Bus passengers across Penrith and Solway could lose vital services, if a 50 per cent fare hike goes ahead, a former MP has warned.
Under plans announced by the Labour Government, the current bus fare pricing cap of £2 will rise to £3 from December 31st.
At the General Election in July, the Conservative manifesto committed to continuing the cap.
The increase is likely to be felt sharply by the most vulnerable in society and have a negative impact on both young and old passengers.
But former Conservative MP for Workington, Mark Jenkinson, says the increase in prices could see a drop in passenger numbers and ultimately a reduction in services.
He wants Transport Secretary Louise Haigh to abandon the plan to hike fares to protect bus users across Penrith and Solway.
In the last parliament Mark was a champion of local bus services, successfully securing government funding and working with operators to restore services that had been lost previously, when the then-Labour council took the decision to stop funding bus services entirely.
“Labour might argue the fare increase is ‘just a pound’, but the cumulative effect here and across the country could be a disaster,” Mark said.
“As fares go up, it is likely passenger numbers will go down and ultimately bus companies may be faced with stopping more vital routes and ending essential services – just as we’ve started to see some restored with funding agreed by the previous Conservative government.
“The impact of the increases will be felt right across the board from young people using buses to access education, to workers and older people who have the bus as their only source of transport to go to appointments, go shopping or visit family and friends.
“I know that many new rural MPs have little knowledge of our rural way of life, as we’ve seen from their disastrous budget decisions, but they need to come out of hiding and stand up for Cumbria - by standing up to their government as they attack our services and our very way of life.
“The cost to people could work out to be hundreds of pounds a year to regular users, let alone the environmental impact of discouraging sustainable travel as people turn back to cars. But there is still time for the Transport Secretary to change this decision and I urge her to do so,” he added.
