Burnham confirms local bus fare cap freeze despite nationwide rise

IN some good news for passengers, single fares on local buses will remain capped at £2 throughout 2025. 

Mayor Andy Burnham says it will continue in Greater Manchester, despite rising to £3 across the country.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on Monday (October 28) that the bus fare cap would rise by 50 per cent nationwide from the start of next year, as part of the government’s Budget measures.

The new yellow Bee Network bus design. Image by GGC Media

The following day, Mr Burnham said fares across the 10 boroughs – including Tameside and Oldham – would remain at the current rate “for the whole of 2025 but subject to a mid-year review”.

His announcement comes as part of a local fare restructure, which forms part of an ongoing plan to bring all of Greater Manchester’s buses back under public control under the Bee Network.

Mr Burnham has confirmed plans to introduce a contactless payment system from March 23 next year, with a daily and weekly cap on bus and tram prices, as the city-region moves towards a London-style system for public transport pricing.

“The more that people use the system, the easier it will be for us to sustain the low-fare structure,” said the Mayor.

“Because of the decisions we have taken, and the progress we have made, Greater Manchester is in a different position to other areas across England when it comes to bus funding and bus fares.

“We understand it is easier and cheaper to maintain a £2 cap in a regulated system and expensive for the Government to subsidise it in a deregulated one, but they have maintained the principle of a cap.

“Greater Manchester was the first to propose the £2 cap in March 2022, introducing it in September that year ahead of the national £2 scheme, and we will keep it as long as we can.”

Under devolution, local authorities and metro mayors – such as Mr Burnham – have the powers to fund their own schemes to keep fares down.

Bus fares have been capped at £2 on more than 4,600 routes in England since the start of 2023, but the PM’s announcement in a pre-Budget speech has raised concerns that many will struggle to afford to commute and branded as a “tax on working people” by opponents.

Defending the decision, Starmer said the previous Conservative government had only funded the current limit to the end of 2024 and, despite the cap increasing, the cost of bus travel will be kept down in the long term.