Council waiting to hear if £925m Budget bus funding will benefit Shropshire

Shropshire Council is waiting to find out whether it will benefit from the £925m allocated in last week’s Budget for improving bus services across the country in the 2025/26 financial year.

In July this year the council submitted an updated Shropshire Bus Service Improvement Plan to the Department for Transport outlining its plans for transforming bus services across the county. The BSIP has cross-party support and is supported by bus operators through the Shropshire Bus Enhanced Partnership.

Aspirations for 2025 onward include extended hours and frequency for core services, and for both park and ride services, plus Sunday services, and the countywide roll-out of the Connect On-Demand service, along with electric buses and better bus information. Improvements to cross-border services and community transport are also proposed. It’s estimated that these improvements would cost £73.5m.

A number of improvements within the BSIP have already been made following the award of £1.8m of Network North funding by the Department for Transport (DfT) in July 2024.

Ian Nellins, Shropshire Council’s deputy Leader and Cabinet member with responsibility for public transport, said:

“Public transport is essential for growth in the county and wider region and our BSIP sets out those plans that with investment could transform the current public transport offer in Shropshire. We believe that through this plan we have made an extremely strong case to deliver a truly innovative and modern bus network – creating the opportunity for bus to become a realistic first choice of travel for residents and visitors, and unlocking all the associated benefits that would bring.

“We are now waiting to hear if we’ll be awarded additional funding from the DfT to help make these plans a reality.”

Meanwhile, it was announced in the Budget that the existing fare cap of £2 for a single journey will be raised to £3, but with the cap remaining in place until 31 December 2025.

The cap will mean no single bus fare on routes included in the scheme will exceed £3, and routes where fares are less than £3 will only be allowed to increase by inflation in the normal way.

Local bus services associated with the £3 fare cap scheme will be published on the Shropshire Council website once confirmed. The following operators have signed up to the scheme previously and are expected to continue their involvement, but passengers are encouraged to check with their bus operator if they have any queries;

• Arriva Midlands
• Banga Buses
• BP Brown Travel (trading as Select Bus Services)
• Lakeside Coaches*
• Lugg Valley Travel
• Minsterley Motors