Bus firm puts up late night fares despite £2 cap

Bus routes are being boosted but fares are also rising

An East Midlands bus company says fares are rising on early hours buses although the £2 cap will continue on most single journeys until the end of 2024.

Trentbarton has also announced it will be increasing the number of journeys on selection of its services.

Fares on services from midnight to 04:00 will no longer be capped, apart from the Skylink airport service which will remain at £2 for a single trip through the night.

Fares will be also rising on the Red Arrow link between Derby, the Queen's Medical Centre and Nottingham.

This is due to “increasing inflation, costs for parts, materials, lubricants and fuel facing operators worldwide”, the company said.

The government-funded £2 single fare cap has been in place since January 2023 to encourage bus use and will continue until the end of December 2024.

Rising costs were cited by Trentbarton

The timetables are changing across a number of services operated by Trentbarton with funding from council Bus Service Improvement Funds.

From 14 July, the Ilkeston Flyer and the Two, which connect Ilkeston to Derby and to Nottingham, will increase frequency to every 10 minutes from Monday to Saturday, while the Rainbow One connecting Alfreton and Ripley to Nottingham will start earlier.

From 28 July the Swift will run from Ashbourne to Derby every half an hour from Monday to Saturday.

And Trentbarton is also in discussions to increase the frequency of its Connect, Keyworth, Calverton and Mainline services.

Managing director Tom Morgan said: “We’re pleased that we can continue to offer the £2 single fare and hope it continues to attract more people back to the buses and encourage others to give it a go for a first time.

“We do have to change some of our other fares because we continue to face a series of inflationary cost increases, including on parts, fuel and other supplies.

"All bus operators are impacted by these unwelcome rises in the essentials we need.”

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