Transport chief defends £2 bus fare cap but accepts tram support plea
THE Transport Secretary says it is “perfectly reasonable” for Nottingham’s tram network to ask for more support in recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.
Mark Harper defended the Government’s £2 cap on bus fares during a visit to Nottinghamshire, despite NET bosses having warned that the scheme was creating an “uneven playing field.”
Both NET and Nottingham City Council have lobbied the Government on the issue, but Mr Harper says he is “very happy” with the way in which the bus fare cap scheme is working. The programme is currently set to run until the end of 2024.
Mr Harper visited Worksop’s bus station on Thursday to talk to Stagecoach bosses about how the bus fare cap was working for them. The Transport Secretary was later travelling to Beeston to meet MPS Darren Henry and Ben Bradley at Beeston station.
Asked about NET’S argument around the bus fare cap scheme, Mr Harper told the Post: “It’s a perfectly reasonable point for tram operators to make.
“On the bus service, we really want to prioritise that because it is the most popular form of public transport and the £2 bus fare, I think one of the key bits about that is the simplicity of it. I think we’re very happy with that and the way that’s working, hence why we use some of the reallocated HS2 money to extend it through to the end of this year.”
In terms of how Nottingham’s tram network could also be supported, Mr Harper went on to discuss the merits of the new East Midlands Combined County Authority. The organisation, headed up by a new East Midlands Mayor being chosen on May 2, is being given extensive powers and billions of pounds to deliver projects across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
The authority itself is set to run Nottingham’s tram network directly when Tramlink’s PFI contract comes to an end in 2034. Mr Harper said: “Whoever wins [the East Midlands Mayor election] will obviously have a very significant capital budget and they will then be able to look at how that money is invested. Importantly, not according to central government priorities, but according to the priorities for the areas that they serve.
“Moving more decision making into the the elected regional mayors I think is partly how you deal with those sorts of issues.” Mr Harper also used his visit to discuss plans for a new service between Sheffield and London King’s Cross that would stop at Retford and Worksop.
Firstgroup’s application for its operator Hull Trains would see two return journeys a day and the company claims travel times would be better than those offered by East Midlands Railway. The plan is subject to a consultation, with the potential for services to start in late 2025, but Mr Harper says the Government is fully supportive of companies providing “competition for passengers.”