£2 bus fare cap: When cheaper bus tickets start and who will save money

Millions of bus passengers across England will see the cost of travelling fall after the government announced it will reduce the cap on single bus fares from £3 back to £2.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has confirmed the move as part of his first week in office, saying the cheaper fares are designed to help households with the cost of living by making everyday travel more affordable.

The new £2 bus fare cap will come into force on 1 January 2027 and remain in place until the end of the year.

It comes ahead of free bus travel for children takes effect in August 2026.

The new leader has also announced that VAT would be axed from electricity bills from October.

When will the £2 bus fare cap start?

The lower fare cap will begin on 1 January 2027.

Until then, the current £3 maximum single fare on participating bus services in England outside London will remain in place until the end of March 2027.

The government's new policy means fares will instead drop to £2 from January and stay at that level throughout 2027.

The fare cap will apply to participating bus services across England outside London.

It is expected to benefit millions of people who rely on buses to get to work, school, job interviews, shopping and other trips.

The government says the biggest savings could be seen in rural and coastal areas, where bus fares are often higher because routes are longer and services are less frequent.

How much could you save?

The government says reducing the fare cap from £3 to £2 means passengers will save around one third on the maximum cost of a single journey.

Without a fare cap, some longer bus journeys can cost more than £10.

If you regularly travel by bus, the savings could quickly add up.

For example, someone making two capped bus journeys a day could save around £2 a day compared with paying the current £3 fare.

Over a five-day working week, that's £10. Across a full year of commuting, regular passengers could save hundreds of pounds.

Your actual saving will depend on the fares charged on your local routes.

What about free bus travel for children?

The announcement follows another transport measure aimed at helping families this summer.

The government has already announced free bus travel for children aged five to 15 on participating services in England during the school holidays as part of its Great British Summer Savings campaign.

Together, the two measures are intended to reduce transport costs for families over the coming months and into next year.

Why doesn't the fare cap cover London?

The £2 cap will apply to participating bus operators in England outside London.

London has its own fares system set by Transport for London (TfL), so the announcement does not affect buses in the capital.

Funding will also be provided to the devolved governments through the Barnett formula, but Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set their own bus fare policies.

Other transport savings available

Alongside the £2 fare cap, the government says it is investing more than £1 billion a year in bus services over the next three years.

Earlier this year it also announced the first rail fare freeze in 30 years, which it says will save rail passengers around £600 million, with some commuters expected to save more than £300 a year.