£2 fare cap comes to Scotland:

Deerfold · 24 Jul 2026

overthewater said:
Again Were on about Scottish Government;

The Very first post in the thread: https://www.scotsman.com/news/trans...-from-ps2-trial-bus-fare-cap-revealed-5450313
Dated 20th December 2025.

The scheme was launch in Shetland six weeks later; https://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/new...apped-at-2-from-today-as-part-of-trial-425883

So they did have it going within 6 weeks, not "they hoped to have it going"? The announcement was clear that was for the trial area.

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Volvodart · Tuesday at 15:02

The extended fare cap pilot is to start next Monday 7 September 2026 details and area awaiting First Ministers speech to Parliament.

overthewater · Tuesday at 15:14

Volvodart said:
The extended fare cap pilot is to start next Monday 7 September 2026 details and area awaiting First Ministers speech to Parliament.

Surly its Strathclyde, he only 1 week late with the promise

Volvodart · Tuesday at 15:15

overthewater said:
Surly its Strathclyde, he only 1 week late with the promise

They were recently talking about West Central Scotland which is different.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Tuesday at 15:30 ==

Volvodart said:
They were recently talking about West Central Scotland which is different.

It is actually "Glasgow and the West of Scotland".

The Daily Record says "The new fares structure will be implemented across Glasgow, Ayrshire, Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire, Lanarkshire and Inverclyde."

overthewater · Tuesday at 16:58

Here is the Newspapers: So Argyll and Bute has missed out this time? "The national" has made it clearly by saying its covering SPT area. The big question has to be which areas is going to be next in 2027, I suspect it will be one area each year added to the scheme, until next election in 2031, with Talk being Lothians being the last area to get it.

Bus fares across Glasgow and the west of Scotland to be capped

Passengers will pay £2 for single bus journeys from Monday, September 7.

www.dailyrecord.co.uk

Bus fares will be capped at £2 for single journeys across Glasgow and the west of Scotland from next week, John Swinney has announced. The First Minister used his Programme for Government statement to reveal the change will take effect from Monday, September 7. The new fares structure will be implemented across Glasgow, Ayrshire, Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire, Lanarkshire and Inverclyde. It follows a successful pilot scheme which saw a fare cap introduced across the Highlands. £2 fare caps are already in place in Manchester and Liverpool, while passengers in London pay just £1.75 for a single journey.

Glasgow bus fares to be capped at £2 per journey from next week, SNP announce

BUS fares in Glasgow and parts of the west of Scotland will be capped at £2 per journey from next week, the Scottish Government has said ...

www.thenational.scot

After a successful pilot scheme in the Highlands and Islands, the price cap on tickets will be extended to cover the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) area from Monday, September 7. SPT operates and manages bus stations including Buchanan, Hamilton, Greenock and East Kilbride, along with bus interchanges at Govan and Partick. On Tuesday, the Scottish Government also said that it would implement “a national rollout of £2 bus fares across Scotland by the end of this Parliament”. The £2 cap on bus fares for a single journey was a flagship pledge of the SNP's 2026 Holyrood election campaign.

Speaking during his Programme for Government, which sets out his priorities and plans as leader, John Swinney said on Tuesday: “It is our ambition and intention to put more money in families’ pockets, building on what is already the most generous cost-of-living support package anywhere in the United Kingdom.

“The national rollout of our £2 bus cap has already begun. It is in place right now, already, in the Highlands and Islands.

“We promised to extend it first to Glasgow and to the west of Scotland – we will keep that promise.

“I can confirm today that bus fares in the west of Scotland – be that Glasgow, Renfrewshire, Ayrshire, Dunbartonshire, Lanarkshire, or Inverclyde – will be capped at £2, and the £2 bus fare will start this coming Monday morning.”

Volvodart · Tuesday at 17:01

overthewater said:
Here is the Newspapers: So Argyll and Bute has missed out this time? "The national" has made it clearly by saying its covering SPT area. The big question has to be which areas is going to be next in 2027, I suspect it will be one area each year added to the scheme, until next election in 2031, with Talk being Lothians being the last area to get it.

Bus fares across Glasgow and the west of Scotland to be capped

Passengers will pay £2 for single bus journeys from Monday, September 7.

www.dailyrecord.co.uk

Glasgow bus fares to be capped at £2 per journey from next week, SNP announce

BUS fares in Glasgow and parts of the west of Scotland will be capped at £2 per journey from next week, the Scottish Government has said ...

www.thenational.scot

Argyll and Bute are in the Highlands scheme.

overthewater · Tuesday at 17:05

Volvodart said:
Argyll and Bute are in the Highlands scheme.

So the rest of Strathclyde was getting it then

.

So that means you can now travel from Glasgow to wick or Campbeltown for £2,

How will this work on Express coaches from Cumbernauld to Glasgow? I doubt Citylink or Stagecoach will cut its fares.

JKP · Tuesday at 17:52

overthewater said:
So the rest of Strathclyde was getting it then .

So that means you can now travel from Glasgow to wick or Campbeltown for £2,

How will this work on Express coaches from Cumbernauld to Glasgow? I doubt Citylink or Stagecoach will cut its fares.

It is the cross boundary fares that will be interesting. I am thinking especially about Houston’s 101/102 where the SPT area is in the middle but D&G, Scottish Borders and Midlothian are not yet in the scheme.

The logical way forward would be by Transport Partnership areas.

Deerfold · Tuesday at 19:02

overthewater said:
How will this work on Express coaches from Cumbernauld to Glasgow? I doubt Citylink or Stagecoach will cut its fares.

Why not, if they're being paid to?

overthewater · Tuesday at 19:17

Deerfold said:
Why not, if they're being paid to?

It was more to do with the fact Citylink and Stagecoach express might not reduce the fare for outwith the area, because no on buys singles on the Stagecoach Express to Glasgow. The single is higher than East Scotland Dayrider.

HighlandStorm · Tuesday at 19:31

What happens when a new route is proposed in the fare cap area? They’re wouldn’t be an existing pre-cap fare to work back from.

I think the £2 single journey cap should be a short(ish)term step on the route to capped multimodal transport.

Deerfold · Tuesday at 19:36

overthewater said:
It was more to do with the fact Citylink and Stagecoach express might not reduce the fare for outwith the area, because no on buys singles on the Stagecoach Express to Glasgow. The single is higher than East Scotland Dayrider.

Is that still true if the single is £2?

Stan Drews · Tuesday at 19:39

overthewater said:
Here is the Newspapers: So Argyll and Bute has missed out this time? "The national" has made it clearly by saying its covering SPT area. The big question has to be which areas is going to be next in 2027, I suspect it will be one area each year added to the scheme, until next election in 2031, with Talk being Lothians being the last area to get it.

Bus fares across Glasgow and the west of Scotland to be capped

Passengers will pay £2 for single bus journeys from Monday, September 7.

www.dailyrecord.co.uk

Glasgow bus fares to be capped at £2 per journey from next week, SNP announce

BUS fares in Glasgow and parts of the west of Scotland will be capped at £2 per journey from next week, the Scottish Government has said ...

www.thenational.scot

Interesting they hail the success of a pilot scheme that hasn’t concluded and which hasn’t yet been evaluated!
Don’t you just love political spin!!

route101 · Tuesday at 20:09

JKP said:
It is the cross boundary fares that will be interesting. I am thinking especially about Houston’s 101/102 where the SPT area is in the middle but D&G, Scottish Borders and Midlothian are not yet in the scheme.

The logical way forward would be by Transport Partnership areas.

Fare Edinburgh to Dumfries is £14 single.

JKP · Tuesday at 20:37

route101 said:
Fare Edinburgh to Dumfries is £14 single.

And the fare from say Biggar to Edinburgh will be? It surely cannot be £2.00.

AndrewTaylor95 · Tuesday at 20:38

route101 said:
Fare Edinburgh to Dumfries is £14 single.

JKP said:
And the fare from say Biggar to Edinburgh will be? It surely cannot be £2.00.

Obviously it won't be Edinburgh isn't in Strathclyde

Stan Drews · Tuesday at 22:14

JKP said:
And the fare from say Biggar to Edinburgh will be? It surely cannot be £2.00.

You are correct, it wouldn’t be. The £2 fare cap will only apply to journeys wholly within the SPT area. On cross boundary services the cap will apply to the boundary stop and the regular fare beyond - same as happens in the original HiTrans area.

Kite159 · Tuesday at 23:15

So something like Glasgow to Largs or Glasgow to Ayr will become £2?

Statto · Tuesday at 23:44

Would the £2 cap apply to the 500 Glasgow Airport Express, the single fare on that service is £11?

Scotrail344Lad · Wednesday at 07:47

Is there a rough timetable for the £2 Bus Fares?

Volvodart · Wednesday at 08:10

Statto said:
Would the £2 cap apply to the 500 Glasgow Airport Express, the single fare on that service is £11?

Premium fares are excluded from the pilot so that would appear to be no.

overthewater · Wednesday at 08:22

Scotrail344Lad said:
Is there a rough timetable for the £2 Bus Fares?

It will be extended to all areas by 2031, please remember there is a budget black hole of £5 billion with the Scottish public finances, give or take so that has to get sorted out first before anything else can be done long term.

JKP · Wednesday at 08:59

Stan Drews said:
You are correct, it wouldn’t be. The £2 fare cap will only apply to journeys wholly within the SPT area. On cross boundary services the cap will apply to the boundary stop and the regular fare beyond - same as happens in the original HiTrans area.

Many thanks. I thought that would be the case.

Stan Drews · Wednesday at 10:55

Volvodart said:
Premium fares are excluded from the pilot so that would appear to be no.

The determining factor is whether the concessionary schemes apply to the route, so the 500 should be part of the £2 fare cap.

pompey_monkey · Wednesday at 15:48

Stan Drews said:
The determining factor is whether the concessionary schemes apply to the route, so the 500 should be part of the £2 fare cap.

I am close to the scheme and can confirm the 500 is eligible. It's an already busy service so keen to see what happens there...

HighlandStorm · Wednesday at 16:08

Stan Drews said:
You are correct, it wouldn’t be. The £2 fare cap will only apply to journeys wholly within the SPT area. On cross boundary services the cap will apply to the boundary stop and the regular fare beyond - same as happens in the original HiTrans area.

What happens at the interface of two areas ? If the SPT area touches the HiTrans zone in places, would a journey across the boundary be £2 or £4?

David M · Wednesday at 16:15

Opens up numerous cans of worms but the main one is that once introduced it will be almost impossible to go back to operators setting their own fares as the jump from one week at £2 to the next at whatever will cause uproar.
Can't help feeling that the whole thing is misguided - both here in Scotland and in England. Billionaire brothers will be rubbing their hands in glee.

Stan Drews · Wednesday at 19:43

David M said:
Opens up numerous cans of worms but the main one is that once introduced it will be almost impossible to go back to operators setting their own fares as the jump from one week at £2 to the next at whatever will cause uproar.
Can't help feeling that the whole thing is misguided - both here in Scotland and in England. Billionaire brothers will be rubbing their hands in glee.

I think you are right that the genie is never going back in the bottle. The fare may change in time as we have seen in England, but it will be a brave politician that decides to bin it altogether. The scheme (like the concessionary schemes) is intended to be revenue neutral for bus operators, so it should in theory be the public “rubbing their hands in glee”, rather than any bus company owners.

AilsaBus · Wednesday at 22:03

It makes no sense why they don't just introduce it Scotland wide instead of bit by bit.

Volvodart · Wednesday at 22:09

AilsaBus said:
It makes no sense why they don't just introduce it Scotland wide instead of bit by bit.

It is going to cost a lot of money which they do not have at present.

£2 fare cap comes to Scotland:

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