North East leaders have pleaded with the Government to act now to save bus passengers from being hit with yet more devastating cuts.
Ministers have been warned that they must offer to extend emergency cash support to bus companies in order to stave off another swathe of service reductions. Government grants have propped up struggling public transport providers suffering heavily reduced passenger numbers since the onset of the Covid pandemic.
But while patronage levels on North East buses are still roughly 25% down on pre-Covid times, the Bus Recovery Grant is due to expire at the start of October. There are fears across the North of England that private bus companies will soon announce a raft of new cuts if the funding is discontinued.
