Local bus services in England receive £150m funding boost

Every part of the Midlands and North of England is set to benefit from £150m of new funding to improve bus services over the next financial year.

According to the British government, this is the first tranche of £1bn worth of new funding that it is dedicating to bus services across the regions as part of the Network North plan – with further funding allocations to be announced in due course.

Fare initiatives

While it is up to local authorities in partnership with operators to decide how best to use the funding, the government claims the new funding is enough to support up to 25 million miles of new bus services. The aim is to help local authorities across the North and Midlands provide more regular and reliable services or cheaper fares delivered through fare initiatives and ticket price caps.

The funding has been made possible by the cancelling of the northern arm of the HS2 high-speed rail project and will see £150m redirected from HS2 funding.

“We welcome DfT’s announcement increasing the funding for community transport organisations and are pleased that the DfT has listened to the needs of the community transport sector”

“Community transport plays a vital role in connecting people in our communities to health care appointments and social opportunities,” said Victoria Armstrong, chief executive of the Community Transport Association.

“We welcome DfT’s [Department for Transport] announcement increasing the funding for community transport organisations and are pleased that the DfT has listened to the needs of the community transport sector and responded by increasing this essential funding.”