'London-style' bus services promised for England with £1bn boost

Almost £1bn in funding will go to delivering London-style buses across England as part of a massive Budget boost, the government has promised.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has given more details on its plans for 2025 after announcing the funding last month.

It has promised to deliver what it calls "London-style" services to every corner of the country, and said funding would be allocated based on levels of deprivation and population, instead of making areas compete for investment as it has in previous years.

The DfT says Leicester, the Isle of Wight, Torbay, Southend, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough are set to receive "unprecedented" levels of funding.

In urban areas, some of the biggest allocations are being given to combined authorities representing South Yorkshire and the Liverpool City Region.

In total, there will be £712m for local authorities to improve services, alongside a further £243m for bus operators.

About 3.4 million people in England travel regularly by bus, making it the most commonly used mode of public transport.

Local authorities in all English regions will be able to introduce new bus routes, make services more frequent and protect crucial routes, the DfT says.

It added the money will allow more urban areas to maintain high levels of service. Meanwhile, rural communities and small towns will be able to offer more services.

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme the funding would "vastly improve" the reliability and frequency of services, particularly in rural areas.

The announcement comes ahead of the Buses Bill, which aims to give local transport authorities across England new powers to take control of bus services.

Under the plans, local authorities would be allowed to introduce a London-style franchising system, meaning they can decide routes, timetables and fares, with operators bidding to run the services for a fixed fee.

The government has also pledged to remove a ban on publicly owned bus companies.

An extra £151m will also fund a cap in single bus fares outside London, which rose to £3 last month, until the end of 2025.

The Liberal Democrats have called for the government to U-turn on the decision to raise the cap, with the party saying it will hit both commuters and local businesses.

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said on Friday: "The fare cap increase is like a bus tax for people across the country, impacting bus users and commuters already struggling to make ends meet.

"MPs must be given a say on this bus fare hike on behalf of their constituents."

Conservative shadow transport secretary Gareth Bacon said: "Labour have chosen to increase bus fares by 50% in a further attack on rural communities, working people and pensioners.

"They didn’t have the courage to tell people their plans in the election. This is another broken promise that raises costs on working people."

But the DfT said the fare cap introduced by the previous Conservative government was due to expire at the end of 2024 and some fares would have soared unless it intervened.

“Fares will only be allowed to increase with inflation in the normal way, and the £3 bus fare cap will lead to savings of up to 80% on some routes, keeping bus tickets affordable across the country," it said.