Darlington passengers miss out on £1 bus fares as North East benefits

Bus journeys in the region now cost just £1 for people aged 21 and under - but the offer only applies in a select number of local authorities, including County Durham. 

It means passengers in Darlington and the wider Tees Valley area must continue to pay the current rates, as there are currently no plans to replicate the scheme. 

The £1 fare has been introduced by transport chiefs in a drive to make public transport more affordable. Cheaper prices and multi-modal tickets for adults are due to launch later this year. Funding for the scheme is part of the government’s Bus Service Improvement Plan, which the Tees Valley did not receive. 

A spokesman for the Tees Valley Combined Authority said: “This £1 scheme is being funded through Bus Service Improvement Plan allocations the authorities to the north of us received. We don't have the funding available to offer the same within the Tees Valley at the moment for operators to put on a £1 service.”

Transport Minister Richard Holden (Image: PA)

Roads minister Richard Holden hopes the North East would act as a pilot area for the cheaper fare to be rolled out across the UK.

The North West Durham MP added: “Particularly for people in rural areas like mine, or Hexham, or Bishop Auckland, often those journeys can be quite expensive at the moment. It used to be a fiver to go from Hexham to Newcastle, so to reduce a £10 return journey down to £2 is absolutely transformational.”

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However, local officials have admitted that services must become more reliable to make the offer a success.

Cllr Martin Gannon, who chairs the Joint Transport Committee, said the network remains under “enormous strain” and that the business model for running buses had been “destroyed” – as he called for Government support to become a permanent fixture in order to guarantee services’ future. 

"You can travel from Durham to Chester-le-Street, Low Fell, Gateshead, Newcastle on the 21. But if you want to go a mile east or west of that, the bus services just don’t exist. That is in the central conurbation and it is even worse in rural areas.”