Bus services in East region to benefit from £15m cash injection

Money to help fund bus services has been awarded by the Department for Transport

Bus services in the East of England are to benefit from a government cash injection of more than £15m.

The funding has come from the Department for Transport's (DfT) Bus Service Improvement Plan+, to provide better bus services.

Services in counties including Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex have suffered cutbacks in recent years.

Roads Minister Richard Holden said the money would "improve and protect local services".

In total, 12 councils across the eastern region will share £15.6m for local services for 2024-2025, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced.

The money can be used to protect services with low passenger numbers, create new services, enhancing weekend and evening services or reducing fairs for elderly and younger people, the DfT said.

Mr Holden said the money would deliver for local communities to "improve and protect essential local services, as we continue to boost transport connections" for the economy to grow.

The full list of councils is:

• Bedford Borough Council

• Buckinghamshire County Council

• Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority

• Central Bedfordshire Council

• Essex County Council

• Hertfordshire County Council

• Milton Keynes Council

• North Northamptonshire Council

• Southend-on-Sea City Council

• Suffolk County Council

• Thurrock Council

• West Northamptonshire Council

'Accessibility needs'

The new funding is part of a wider £160m investment to improve bus services across England from 2022 through to 2025, the DfT added.

Matthew Hicks, Conservative leader of Suffolk County Council, one of the beneficiaries, said: "This is great news for Suffolk and this award of BSIP+ funding will make a real difference in the county."

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• Funding cuts for 21 bus routes proposed by council

Single bus ticket fares have also been capped outside of London at £2 until the end of October - and at £2.50 until the end of November 2024.

Conservative Richard Smith, Suffolk County Council cabinet member for Economic Development, Transport Strategy and Waste, said: "We can use this revenue-based funding to support the existing bus network and potentially to grow the network with the addition of new bus routes and extensions to existing routes.

"Managing public transport in a rural setting is not easy.

"We don't have the footfall of large urban areas such as London or Manchester but our accessibility needs are just as important."