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Metro
3 days ago
- Business
- Metro
Cap on bus fares to stay in place until 2027, Rachel Reeves announces
The £3 cap on bus fares in much of England will remain in place for the next two years, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced. Passengers around the country were facing a steep rise in the cost of a bus ride when the cap was due to come to an end later this year. But in a win for the Department of Transport, the scheme has been extended until March 2027. It will not apply to bus riders in either London or Greater Manchester, as transport in both cities is controlled under separate systems. The bus fare cap was set at £2 when the previous Conservative government introduced it in an effort to combat the cost-of-living crisis. It had been set to expire in December 2024, but Reeves instead increased it to £3 at her first Budget last October. A government source said: 'Buses provide lifeline access to opportunity for people across the country. 'Keeping fares affordable is a top priority for the Transport Secretary, as our landmark Buses Bill overhauls how services are delivered.' Sir Sadiq Khan's team is concerned the spending review spells bad news for transport in London. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is expected to be among the big winners when Reeves unveils the detail of her review tomorrow afternoon, with some big investments already announced. The Chancellor pledged £15 billion investment to improve tram, train and bus connections in the North and Midlands last week, with the Greater Manchester, Liverpool, West Midlands and West Yorkshire transport networks in line to get around £2 billion each. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video But London City Hall is concerned after a lack of funding promises for major upgrades to the capital's transport, like the DLR and Bakerloo line extensions, which are on top of the TfL wishlist. A source close to mayor Sadiq Khan told Metro warned that this would be a 'missed opportunity for London' and that levelling up the country 'shouldn't level down London.' They said funding the Bakerloo line extension would help meet growth and housing targets and create 'thousands of new jobs.' The source said: 'Over the past nine years as Mayor, Sadiq has fought to deliver for London – in the best interests of Londoners and the whole country. 'We know that when London does well it means the whole country does well, and that it will simply not be possible to achieve national growth ambitions without the right investment and growth in our capital. 'We must not return to the damaging, anti-London approach of the last government, which would not only harm London's vital public services, but jobs and growth across the country.' They added: 'It's also important to recognise that parts of London still have some of the highest levels of poverty anywhere in the UK.' But the mayor's intervention has been met with derision by some in government. When announcing the increased investment in the north of England last week, Reeves said 'a Britain that is better off cannot rely on a handful of places forging ahead of the rest of the country'. It was described by Treasury as a 'long-overdue investment outside of London and the South East'. While there was no promise of government backing for the Bakerloo line extension, this doesn't mean that the project is not going ahead. The source said the next opportunity for government money will be the autumn budget. The extension from Elephant and Castle to Lewisham, which has been in the pipeline for more than a decade, is estimated to cost between £5 and £8 billion. Money for the mega project will come from TfL, the borough councils and developers – but a contribution from the government is needed before the plans will become a reality. If the proposal goes ahead as planned, there will be two new Tube stations – at Burgess Park and Old Kent Road – and new interchange stations in New Cross and Lewisham with links to the DLR, Overground and rail services. TfL will launch a new express bus service called the Bakerloop as the wait for the Tube line extension continues. Set to launch this autumn, the route BL1 will run along the same route as the extension between Waterloo and Lewisham, with only a limited number of stops to keep the journey time quick. The Docklands Light Railway extension is estimated to cost around £1 billion in 2022 prices, but it could rise to £1.7 billion, according to BBC News. Along with the two new stations at Beckton Riverside and Thamesmead, the plan would deliver up to 30,000 new homes and 10,000 jobs to boost growth, TfL said. More Trending TfL said it is working with partners to 'maximise local and regional funding.' 'We're also finding ways to reduce costs and create efficiencies, but Government support is needed because of the size of the project,' it said. A Treasury spokesperson told Metro: 'The success of the London transport network helps both the capital and the UK's economy, which is why during the Budget the Chancellor announced TfL would receive nearly £500 million in additional funding. 'This week's Spending Review will deliver economic growth for all parts of the country, driven by investment and focused on the priorities of working people, putting more money in their pockets.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Beyoncé giving away free concert tickets to London shows after 'poor sales' MORE: Map reveals the most up-and-coming sex positions in major UK cities MORE: Missing woman 'murdered by ex in central London office block and wheeled out inside bin'
Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mirror
Bus users protected from price hikes as Rachel Reeves gives update on £3 cap
Rachel Reeves is expected to extend the nationwide price cap on single trips for bus passengers in the Spending Review - which was due to run out at the end of the year Bus passengers will be protected from fare hikes as the £3 cap on single tickets is set to be extended. In a major boost for bus users, Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to protect the nationwide price cap on single trips, which had been due to run out at the end of the year. The cost-of-living lifeline will now be in place across England until March 2027, the Mirror understands. Single fares could rise by up to £12 in the worst hit areas if the cap is lifted. The Department for Transport previously said a journey between Leeds and Scarborough could cost £15, while a fare from Hull to York would hit £8.50. The decision, which will be confirmed in the Spending Review on Wednesday, is a major boost to millions of Brits who rely on buses every day. A Treasury source told the Mirror: 'We understand the cost of living is a priority for the British people. That is why we are investing in Britain's renewal to make working people better off. Rachel Reeves' Spending Review major predictions on what will and won't be in it 'That's why we're keeping bus fares down by extending the £3 cap to put more money in people's pockets.' The cap covers around 5,000 bus routes across England, costing the Treasury around £150million a year to keep fares at £3. The Tories previously introduced a £2 cap on bus fares but only provided funding until the end of 2024. Last year, Keir Starmer said it would rise to £3 for 2025 but its future was uncertain beyond the end of this year. A Government source said: "Buses provide lifeline access to opportunity for people across the country. "Keeping fares affordable is a top priority for the Transport Secretary, as our landmark Buses Bill overhauls how services are delivered. Better buses are around the corner with Labour." The Chancellor will unveil plans to splash tens of billions of pounds on public services such as the NHS, defence and schools over the next three years in the long-awaited Spending Review on Wednesday. But other departments are expected to feel the squeeze, with cuts looming to unprotected areas such as local government and the Home Office. Ministers have been locked in fraught negotiations for months over their budgets. The final settlement for the Home Office was only signed off on Monday after a row with Home Secretary Yvette Cooper over cash for policing. Ms Reeves will also announce funding for infrastructure investment, including big ticket items like road, rail and energy projects. She will confirm changes to Treasury rules to make it easier to pour cash into projects outside of London and the South East. It comes after a blitz of announcements, including some £15.6 billion of spending on public transport in England's city regions, and £16.7 billion for nuclear power projects, the bulk of which will fund the new Sizewell C plant in Suffolk. Ms Reeves also confirmed on Monday that some 9 million pensioners would be eligible for the winter fuel allowance this year after backtracking on the unpopular decision to strip the benefit from all but the poorest pensioners. The Government also announced plans to expand free school meals eligibility to another 500,000 children whose families get Universal Credit, in a major win for the Mirror's campaign to end hunger in classrooms.
