England bus fare cap falls to £2 for 2027 under government plan

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England bus fare cap cut

Highlights

The UK government will cap single bus fares in England outside London at £2 for all of 2027, down from the previous £3 limit.
The £2 cap is financed by £400 million in new government funding, redirected from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero budget through changes from grants to loans.
Additional support includes over £100 million for the bus sector in 2026, free bus travel for 5-15-year-olds during August, and more than £3 billion committed for buses over the next three years.

Fare cap rollout and funding plan

As reported by GOV.UK, citing the UK government, the new cap applies to single bus tickets in England outside London for the full 2027 calendar year. Ministers say the policy could help millions of passengers save up to a third on a single journey, with larger gains for longer-distance routes in rural and coastal areas where fares are often higher.

The £2 cap replaces the existing £3 fare ceiling and is funded through £400 million of additional government support. The government says the package is financed by reprioritising the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero budget, including a shift in international climate funding from grants to loans.

Wider support for bus networks

The announcement sits alongside broader bus investment and reform measures already set out by ministers. Earlier in 2026, the government announced more than £100 million of extra support for the sector, including free bus travel for children aged 5 to 15 on participating services in August under the Great British Summer Savings Scheme.

The wider package also includes funding for local transport authorities and operators to help manage rising sector costs and maintain services. The government says it has now confirmed individual allocations for local transport authorities, while a separate commitment of more than £3 billion for buses over the next three years and reforms under the Bus Services Act 2025 are intended to give local authorities more control over how services are run.

We previously reported on the UK’s plan to reintroduce a £2 cap on single bus fares in England from January 2027 for a 12-month period, aimed at easing cost-of-living pressures and cutting some fares by up to a third. That article also outlined the funding approach, including diverting more than £400 million from the energy department budget and shifting parts of international climate finance support from grants to loans.

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