Burnham caps bus fares at £2 across England
Key Points
- Single bus fares capped at £2 across England outside London from 1 January 2027 to the end of 2027
- The cap replaces the current £3 cap and cuts maximum fares by a third
- £400 million in extra funding backs the cap, rising to £454 million including devolved governments
- The last £2 cap drove an estimated 30 million extra bus journeys in 10 months
- Free bus travel for children aged 5 to 15 runs this summer under the Great British Summer Savings scheme
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has capped single bus fares at £2 across England outside London from 1 January 2027, cutting the cost of the most popular form of public transport by a third.
The Prime Minister’s Office announced the cap during Burnham’s first week in office, backed by £400 million in extra funding.
The move replaces the current £3 cap, which runs until the end of March 2027, and extends fare protection to the end of 2027. Without a cap, single fares could climb above £10 on the most expensive routes.
The government expects the cap to deliver the biggest savings for passengers in rural and coastal areas, where single fares run highest and transport links remain thin. The last £2 fare cap drove an estimated 30 million additional bus journeys in just 10 months.
How the cap works
Passengers will pay no more than £2 for a single journey on participating buses in all areas of England outside London from 1 January 2027.
The majority of single fares outside London remain capped at £3 until that date. Devolved governments will receive funding through the Barnett formula, taking the total package to £454 million.
Chancellor John Healey said the government funded the cap through savings made elsewhere. “This action to ease the cost of living is funded by savings made elsewhere, so there’s no burden to British taxpayers, just pounds going back into their pockets,” he said.
The funding comes from a reprioritisation of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s budget, switching money set aside for international climate finance projects into loans.
Burnham said affordable transport should be within everyone’s reach. “For too long people have said that cheaper transport isn’t an option. I don’t accept that. I’ve done it before and I will do it again now: a £2 cap on bus fares for millions across the country,” he said.
Single fares on Greater Manchester’s Bee Network, which Burnham oversaw as mayor, have sat at £2 for the last four years.
The cap lands alongside a wider package of transport savings.
The government has committed £100 million to free bus travel for all children in England aged 5 to 15 on participating services this summer through the Great British Summer Savings scheme.
It follows the first rail fare freeze in 30 years, announced earlier this year, which saves passengers £600 million overall and commuters on some routes more than £300 a year.
