Concessionary coach fares to be scrapped

From October 2011, the coalition government is withdrawing the bus service operator’s grant for long distance coach services. A House of Commons Library research publication report details these plans and also provides background information on concessionary bus fares in England, London, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

This grant is tied to the requirement for coach operators to provide a half-price concessionary fare for the over 60s and disabled people. It remains to be seen what type of concession these services will provide after October 2011.

“Abolition of the subsidy will force some routes to close, they argue, as they will become economically unviable. This will increase the isolation of rural communities as well as the elderly and disabled ... National Express is the biggest corporate recipient of the subsidy, with at least 30% of passengers receiving it on 18 routes.

The bus and coach operator has written to the Department for Transport as well as MPs in the communities facing the biggest impact to ask for an 11th-hour reversal of the decision. Axing the subsidy will save the government just £18 million to £20 million a year, campaigners say.”

The National Express website has a link so anyone can send a letter of protest to the “we are all in this together” coalition government — the link is: http://ebm.cheetahmail.com/c/tag/hBOUoswANcU-lB8c4ywNsmtRm$X/doc.html

www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/SN01499