Preston Bus to increase school bus prices by another 40 per cent amid cost of living crisis

Schools in Fulwood were made aware of the new prices towards the end of term, with Preston Bus confirming that weekly school passes will increase from £16 to £22.50 – a further £260 over the school year.

It's the second year in a row that the bus company has raised its prices for schoolchildren, following a previous 40% increase in September last year.

It means the price of a weekly travel pass has nearly doubled in just 12 months from £11.80 to £22.50 – an increase of 91%.

The price hike affects those with children attending Corpus Christi High School, Fulwood Academy and other schools in Preston, and some parents say they are worried they will struggle to find the extra cash amid the rising cost of living.

Amid with the biggest cost of living crisis in a generation, with increasing food prices, mortgage rates and energy costs, the new bus prices mean many families will see their finances stretched even further in the months to come.

But Preston Bus told the Post it has no choice but to hike prices if it is to avoid withdrawing the services altogether. It said the school services are “heavily loss making” due to rising wages and the cost of spare parts for its fleet of buses. You can read the company’s full statement below.

Mum Joanne Riley, whose two children attend Corpus Christi High School, learned of the new prices in a message from the school on the last day of term (Friday, July 21).

She said: “This is not good news for parents like myself that have two children at school. It’s now going to cost us £45 a week for my children to catch the bus to school.

"That’s £180 a month – £52 a month more than it cost us this year.

“Both myself and my husband work, so we don’t claim benefits and we’re not eligible for free school bus pass.

"Neither of us are getting a pay rise at work and with the cost of living continuing to rise, it just feels like struggling working parents like ourselves are being penalised yet again.

"This past year they also cancelled one school bus so now there is only two buses instead of three and sometimes my children don't even get a seat!

Corpus Christi High School said it was “shocked and very disappointed” at the bus company’s decision to further raise prices, with many of its 750 pupils taking the bus to school each day.

Breaking the news to parents, the school said: “We have been informed by Preston Bus that they will once again be increasing the price of the day, week and termly bus passes.

"They have stated that from September, the cost of a weekly bus pass will increase from £16 to £22.50. The same increase has been applied to other schools.

"We are shocked and very disappointed with this decision and we are working hard to find a solution to support parents and carers.

"However, we do not have any control over the bus company. We will provide more information later in the summer holiday once we have exhausted all possible alternatives.

“We are sorry to give you this news as we finish the term and we encourage you to raise your concerns directly with Preston Bus to strengthen our case.”

What do Preston Bus say about the latest price hike?

A spokesman for Preston Bus, a subsidiary of Rotala, said: “It is with regret that we have to increase our fares on these services, however due to rising wages and increases in spare parts costs this has meant these services are heavily loss making.

"We have discussed the situation we are faced with for some time with both the schools and Lancashire County Council to try and find a solution other than a fare increase to reflect the costs of operating the services.

"Unfortunately, no alternative funding streams have been identified which has led us to this situation.

"We are continuing discussions with LCC, with the suggestion that BSIP funding (Bus service improvement plans) is used to subsidise the costs.

"These services will be reviewed in the coming months to ensure they are now viable which should hopefully avoid them being withdrawn altogether.

"We are committed to providing high quality, reliable school bus services for pupils of these schools.

"The increase in fares will allow us to continue operating these services and means we don't have to cancel the services entirely.

"Certain parents may be entitled to free home to school travel for their children and we recommend you check the LCC website more information.”

Lancashire County Council were approached for comment.