Andy Burnham has announced a £2 bus cap which will be a handy boost for anyone taking the bus. Single bus fares across England will be capped at £2 from January, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced. It comes just a day after his first key policy, a cut to VAT for electricity bills, set to take effect from October.
Details of the cap
The nationwide cap is currently set at £3 until the end of March 2027, although some areas, including London and Greater Manchester, where Mr Burnham set a £2 limit in his time as mayor – have lower top rates for single tickets.
Mr Burnham said: “Good, affordable transport links are an essential. No one should be priced out of those and left behind. “But for too long people have said that cheaper transport isn’t an option. I don’t accept that. I’ve done it before and I will do it again now: a £2 cap on bus fares for millions across the country. “Lower fares will help people get to where they need to – giving them breathing space to help with the cost of living.”
Funding and duration
The new PM, who took over from the outgoing Sir Keir Starmer on Monday, promised that the scheme is fully funded with £454M of cash pulled out from investment in international climate finance, with the rest taken from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero budget. The total cost of the scheme is expected to be more than £500 million, with the rest coming from Department for Transport funding already allocated to buses.
The £2 cap will be in place throughout 2027 and is a u-turn to an increase put in place by Starmer and now-ex Chancellor Rachel Reeves in 2024. A £2 cap had been in place between January 2023 and December 2024 but the incoming Labour administration argued it was not affordable, although some metro mayors, including Mr Burnham, decided to fund an extension of the lower limit in their areas.
Reactions
Chancellor John Healey said “millions of people” would benefit from fares being slashed by a third and insisted the measure could be paid for. “This action to ease the cost of living is funded by savings made elsewhere, so there’s no burden to British taxpayers, just pounds going back into their pockets,” he said. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the move would make “everyday journeys easier and cheaper”.
