Liverpool commuters will have to pay an increased fare if a section of their route is in Chester, Cheshire or Lancashire
Big changes are just around the corner for British bus services, as the £2 cap on single tickets comes to an end at the turn of the new year. The new £3 cap will take effect nationally from January 1 – except here in the Liverpool City Region.
Single bus fares will remain capped at £2 across the area, despite Chancellor Rachel Reeves lifting the limit in this year’s Autumn Budget. Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram confirmed the £2 fares would remain in place in the area until September 2025 following a £4.9m increase to the regional bus budget.
Cross-boundary services into Greater Manchester or Warrington will also remain at £2, major bus operator Arriva UK confirmed.
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However, Liverpool commuters will still have to pay the increased fare of £3 if a section of their route is in Chester, Cheshire or Lancashire. These services include the 487 between Clatterbridge and Neston from Birkenhead, the 310 between Lydiate and Skelmersdale from Bootle, the X30 between Sutton Weaver and Chester from Runcorn, and the 375/385 between Meols Cop and Orrell from Southport.
Services in Lancashire, Cheshire West and Chester will see increased fares in-line with the £3 cap, and Arriva UK is also axing return tickets and some multi-journey tickets including its three and 12 day bundles.
The £2 bus fare cap was introduced in the Liverpool City Region in 2022, and was rolled out across England in January 2023. In his pre-budget speech on October 28 this year, Prime Minister Kier Starmer confirmed that a new cap of £3 would be introduced on January 1 2025. This will run until December 31 2025.
The cap means no single bus fare on routes included in the scheme will exceed £3 and routes where fares are less than £3 will only be allowed to increase by inflation in the normal way, meaning some fares will remain below £3.