Stagecoach has announced changes to two services that mainly affect buses around school and college start and finish times.
From 31st August 2025, Service 5 Overton – Morecambe – Carnforth will have a new timetable. The changes are around school times and are aimed at improving reliability.
Also from that date there will be a new timetable for services 40 40C and 41 Lancaster – Garstang – Preston. The changes are mainly in the morning and afternoon peak periods and will cater for changes to start and finish times at Preston College, although a number of other adjustments to improve reliability will be made at the same time.
In what appears to be a co-ordinated move across much of the Stagecoach Group, bus fares are set to rise in July.
The government’s national £3 fare cap restricts bus companies’ ability to increase fares, but it does still allow some scope, especially with daily and weekly tickets that are not covered by the cap.
Locally, Stagecoach says that its £2 fare will rise to £2.10 and journeys priced at £2.30 will rise to £2.40 but that there will be no other changes to single fares and the £3 cap remains in place.
The company claims that most customers will not see a change to the fare they pay, but the popular Bay Area DayRider ticket, which currently operates as a surrogate day return for many passengers, will increase from £5.70 to £6 and will no longer offer a discount over two capped single fares. The Lancashire Day Ticket, which covers a wider area, remains at £10 and the North West Explorer , covering Lancashire, Cumbria and into Scotland and Northumbria has also been frozen at £12.
Child and Young Person Fares
Child and Young Person (under-19) fares are also going up, with slightly higher increases in percentage terms to bring them up to 2/3rds of the Adult fare. The £1.30 and £1.50 child fares both increase by 10p
Despite the steadily diminishing number of passengers paying in cash, bus companies still feel the need to round-up fares to the next 10p to reduce the need to handle change, which inevitably means higher percentage increases for some fares. A major victim this time is the Child and Young Person DayRider, which rises from £4 to £4.30 – a 7.5% increase compared to the 5.3% applied to the adult ticket, both increases being above the prevailing level of inflation.
Weekly Tickets
The 7-day Bay Area MegaRider is increased by £1 to a new rate of £22 but still offers a substantial discount over paying day or single fares. The North West Gold MegaRider also goes up by £1 to £37.
When?!
In a move that makes it look as if Stagecoach desperately needs the money, the increase comes into effect on 16 July – a Wednesday! It appears that the days when new fares were introduced on a Sunday, to give drivers and passengers a chance to get used to them on a quieter day of the week, are long gone and perhaps, in the days of payment by card, phone or app, no longer necessary.
Lancaster Bus Users' Group 