Burnham Caps Bus Fares at £2 in a Fresh Cost-of-Living Blitz
Single bus fares across England will be capped at £2 from January and held there through 2027, the Prime Minister has announced, cutting the current £3 limit by a third for millions. It is Andy Burnham’s second cost-of-living intervention in as many days, after Tuesday’s VAT cut on domestic electricity. The scheme, which he ran as Greater Manchester mayor, is backed by £454m of funding.
The £2 cap was in force nationally between January 2023 and December 2024 before the previous government raised it to £3, arguing the lower rate was unaffordable. Mr Burnham said “no one should be priced out” of affordable transport, while the Chancellor, John Healey, said the cut was “funded by savings made elsewhere, so there’s no burden to British taxpayers”. Critics note that much of the money is drawn by reallocating departmental budgets — including sums earmarked for international climate finance — rather than new revenue, a tactic economists warn cannot be repeated indefinitely. Watch whether devolved regions follow suit, and how the funding holds up at the Budget.