The leader of Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC), Cllr Lucy Nethsingha, has condemned the price hikes announced by Stagecoach for the county. 

The bus operator has confirmed the increase in bus fares for passengers using its services in Cambridgeshire will come into effect from Sunday, January 8, 2023. 

Stagecoach says it has taken ‘steps to protect its passengers’ with below inflation increases, with the new ticket prices adding on average 39p onto the cost of daily bus travel for adults. 

Cllr Nethsingha has said she is “absolutely outraged” to hear Stagecoach’s plans, and that to announce it just before Christmas is “heartless”. 

But she said following CCC’s intervention, Stagecoach agreed to delay the increases until the New Year. 

“I am furious. This is an added blow following the bus company’s decision to axe or reduce more than 30 services and comes after they posted notice of significant profits, as a group, earlier in the year,” she said. 

“These price hikes, which will see ‘large group’ tickets increase by £2, leaves Cambridgeshire residents facing punishing price rises just as they are also trying to cope with paying rising heating and shopping bills.” 

Cllr Nethsingha is urging Stagecoach to “re-think” these price increases, and says she will continue to work tirelessly on the need for a “different relationship with bus companies".

She said: “We are working with the Greater Cambridge Partnership and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, as well as lobbying the government to try to ensure those who repy on buses are not constantly left at the mercy of Stagecoach’s profit margin.”