Could Lancashire’s £1 evening and Sunday bus fares be saved by Andy Burnham's £2 cap?

Lancashire transport bosses are assessing whether the return of the national £2 bus fare cap will enable them to reverse a price hike planned for evening and Sunday services across the county.

Since January 2023, bus passengers in Lancashire have been able to travel for a flat £1 charge after 7pm from Monday to Saturday – an offer that was extended to all day Sundays and bank holidays around 18 months later.

However, last month, the Lancashire Combined County Authority (LCCA) voted to increase the discounted fare to £2 from mid-September. The devolution body heard that the £5m annual cost of delivering the scheme – under which 3.5 million £1 journeys were made between April 2025 and March 2026 – had become “unaffordable”.

A report setting out a funding shortfall of at least £1m noted that the sustainability of the local evening and Sunday rate was dependent on the majority of bus operators in Lancashire also taking part in the voluntary, England-wide £3 fare cap. That is because the difference between the two rates largely determines how much the LCCA has to reimburse bus firms for their involvement in the county initiative.

Since then, however, new Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced that the nationwide cap will reduce from £3 to £2 – its original level – from next January. That would mean the Lancashire evening and Sunday cap would be equal to the national round-the-clock limit for a single adult fare – essentially ending the latter scheme by default and offering no additional local benefit for passengers in the county.

However, should the £1 evening and Sunday rate remain in Lancashire, the difference to the national cap would be only £1, instead of the current £2 – thereby reducing the reimbursement costs for the LCCA, because a greater proportion would be covered by the government.

Asked by the Local Democracy Reporting Service whether the new national cap would make it possible to maintain the Lancashire evening and Sunday £1 fare, a spokesperson for the LCCA said: “The implications of the government’s announcement are currently being assessed, including any potential impact on the previous decision regarding Lancashire’s evening and Sunday fare offer.”

It is also unclear what effect the reintroduction of the £2 cap will have on when Lancashire’s evening and Sunday cap might end. It had been due to terminate next March at the same time the £3 national limit had also been set to come to a stop. The new £2 national limit is now due to run until the end of 2027.

Not all Lancashire operators are taking part in the local scheme amid claims that it is not financially viable for them to do so as a result of the level of reimbursement. Preston Bus withdrew from the initiative back in April, while Blackpool Transport partakes only in the Sunday and bank holiday element, not the evening offer.

The Lancashire cap is funded from the Local Authority Bus Grant the government provides to the LCCA.

A report presented to a meeting of the combined authority last month revealed that the £18.6m awarded to the county for 2026/27 is £560,000 less than the total amount received by Lancashire County Council and Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen councils last year, when the trio received separate bus grant allocations.

Against that backdrop – and the increased cost of subsidising commercially unviable bus routes in the county – members were told that changes to the evening and Sunday £1 rate were required.

In order to address the funding gap, they were told that they could retain the £1 fare until January and then end the scheme in its entirety – or increase the price to £2 from 13th September, which was the option they chose.

Alternatively, they could also have opted to keep the £1 cap in place until the end of the financial year in March 2027, but that would have come at the expense of supporting non-viable services.

Commenting on the reintroduction of the £2 national cap this week, Cllr Phil Riley, chair of the LCCA’s transport committee and leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, said:

“[This] is great news for residents across Lancashire. Affordable bus travel helps people get to work, education, healthcare and other essential services.

“Good transport is key to economic growth. Cheaper fares will help households with the cost of living, support our town centres and make it easier for people to access opportunities.

“We will continue working with Government and transport partners to improve services, strengthen connections and deliver a public transport network that works for Lancashire residents and businesses.”