A North East bus company said it has been forced to increase its fares across the entire network amid the cost of living crisis.

Go North East bus fares across Tyne & Wear, County Durham and Teesside will increase by the time commuters travel on Monday morning (October 31).

It means some single ticket prices for adults will go up by 40p, while a number of return tickets will go by an extra 60p.

Read more: North East radio presenter Gary Wilkinson dies after short illness

It comes as the bus industry is facing the impact of the cost of living crisis with operator Scarlet Band ceasing operations over the weekend.

In a statement, Go North East blamed "big increases in costs" for the decision to raise fares across its services.

A spokesperson said: "Diesel prices, engineering bus parts, tyres, and the running costs of our depots such as gas and electricity are all rising sharply. 

Read more: County Durham bus operator Scarlet Band closes due to 'costs'

"To help us attract and retain bus drivers in response to the national bus driver shortage, which has been affecting our services, we have also increased the rates of pay to our drivers. 

"Unfortunately, all these things combined, mean that we have little option but to increase the prices of our fares and tickets to help us cover some of these."

"We appreciate that we are increasing our fares at a difficult time for everyone, and at a time when we have been experiencing some short-notice journey cancellations.

Read more: Hodgsons Coaches takes over Darlington 16 after Scarlet Band closure

"We are really sorry to do this, but have little option at the moment."

How much will my fare go up by?

Adult single fares are generally set to increase by between 20p on short distance journeys and 40p on long distance journeys.

Returns are set to increase by between 20p and 60p.

There will be a new maximum single fare of £4.20, which is still considerably lower than the previous maximum single fare of £5.30 which was reduced in summer 2021.

Meanwhile, single journeys after 7pm will continue to have a price cap, now a maximum fare of £2.30.

Day ticket price changes

Go North East has also revealed the new prices commuters will have to pay when boarding a bus from Monday morning.

All zones £7.00

County Durham £6.40

Tyne & Wear £6.40

Northumberland £6.40

North Durham £4.70

Newcastle & North Tyneside £4.50

City of Sunderland £4.70

Durham City & South Durham £4.70

Gateshead Borough £4.70

South Tyneside £4.70

Sunderland Central £3.90

X10 £9.50

Family £15.00

7 day and Flexi 5 tickets

The bus company said its 7-day and Flexi 5 ticket are to be priced the same.

All zones £30 / £33.50

County Durham £25 / £29.50

Tyne & Wear £25 / £29.50

Northumberland £25 / £29.50

North Durham £18 / £20

Newcastle & North Tyneside £16 / £17

City of Sunderland £18 / £20

Durham City & South Durham £18 / £20

Gateshead Borough £18 / £20

South Tyneside £14 / £14

Sunderland Central £12.50 / £12.50

X10 £40 / £40

7 day on bus & app / Flexi 5 on app

Angel 21 route saver £22.00

Crusader 27 route saver £21.50

Tyne Valley Ten route saver £22.50

Tyne Valley Ten Plus route saver £28.00

VOLTRA route saver £15.00

28 day tickets

All zones £110

County Durham £90.40

Tyne & Wear £90.40

Northumberland £90.40

North Durham £72

Newcastle & North Tyneside £64

City of Sunderland £72

Durham City & South Durham £72

Gateshead Borough £72

South Tyneside £56

Sunderland Central £50

X10 £124

5 to 25 tickets

There will be some changes to single, day, weekly and monthly and school tripper tickets.

Under 19 single fare (app or bus) £1.40

Under 19 single fare on X10 (app or bus) £2.40

School Tripper (app only) £14

1 day (app or bus) £4.90

7-day (app or bus) £19.50

28-day (app only) £75

Evening and 24 hour tickets

Evening single fare - Maximum of £2.30

Evening ticket £3.60

Evening group ticket (up to 4 people) £7.50

24 Hour ticket £9.50

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