free bus is a zero-fare bus system that operates in Greater Manchester. The system was first introduced in Manchester city centre in 2002, with three routes linking the city's major thoroughfares and stations with its main commercial, financial and cultural districts. Manchester History Transport across the Greater Manchester conurbation historically suffered from poor north–south connections due to the fact that Manchester's main railway stations, Piccadilly and Victoria, were built in the 1840s on peripheral locations outside Manchester city centre. In the 1960s and 1970s, the public transport authority SELNEC evaluated a number of proposals to connect Manchester's northern and southern rail terminals, including several types of monorail systems and metro-style systems. A scheme was promoted to build an underground rail link across Manchester city centre, known as the Picc-Vic tunnel, but this failed to attract the necessary government funding and the project was cancelled in 1977. To address the problem of cross-city transit, the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (SELNEC's successor) proposed a new circular shuttle bus service between Piccadilly and Victoria stations. The new Centreline bus service was initially opposed by the Taxi Owners' Association, but was approved by the North Western Traffic Commissioner. Centreline was first operated using a fleet of Seddon Pennine IV midibuses, noted for their diminutive appearance. GMPTE also introduced an experimental battery-electric bus onto Centreline, the Lucas Electric Bus, which was based on the Seddon chassis and body. This was Greater Manchester's second electric bus, the first being SELNEC's experimental Silent Rider, but it was eventually taken out of service. Operated under the Greater Manchester Transport brand, Centreline came into operation on 1 July 1974. Passengers were charged a flat fare of 2p for each journey. Centreline continued to provide inter-station transit links for several years. After bus deregulation, the service was operated by GM Buses. In 1992, the new Metrolink light rail system began operating across Manchester city centre, providing an electric tram link between the mainline stations, although Centreline continued to operate. In 2002, the Centreline name disappeared from Manchester streets as the service was rebranded as Metroshuttle. First Manchester was chosen by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) to operate the service and has retained the contract. Two routes were introduced, numbered 1 and 2. The service was extremely successful. Route 3 was introduced in September 2005 and links additional areas of the city centre. From 28 October 2018, due to declining