Bus operator Arriva has lost its appeal following a disagreement over fares with Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen. 

The Department for Transport reviewed Arriva’s appeal after it said the Tees Valley Combined Authority’s (TVCA) pay offer for reimbursing concessionary fares was not enough. 

But an independent adjudicator appointed by the government ruled in favour of TVCA. 

Arriva lost responsibility for dozens of services across the Tees Valley, including Darlington, earlier this year after failing to reach a funding agreement with TVCA. 

It blamed the authority for a 28 per cent cut in funding for the English National Concessionary Fares Scheme (ENCTS) - a programme which provides revenue reimbursement for carriage of free bus travel for eligible people to ensure operators aren’t financially worse off.

The reimbursement rates proposed, Arriva said, would not cover the costs of running a significant number of its services. 

It added: “These reimbursement rates fall well below the levels paid by other authorities within the region and, in our view, are not in line with the latest concessionary guidance issued by the Department for Transport.”

However, TVCA insists the changes are a commercial decision made by Arriva, not the authority and is determined to ensure passengers get value for money. The authority argued that it offered a “fair settlement” which was approved by Stagecoach and Go North East, two other operators in the region. 

The Northern Echo: Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen (Image: TVCA)

And now the Conservative mayor is celebrating after the government ruled in favour of his authority. 

“This may not be the biggest or sexiest announcement, but it is an extremely important one for local people,” said mayor Houchen. 

“At a time where councils are stretched financially, I am pleased that we held our nerve and didn’t bow to the greedy tactics employed by Arriva.

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“This independent judgement will be fantastic news to our local councils who will no longer have to fork out millions of pounds over the odds to satisfy Arriva’s shareholders.

“This decision also sends a message to Arriva that they cannot put profit before people, and that if they want to operate in Teesside, Darlington, and Hartlepool they need to provide a quality service without ripping local people off.”

A spokespeoman for Arriva North East said: “Arriva accepts the decision of the independent adjudicator. We’d like to reassure our customers that the bus network in operation is not affected by this decision.”