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.’

Anger at lack of cash for London

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.

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’.

What is the Bakerloo line extension plan?

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.

DLR extension to Thamesmead

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.

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.’

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