Cambridgeshire leaders slam ‘punishing’ bus fare hikes from Stagecoach East

Leaders have slammed Stagecoach East for its “heartless” announcement that bus fares will rise in January.

Furious Cambridgeshire County Council leader, Cllr Lucy Nethsingha, hit out at the “punishing price hikes” which come despite the bus operator posting “significant profits” earlier this year.

“These price hikes, which will see ‘large group’ tickets increase by £2, leaves Cambridgeshire residents facing punishing price rises just as they are also trying to cope with paying rising heating and shopping bills,” she stormed.

Stagecoach says the money from fares pays for the day-to-day running of services as well as investing in new buses and other customer improvements. It also covers additional costs including paying government taxes, the company adds.

Cllr Nethsingha continued: “I am absolutely outraged to hear that Stagecoach plan to increase their ticket prices across all their services and to announce it just before Christmas is heartless. Whilst it won’t make this dreadful news any easier, following our intervention, Stagecoach have agreed to delay the increases until the New Year.

“I am furious, this is an added blow following the bus company’s decision to axe or reduce more than 30 services and comes after they posted notice of significant profits, as a group, earlier in the year.

“I urge Stagecoach to re-think these price increases and I will continue to work tirelessly on the need for a different relationship with bus companies.”

She said the county council was working with the Greater Cambridge Partnership and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, as well as lobbying the government to try to ensure “those who rely on buses are not constantly left at the mercy of Stagecoach’s profit margin”.

Stagecoach says it has worked to absorb significant cost increases to keep fares increases below the rate of inflation for passengers, stating that the increased fares will add on average “just 39p” onto the cost of daily bus travel for adults.

The company says the rises are the first increases since 2018, and are below the annual rate of inflation. They add that it's the first time that the Park and Ride return fare has increased.

In September, Stagecoach announced a list of 18 routes it was to cut from October 30 because it claimed they are no longer “commercially viable”.

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority stepped in with more than £1.2m of funding to save the routes, which are secure until the end of March 2023.

The bus operator has continued to come under fire, with services cancelled across the region and passengers left stranded.

In September, the government announced it will provide up to £60 million from January to March next year, to help bus operators to cap single adult fares at £2 per journey. At the time, the government said 90 per cent of bus operators in England had signed up for the scheme, which is voluntary.

The Cambridge Independent asked Stagecoach if it would be participating in the fare cap scheme and if so, why was the company pressing ahead with the fare rises.

It responded: “[The] Department for Transport will be making a further announcement about the scheme in due course.”

Vice-chair of the highways and transport committee at Cambridgeshire County Council, Cllr Neil Shailer, said: “This really is awful news and goes against everything we’re trying to do as a joint administration around more accessible, affordable and sustainable travel options.

“This is a shockingly callous commercial decision, over which we have no control.

“The agreement to delay the increases until the New Year will help in the run up to Christmas. But this, once again, points to the need to get back control of our buses and put public money into public services.”

Darren Roe, managing director for Stagecoach East, said: “Stagecoach has consistently delivered some of the lowest ticket prices in the country and we are committed to continuing to keep fares as low as possible for our passengers. However, businesses such as Stagecoach have been facing significantly increased costs which continue to put pressure on fares.

“We have worked hard to absorb as many of these costs as possible to keep fares increases below the level of inflation. In order to facilitate this increase, and keep up with inflation of operational and fuel costs, we have no option but to slightly increase our fares, in order to keep our services in the East running. The money from fares goes towards paying for the day-to-day running of services, as well as being re-invested into improvements for our customers, including in new buses, and improved technology to help make travel easier.

“We acknowledge that these are challenging times, but like many businesses and local authorities in the East, we are having to make difficult decisions to keep essential services running.

“Our teams are working incredibly hard to tackle the ongoing driver shortage issue, which is affecting the wider transport and logistics sector, and currently we have 71 new recruits in our training school pipeline. We hope to see these issues ease in the coming weeks, as more new drivers hit the road in Cambridgeshire.

“We remain focused on offering a wide range of value tickets and with our 28 Day Megarider Town ticket, adults will be able to enjoy unlimited bus travel for just £2.25 a day. We are also pleased to launch our ‘18 Again’ initiative, to offer our adult passengers the opportunity to access great value bus travel by purchasing a 7 or 28 day Megarider ticket for youth price, valid until the end of the year. “This offer will enable adult passengers to enjoy a discount on their bus travel of 33%, and we hope will encourage more people to travel by bus when it comes to exploring the local area or travelling to work, education or leisure activities.”