Single bus fares across England will be limited to £2 from January, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced, stepping in to reduce the cost of everyday travel for passengers outside London.

The national cap is currently £3 for single journeys until the end of March 2027. Burnham said the new £2 limit will apply across England except London, where the mayor had already set lower top rates. Greater Manchester, also where Burnham previously set a £2 cap as mayor, has similarly had a lower ceiling for single tickets.

What the cap will do

Burnham said the measure will be held at £2 throughout 2027. He described it as reversing a rise introduced by Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves in 2024, when the £2 cap that had previously been in place was lifted. A £2 limit had run from January 2023 to December 2024, but the incoming Labour administration at the time argued it was not affordable.

Some metro mayors, including Burnham, funded extensions of the lower fares in their areas even after the national change, maintaining cheaper single tickets locally.

Burnham’s announcement also said the policy is intended to help people travel for day-to-day needs while easing pressure from the cost of living.

Funding and cost

The government said the £2 cap is supported by £454m in funding, including money to allow devolved administrations to adopt similar approaches. Of that total, around £400m will be raised by switching investment in international climate finance from investment models to loans.

The remaining funding will come from savings in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero budget.

The overall cost of the scheme is expected to be more than £500m, with the rest met through Department for Transport funding that is already allocated to buses.

Political background and government response

The policy reverses the increase applied after the previous national £2 cap ended in December 2024. During that transition, Labour argued at the time that extending the lower fare limit nationally would be difficult to afford, though some local areas continued lower caps through their own funding.

Chancellor John Healey said the measure would cut fares by a third compared with the current £3 cap and said it could be paid for through savings made elsewhere, rather than by adding a burden to British taxpayers. Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, said the plan would make journeys easier and cheaper for people travelling day to day.

Burnham said he wanted to ensure transport costs do not exclude people from accessing services and jobs, presenting the cap as a direct response aimed at keeping fares affordable across the country outside London.

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22 July 2026

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In Greater Manchester it's 2 quid for a single trip or 5 quid for a day ticket to be used within the GM boundaries. Very reasonable.

Small town mayor does small town things. There should be a law against the media giving air time to such pitiful announcements.

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Chancellor John Healey said the measure would cut fares by a third compared with the current £3 cap

Good to see the new chancellor is on top of complex math problems by demonstrating correctly that discounting a £3 cap to a £2 cap is indeed a third reduction. This is a very reassuring development and dare I say an improvement on the woman from accounts who had the job previously.

Will all the buses have to be painted yellow?

1 hour ago, Bannoi said:

Will all the buses have to be painted yellow?

Red.

With a hammer and sickle.

Another day another freebie. What could possibly go wrong in Burnhamistan?

train fares are still mega high and folks most likely to use em

Buses should be free, to be funded by drastically cutting the millions foolishly spent (amongst other things) on overseas aid.

17 minutes ago, Leopold Bloom said:

Buses should be free, to be funded by drastically cutting the millions foolishly spent (amongst other things) on overseas aid.

17 minutes ago, Leopold Bloom said:

Buses should be free, to be funded by drastically cutting the millions foolishly spent (amongst other things) on overseas aid.

17 minutes ago, Leopold Bloom said:

Buses should be free, to be funded by drastically cutting the millions foolishly spent (amongst other things) on overseas aid.

What are they all getting exited about ?? In Queensland Australia on all Government buses the fare is only 50 cents. Not bad eh ??

The Burnham bounce is fading already.

10 minutes ago, Thingamabob said:

The Burnham bounce is fading already.

Not so sure about that. The latest poll shows a +8% bounce for Labour. Need to give it at least 3 months.

https://www.pollcheck.co.uk/

First cutting VAT on electricity then slashing bus fares. Seems this Burnham guy is aiming to help poor people with small but useful price cuts.

What the heck is he thinking? Where are the tax cuts for billionaires?

4 minutes ago, Purdey said:

First cutting VAT on electricity then slashing bus fares. Seems this Burnham guy is aiming to help poor people with small but useful price cuts.

What the heck is he thinking? Where are the tax cuts for billionaires?

The price cuts are so small as to be no help to anybody whosoever.

Last time I was in the UK,pensioners had a free bus pass.

Does this still apply?

27 minutes ago, Keeenok Powell said:

Last time I was in the UK,pensioners had a free bus pass.

Does this still apply?

I think it's a regional thing......I have a Freedom Pass for London (tube, buses, overground) and a free bus pass for North Yorkshire.

5 hours ago, Thingamabob said:

The Burnham bounce is fading already.

That's what happens when you have no mandate and then choose a convicted fraudster to be your Deputy PM and a rough, vaping chav, recently sacked for dodging stamp duty to be housing minister.

2 hours ago, Keeenok Powell said:

Last time I was in the UK,pensioners had a free bus pass.

Does this still apply?

Absolutely.

9 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

That's what happens when you have no mandate and then choose a convicted fraudster to be your Deputy PM and a rough, vaping chav, recently sacked for dodging stamp duty to be housing minister.

Except there has been a Burnham bounce, albeit at the expense of the Lib Dems, Greens and Independents, but the drop in support for Reform UK following Farage's idiocy has helped!

5 hours ago, Thingamabob said:

The Burnham bounce is fading already.

Hence why he's gone to ground with no interview's and is currently unaccountable apart from a couple of gimmicks ..Andy' what's your plan for lets say stopping the boats? smash the gangs

Drain the channel?

22 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Absolutely.

22 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Absolutely.

Cheers.

2 hours ago, MIke B Bad said:

I think it's a regional thing......I have a Freedom Pass for London (tube, buses, overground) and a free bus pass for North Yorkshire.

Cheers mate.

The BBC are funny. They have found a woman who will be £500 better off per year due to this policy. They did not find this same women when Labour put the cap up to £3 just two years ago with a story about how Labour are costing this woman £500 per year, nor did they find this woman when the Conservatives put the £2 cap in place in Jan 2023.

How the £2 bus fare cap could save some commuters £500 a...

The BBC speaks to people around the country about their view on the newly-announced bus fare cap.

5 hours ago, Purdey said:

First cutting VAT on electricity then slashing bus fares. Seems this Burnham guy is aiming to help poor people with small but useful price cuts.

What the heck is he thinking? Where are the tax cuts for billionaires?

Can answer that one Purdey Gary Lineker has come out and said Ask the millionairs in the uk should have there taxes increased as he says " We can afford it ".

Edited July 23Jul 23 by BarraMarra

2 minutes ago, BarraMarra said:

Can answer that one Purdey Gary Lineker has come out and said Ask the millionairs in the uk should have there taxes increased as he says " We can afford it ".

Gary's a star. He's not the only 'millionaire' to ask for this either. Hopefully Burnham is listening.

1 hour ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Except there has been a Burnham bounce, albeit at the expense of the Lib Dems, Greens and Independents, but the drop in support for Reform UK following Farage's idiocy has helped!

It's not a Burnham bounce.

It's relief that Starmer the tyrant has finally gone. Why else do you think Makerfield voted for him? 😄

I don't know what all the fuss is about. Most of the posters above would travel free on local bus rides.😉😋

6 hours ago, Thingamabob said:

The price cuts are so small as to be no help to anybody whosoever.

Take a 100 baht note and give 50 baht to 2 people. Or give 10 people 10 baht each. You are helping even if it is small.

6 hours ago, Purdey said:

First cutting VAT on electricity then slashing bus fares. Seems this Burnham guy is aiming to help poor people with small but useful price cuts.

What the heck is he thinking? Where are the tax cuts for billionaires?

They all left Heathrow on their private jets !

1 hour ago, James105 said:

The BBC are funny. They have found a woman who will be £500 better off per year due to this policy. They did not find this same women when Labour put the cap up to £3 just two years ago with a story about how Labour are costing this woman £500 per year, nor did they find this woman when the Conservatives put the £2 cap in place in Jan 2023.

How the £2 bus fare cap could save some commuters £500 a...

The BBC speaks to people around the country about their view on the newly-announced bus fare cap.

It found others...🤣

I.e.

Joshua says he’ll now have less money to spend on food and will avoid some social events.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy0l99xz719o

9 hours ago, Tidal wave said:

Hence why he's gone to ground with no interview's and is currently unaccountable apart from a couple of gimmicks ..Andy' what's your plan for lets say stopping the boats? smash the gangs

Drain the channel?

Just for a bit of levity: