Welsh Labour criticised over £2 bus fare pledge
Emily Price
Welsh Labour has been criticised for pledging to introduce a £2 cap on all single bus fares if they lead the next Welsh Government, when they already have the power to roll out the policy now.
The party says the fare cap – set at a lower level than the £3 cap across England – would be introduced in Wales in April next year, covering everyone aged 22 to 59.
The Welsh Government already offers under 21s a £1 cap on fares, with over 60s granted free bus travel.
Welsh Labour will also include in its manifesto plans to introduce 100 new bus routes across the country.
The changes would be rolled out between 2027 and the end of the decade if Labour wins the Senedd election.
Recent polling predicts that Plaid Cymru is on track to be the largest party in the Senedd after the May 7 election.
They are closely followed by Reform UK, while Labour’s vote share has plummeted to around 14%.
The Conservatives in the Senedd have pointed out that in England, Chancellor Rachel Reeves had decided not to renew the £2 bus fare cap introduced by the previous Tory UK government when it expired at the end of 2024 – effectively ending the scheme across the border.
Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Transport and Infrastructure, Sam Rowlands said: “Labour’s indication that they will address this issue is long overdue, though given they are in power now, they should be getting on with it as opposed to making this a post-election promise.
“It was the UK Conservative Government that first introduced the £2 bus fare cap, back in 2023, three years ago. Labour’s Rachel Reeves, raised the cap by 50%, to £3.
“The Welsh Labour Government, propped up routinely by Plaid Cymru, cannot be trusted to expand the bus network to more rural areas outside of their electoral heartlands, as they have repeatedly failed to for 27 years – only the Welsh Conservatives can.”
‘Fragmented’
A Welsh Labour source said the new bus fare policy is a “future pledge” that builds on the Welsh Government’s current offer – including the £1 fare cap for under 21s which was introduced last year.
The Welsh Conservatives say Welsh Labour has failed for over 27 years to improve rural connectivity, including in their recent Bus Bill.
Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales Ken Skates says the landmark legislation will “end the era of fragmented services forced on Wales by the Tories deregulating the bus network”.
He said: “From now on in Wales, buses will be run by the people, not just for profit.
“These changes are about making our transport system fairer. Cheaper journeys, more routes to the places where passengers want them to go, a bus service that serves those that use it.
“We want to unlock opportunity by connecting people to their jobs, their hospitals, their town centres, their libraries. And Welsh Labour will take action to do that.
“Reform UK trade in angry but empty promises. Welsh Labour wants you to be better off, and Welsh Labour are delivering.”
‘Welcome step’
The Confederation of Passenger Transport welcomed Labour’s bus fare manifesto pledge.
Aaron Hill, Director of CPT Cymru, said: “Buses are Wales’s favourite form of public transport, carrying nearly 200,000 passengers a day. They’re a green, affordable and convenient alternative to travelling by car.
“Bus operators welcome ideas and policies that will encourage people across Wales to take public transport more often.
“Wales has been slow, in comparison to the rest of Great Britain, to invest in lower bus fares so a cap of £2 would be a welcome step in boosting public transport usage.
“It is vital that any cap is backed with adequate funding, and that a strategy is in place to capture gains for the long term if the cap is for a limited period.
“Bus operators welcome Welsh Labour’s pledge to introduce 100 new bus routes. We stand ready to work with the party on identifying pockets of demand and on discussing how this goal could be fulfilled, while ensuring value for money.
“Public funding under the current Welsh administration has not always been sufficient to meet the level of ambition set out by politicians.
“It is vital that that, as a nation, we bridge this gap and that pledges are backed by hard cash. All public investment in buses must be designed to generate value for money and to deliver a visible impact for passengers.”
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It’s all very well for opposition parties to criticise Labour but what are they promising for bus services? Silence.
If a cheap bus fare is their opening policy offer, what’s next? A replacement bike if the bus don’t run? All the parties need to up their game dramatically otherwise the bogeyman will get in on the back of the indifferent/hostile vote.
Is it just me but doesn’t Ken Skates’ public persona/image/ simply scream “Swiss Tony “ from the fast show ?
Smiler Skates had his smile sown on while on holiday in Turkey years ago.
Odd that the Cons are championing the regulation of bus fares. What would Maggie say about that?
To be fair to Labour they’re running for re-election, what are you going to expect them not to hold anything back for the next manifesto? Bearing in mind that Labour usually do rudimentary cost/benefit balance, so it’s likely that something else will get cut or taxes raised instead, which they can’t do right now.
This 2 pound bus fare sounds nice, except where are the buses. In most of our cities, the numbers have reduced or get cancelled at the last minute and in rural areas, they hardly run. Making most of us reliant on our cars. And if we can’t drive, well, we don’t keep our jobs for very long. And as a cyclist in most weathers, cycling should be an option until you need to securely store the cycle and hope it is still there when its time to go home.
This should be a flat rate rather than a cap to speed up boarding and journey times by avoiding the need to explain which bus stop near the post box opposite the OneStop just past the junction with a big road I’ve forgotten the name of because I haven’t made this trip for a while.