Sara Britcliffe, Member of Parliament for Hyndburn and Haslingden, has welcomed extra Government investment of £7,025,000 in bus services across Lancashire, supporting passengers in Hyndburn and Haslingden.
The funding means people across the Lancashire area have benefitted from a total of well over £39million in funding from the Government to support bus services since 2022.
The investment comes from the Government’s new Network North plan, funded through the axing of HS2. Network North announced significant further Government investment to deliver better buses across the North and the Midlands with an additional £1 billion to help local areas deliver their Bus Service Improvement Plans and make buses more frequent, more reliable and easier to use. Over £770 million of this funding is for the North, with almost £230 million going to the Midlands.
To help people with the cost of living and save on everyday travel costs, the Government have also invested £200 million to extend the bus fare cap, with single bus tickets capped at £2 outside London until the end of October 2023 and then at £2.50 until 30 November 2024.
The £2 fare cap has cut travel costs, particularly in rural areas, where buses are crucial for so many people to get around, with the average fare dropping by 10.8 per cent in rural and non-metropolitan parts of England.
Last year the Government announced that Lancashire would receive £30.5million for its Bus Service Improvement Plan, in September a further £2million was announced. With the most recent announcement of £7million extra, that means the county has nearly £40million to improve bus transport for residents.
Commenting, Sara Britcliffe MP said:
Many people in Hyndburn and Haslingden rely on bus services to get to work or access activities in their free time. It is vital we invest in better services and improved routes for people.
This funding makes a monumental difference in enabling us to do that. It compliments the work already ongoing to install items like live departure boards at bus stops and means we can look at better & more reliable services.
We are changing the way things work in Hyndburn and Haslingden and improving bus services is key to that.
