Bus passengers across the UK are bracing for fare increases of up to 50% starting from New Year’s Day. A Labour Budget amendment made in October is set to come into force on January 1, leading to a 50% rise in the cap on bus fares from £2 to £3 following the end of the previous cap on December 31, 2024.
However, Transport for London and Greater Manchester will be exceptions to this rule, maintaining lower fares at £1.75 and £2 respectively, as they do not fall under the national cap, reports the Express.
Two of Britain’s major bus operators, First Bus and Stagecoach, have disclosed their pricing adjustments effective January 1. First Bus has announced that ‘some’ of its fares will increase to £3, although it intends to keep certain prices below the cap.
Rob Pymm, Commercial Director for First Bus in the West of England, commented: “Some of our fares will be changing from January 1 in response to the UK government’s £3 fare cap. While we had the option of increasing some fares by a larger amount, we’ve worked closely with local transport authorities to keep fares for most passengers 20% lower than the government’s cap.”
Stagecoach also confirmed it would raise the price of some tickets to meet the cap, citing ‘rising operational costs’. The company stated: “We are making some changes to our ticket prices from Wednesday 1st January 2025.”
“We have made every effort to keep our ticket prices affordable for customers, with many remaining unchanged. However, due to rising operational costs, we’ve made the difficult decision to increase the price of some tickets.”
£3 is the maximum you will pay. Lots of journeys will cost less – in fact most of our single fares across England will be less than £3.
“An MP has voiced concerns that increased bus fares could put rural routes at risk of closure. She also mentioned instances of potential passengers having to decline job offers due to gaps in the transport network. Speaking in the Commons, she said: “To incentivise people to use buses in rural areas is a very difficult thing to do, so I think that we need to ensure that we get this right for rural areas. “We are making some changes to our ticket prices from Wednesday 1st January 2025.”
Increasing fares is not going to help us encourage more people to get out of their cars and use public transport.
“Polly Billington, Labour MP for East Thanet, informed MPs that “the previous government had not actually funded the bus cap of £2 beyond the current level and so therefore what we actually have is a cap on bus fares in order for people not to end up with exponential fare rises for the next spending period”.
Transport minister Simon Lightwood stated: “The current £2 cap on single bus fares had been due to run out at the end of this year, as its funding expired. This will of course be replaced by a £3 cap to help millions of people … to reach better opportunities and promote greater bus use by passengers.”