Changes to Diamond South East Fares
22 December 2021
There will be some fare changes across the Oxfordshire and Surrey regions from 10th January 2022.
2020 and 2021 have been a challenging time for the Diamond Bus business. Diamond South East (formerly Hallmark Bus) Fares have remained frozen since 2017 in the Surrey area and frozen since we commenced operation on the 250 service in Oxford, but with increasing operating costs and reduced patronage, some fares will reluctantly be increased to ensure the commercial viability of our services.
We continue to be committed to offering our customers the best value fares possible, keeping bus travel affordable for all and investing in our business to improve our services to passengers. During 2020 and 2021, we continued to invest in new modern vehicles, bringing cleaner and greener buses to the region, we're investing in new onboard technology to enable passengers to pay for their fares in a more flexible way in line with a new hybrid way of working that has emerged since the pandemic struck.
A national shortage in qualified PCV drivers has affected bus companies across the country, this means payrates for employees have significantly increased by 14% over the last year in order for us to recruit sufficient drivers and retain our current employees at a competitive salary in the driving industry. Escalating fuel costs also play a significant role in our increasing business overheads.
The following changes will come into effect during January:
Oxfordshire:
The majority of our fares will increase by 5% in line with the national customer price. We are introducing a new discounted fare for Concessionary pass holders before 09:00 and new 10 journey tickets are being introduced.
Surrey:
Whilst our local Singles, Returns and service specific fares will increase, we will once again freeze our Surrey Network period pass products and are even reducing our Surrey Network Day products to bring inline with Acorn ticket prices. We are also introducing a new pre-09:30 Concessionary pass discount ticket and Surrey Network 10 Journey tickets.
New fare prices available to view here: