The peace on buses in Greater Manchester that they could soon be used on all public transport.

There was a storm when Greater Manchester Police disbanded its dedicated Metrolink tram unit after years of wrangling over how much transport bosses should pay them.

But such has been the success of Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority’s ‘patrol and response’ unit of private security officers on buses and at bus stations that the scheme could soon be extended to trains and trams as well.

Last year, just two pairs of guards from Carlisle Security were so successful on the bus network that they cut crime in half.

They attended 130 incidents at bus stations and boarded 94 buses a week during 2007.

They detained 24 culprits until police arrived, ejected 57 people from bus stations, and ordered almost 50 others off buses.

The authority has now agreed to run the scheme at bus stations in Bolton, Wigan, Leigh, Bury, Rochdale, Oldham, Hyde, Ashton and Altrincham for yet another year, spending £150,000 together with bus operators, which are delighted at the success.

The guards make routine patrols and go to incidents in liveried response vehicles. They have no more powers than ordinary citizens, but often their presence is enough to calm down situations.

And GMPTA boss, Michael Renshaw, told a meeting of the authority’s policy committee: ‘Over the next six months, we will be deciding how these funds can be spent on other forms of transport.’

GMBOA, which represents the vast majority of local bus operators, has agreed to provide £60,000 of the total cost of the patrol and response unit over the next year.