approval to delivery, and whether Polanski’s push adds pressure on Labour-run areas to move sooner on public control. For passengers, the practical issue is whether that system produces more frequent services than the one he described as a failure.
