Bus fares are to go up in towns across Shropshire with bosses blaming a hike in energy, insurance, employment and fuel costs.
Arriva Midlands will introduce revised fares on routes in Shrewsbury, Oswestry and Telford from Sunday.
Company bosses say that the move must be made in order to sustain the bus services.
Most single fares will be increasing by 10p and 30p in the Shrewsbury and Oswestry areas and by 10p and 20p in Telford.
The price of a child weekly local ticket will be frozen and a maximum child single fare will be introduced at £1.20.
Keith Myatt, communications manager for Arriva Midlands, said: “We have tried hard to keep fare increases to a minimum, however, we have reached the point where it is inevitable that we must pass on some of the additional costs to customers in order that the services remain sustainable.
“Regular travellers can still benefit from our value for money day, weekly and four weekly savers which are fully transferable and can be used without restriction,” he added.
Mr Myatt said increases in single fares have been kept as low as possible to help cover rising costs, whilst some maximum single fares remain unchanged.
19 Comments
Transport company turkeys voting for Xmas. Nationalise the bus system now or leave South/SWest rural Shropshire to the Brummie ‘blow-ins’ in their 4 x 4’s and watch the creation of a rapidly begrudging 2nd class citizenship.
Is this supposed to be an affordable alternative travel to using a car?
Does anyone know how much subsidies on public transport cost us taxpayers every year?
So I guess when (if) fuel and insurance prices come down then the bus fares will also come down accordingly?
No I thought not!
funny though they found money to make parking free on a Wednesday, this is the last thing we need with high deisel prices, they should be helping us be green, not this, this is a terrible decision
If the bus services was better then i know i would use it but for a family of 5 it’s to expensive (my 14 year old son has to pay full fair as the drive won’t take his passport as proof of ID). It’s just to difficult to get a double buggy on a crowded bus.
I think Magic J is getting a little mixed up. Bus fares are set by bus companies. Car Parking charges are the responsibility of the council!
Raising the price doesn’t seem to improve the service or conditions of the buses. I regularly use the one to the Copthorne area and considering the fact that it is probably the most popular route direct to the hospital, we are still given the most old and tatty buses Arriva can find
I Must agree with Tiny G about the state of the buses on the copthorne route they are old and untidy and as this is the hospital route i feel that they should have easy access buses that go there as its normally people on crutches in wheelchairs or with a few young children with pushchairs and not enough hands to fold them down and keep control of the children that are walking at the same time .
I used to go by bus quite often around Shrewsbury but never do any more. It’s far too expensive and the service hasn’t improved at all. Rather walk or cycle.
The bus fare to Bayston Hill was already far too expensive - even allowing for AA’s standard running costs for a car (including buying it!) and with the price of petrol as it is, it is still cheaper to drive. I thought we were supposed to be encouraged to use public transport, not discouraged by the extortionate cost.
Not very green is it?
from wenlock road to shrewsbury town is £2.50 return at the moment which is already in my opinion, disgusting. At the moement I spend nearly £100 a month on public transport and now it’s going up AGAIN?! Surely this rise (and all others) is just companies getting even more greedier because they’re feeling the pinch too?!
£2.50 from Wenlock road to town! That’s terrible. It’s certainly not helping to get people out of their cars and on to the buses or trains.
this is outrageous, more rip off britain, ever since they got privatised, the prices go up and the quality goes down, the private sector is just ruining this country, asset stripping us and increasing all our costs renaitonalise rail and buses now i say
now that fuel prices are falling fast can we expect a reduction from arriva, sorry silly question. bring back midland red!!
Public transport in most European countries is always so much better (cheaper, cleaner etc.) A one and a half hour train journey from Barcelona Airport to the resort we stayed in cost only 3 euros!! Transport police regularly patrol the carriages and they are quiet and air conditioned. They are so reliable that you can set your watch by them, as you can by the ones in Germany. Ours are a disgrace by comparison, and I shudder to think what impression it gives a visitor to this country, just more ‘rip off Britain’ tales to tell when they get back I expect.
well i am shocked by how much the fares are going up-and yet again the rising costs are to blame. i do wonder what Arriva’s profit margin is though. there is mention of the various saver tickets that are available but a notice on the buses states these are going up in price as well but it fails to state by how much. its diabolical to keep putting prices up, it seems to be a regular occurence with arriva and something needs to be done about it. The service is terrible some days and some of the drivers are so unhelpful and miserable it’s beyond belief.
i don’t see how they can justify such a hike in fares-its unjustified.
shame on this Conservative Council, full of rhetoric but short on action, green on the outside, and blue in the middle, spin over substance, cutting public services and damaging this green transport option in the process