Fare Cap and Diamond Bus Fare Changes

28 November 2024

There will be changes to the UK Bus Fare Cap Scheme and Diamond Bus fares from 1st January 2025

In 2023, the UK Government began a National Bus Fare Cap scheme, which capped all single bus fares to £2 across the UK. As part of this scheme, the government provided funding to Bus Operators to subsidise the lower capped fares until 31st December 2024. 

In the recent October Budget announcement, the Government announced that the fare cap scheme would remain in place from 1st January 2025; however bus fares would be capped at a new rate of £3 per single journey.

We have received the Terms and Conditions associated with the new scheme from the Department for Transport and we are reviewing what this means for our business. However, the fare subsidies available will be less going forward.

As a business, we continue to face direct cost inflation from increased staffing costs, the increase in Employer National Insurance contributions set out in the October 2024 Budget, and increases in other direct costs. This means that we will have to increase our fares in order to cover this escalation in costs and the reduction in fares subsidy. 

We wish to advise customers that, in addition to the new £3 fare Cap, our current regional fare structures will be revised from 1st January 2025.

We have yet to finalize what our new fares structure will be, but we will update our social media feeds and website when we have further information to share. We understand that this is a difficult time for everyone, and news of fare increases is not welcome. But, in order to continue to meet the growing challenges of maintaining a quality bus network, some fares increases will be necessary for the reasons that we have stated above.