CHANGES to bus fares in Cornwall come into effect next month – while the Government-funded cap on single fares remains at £3 until March 2027, other fares are increasing.

Short bus journeys that were all £2.50 single are becoming either ‘short’, still at £2.50, or ‘medium’ at £2.80. There are changes to many other ticket options too.

The cost of using Truro’s two large park and ride facilities is also going up.

Transport for Cornwall (TfC) has announced the changes, which come into effect on Sunday, April 12.

Over recent years, bus fares in Cornwall have been subsidised in one of two ways. Single journeys are currently capped at £3 through the Government’s national bus fare cap scheme, while other journeys have been subsidised through Cornwall Council’s reduced fares pilot, which is now ending, meaning some fares will need to increase.

TfC explained: “Cornwall Council was awarded £23.5-million from the Department for Transport to deliver a reduced fares pilot in Cornwall. This four-year pilot meant we could significantly cut the cost of bus fares in Cornwall, as well as trial new ticket options for people making regular journeys.

“Over the past four years, more than 12-million tickets have been sold and over 23-million journeys made using discounted tickets offered through the pilot and the national bus fare cap.

“With funding for the pilot now ending, some fares will need to increase from April 12 so that Cornwall’s bus services can remain sustainable into the future.

“We are very aware of the vital role our bus services provide in helping you travel to work and education, as well as access healthcare and leisure. As a partnership, we remain committed to doing our best to keep buses accessible, affordable and sustainable.”

Shorter distance tickets will remain at £2.50 for adults and £2 for under -19s. However, a new fare for shorter journeys of around two to four miles will cost £2.80 for adults and £2.50 for under-19s. ‘Long’ journeys will cost £3 for adults. All return fares are double the price of a single.

Discounted tickets

There will be various ticket options which reduce the cost for regular bus users, including Cornwall day and week tickets which offer unlimited travel across the bus network, as well as town day and week for those making shorter journeys within a town.

The majority of these ticket options will remain at this price until March 2027, with the exception of the child and young people four-week subscription tickets, which will see an increase in July.

Four-week subscription ticket

From April 12, TfC will be introducing a new ticket for adults, giving unlimited travel in Cornwall over a four-week period for £140 for adults, up to £85 for 16 to 18-year-olds and up to £75 for children. This ticket, which the bus service says offers a saving on the weekly ticket, works in the same way as a subscription and auto renews every four weeks.

Child and 16-18 monthly ticket

This ticket will remain available and at the current price until July 26. After that date, you will be able to buy either a weekly ticket or a four-weekly subscription ticket.

19-25 year-old discount

TfC says it will continue to offer discounted travel for 19 to 25 year-olds.

Former Cornwall Council cabinet member Bob Egerton runs the Cornwall Buses website, which often takes a critical look at bus prices in the Duchy.

He said: “The lower fares that were introduced a year ago for 19-25-year-olds that meant that young people in this age range could purchase daily and weekly tickets for the same price as children are going up the most, bringing them much closer to the full adult prices, e.g. all-day ticket will increase from £5 to £8 and all-week from £20 to £32.

“What was the child monthly all Cornwall ticket, and at the time of its introduction was promised to remain at the same price until the end of this school year, is becoming a ‘four-week subscription’ and will increase in price again from the end of the school year on July 26.”

Mr Egerton added: “Not only is the ticket benefit reducing from one month to four weeks, but it will be sold on an ‘auto-renew’ basis meaning that some people who only ever intended to purchase it for a limited period may forget that it auto renews and will find that they have paid for another four weeks that they did not really want.

“It seems that Go Cornwall Bus has learned from subscription experts like Amazon Prime, Netflix, etc. Return fares remain at twice the single fare meaning that there is absolutely no point in ever buying a return ticket.”

He added: “Overall, the price increases are clearly designed to squeeze as much money as possible out of passengers without breaching the £3 maximum single fare. What will happen to bus fares once the government £3 cap funding expires next year is anybody’s guess.”

Fares are also going up at the Truro park and ride facilities at Langarth and Tregurra from April 1. The new prices will be:

Day ticket – £2.70

Family day ticket (two adults, up to four children 5-15) – £5.40

Group saver (up to five adults after 9am only) – £6.80

Five-day ticket – £12.50

Twenty-day ticket – £45.40

Sixty-day ticket – £111.80

Mr Egerton said: “It is somewhat ironic that, if the council wishes to increase car park prices, it has to go through months of public consultations and every councillor feels obliged to argue why the increases should not happen in their particular patch and there is much wailing and gnashing of teeth about it.

“But when it comes to bus fares, the council can just post something on its website two weeks before the proposed increases and there is nothing that anybody can do about it and very little inclination on the part of councillors to try to do anything about it, that is assuming that they even notice that it is happening.”