BUS fares across Greater Manchester will be capped if congestion charging is brought in.

Prices are likely to be simplified with the introduction of two new bands - one for short journeys and a standard fare for all other trips.

Further capped fares are also planned which would allow unlimited travel for two hours, one day or a week. New `smartcards' would allow people to top up automatically and travel on trams as well as buses.

The capping, which is supported by the bus companies, is one of a number of proposed changes to Greater Manchester's transport innovation fund (TIF) bid. There will also be a 20 per cent discount on bus and tram tickets for low-paid workers, with the threshold likely to be the level of the minimum wage.

And the maximum daily amount anyone would pay under the congestion charge will be halved from £10 to £5. The original £10 maximum would not have affected many motorists as it was unlikely that they would pass through the congestion zones more than once during the peak-charge times.

But there were fears it could have hit delivery drivers needing to cross Manchester several times - so the maximum charge has now been set at £5.

Other changes include:

A new train station at Golborne, near Wigan

£20m investment in Salford Crescent station

A new Metrolink stop at Kingsway Business Park, next to the M62 near Rochdale

Sixty extra Yellow School Buses.

The East Lancs railway would be brought into service as a commuter railway from Rawtenstall through to Heywood and Manchester.

The revised proposals also contain a final list of those who would not pay the congestion charge.

Disabled drivers, motorcyclists, hackney carriages, minicabs, emergency vehicles and registered-recovery will all be exempt - as will anyone on their way to a medical appointment. Lis Phelan, of the TIF `yes' campaign, said fare-capping was `the news transport users have been waiting for'.

"The combination of a fare cap, simpler tickets and lower fares for low-paid workers is welcome news for bus passengers in Greater Manchester," she said. "This will make a real difference to the household budgets of many families and individuals across the region."

But the anti-congestion charge Greater Manchester Momentum Group said the new proposals were not enough. A spokesman said: "We will study these new documents in great detail but we are disappointed at such an insignificant response by AGMA to the flaws in what would be the world's largest congestion charge scheme.

"Even after these changes many parts of Greater Manchester would see little if any improvement to public transport services. AGMA has previously talked about assisting people on low incomes and it is disappointing to learn that what they meant was people on the minimum wage. How does this help tens of thousands on low to average pay?

"The discount sounds like a bureaucratic nightmare and adds to the overall costs of a scheme that already doesn't add up, making it harder to repay the £1.2bn of debt. This will either increase the charges or add to council tax."

The bid would see more than £2.75bn ploughed into transport schemes, including £318m to set up a peak hour, weekday-only congestion charge.

Some £1.2bn of the total would be in the form of a loan, paid back over 30 years out of profits from the charge.

Changes to the proposals are likely to be agreed by Greater Manchester's 10 councils at a crunch meeting on Friday.

They will also decide whether to accept the proposed leaflet - which explains the investment and the congestion charge - and the wording of the ballot for the referendum.