HEREFORDSHIRE risks becoming one of the only counties in England where bus passengers are left paying full fare while the rest of the country benefits from a capped £2 bus ticket - unless the county's dominant operators act before the scheme's January 1, 2027 start date.

England's national bus fare cap, funded by the Department for Transport, limits the price of most single bus journeys to £3 currently, falling to £2 from January.

But Herefordshire's two largest local operators, Sargeants Bros and Yeomans Travel - between them responsible for the routes to the north and west of the city, do not currently participate in this government funded scheme.

But unless that changes, thousands of people across the county could be excluded from the scheme altogether.

"This isn't a technicality - it's the difference between whether a young person living in. a market town can actually afford to take a job or apprenticeship offer in Hereford, or whether the bus fare alone puts it out of reach," said Tammy Gerber, spokesperson for Buses4Us, which campaigns for the Daffodil Line and rural bus access across the Ledbury–Newent–Ross-on-Wye corridor.

She added: "Picture a young person starting their first job, travelling from Ross-on-Wye into Hereford. On a Stagecoach or DRM bus, from January that's a £2 fare - £4 for the return.

“But someone doing the equivalent journey from Leominster to Hereford, on a route where operators still haven't joined the fare cap scheme, could be paying over £6 for a single and over £9 for the return.

“For someone on a first-job wage doing that commute five days a week, that's an extra £1,200 a year - just on bus fares. In a cost-of-living crisis we believe no-one should be missing out on this.

“Herefordshire's operators need to get with the programme before January 2027 and not leave young people to find out the hard way that they've been left behind."

National survey data also shows a sharp drop in passengers' willingness to pay once fares climb above £2.50, reinforcing the case for the lower cap rather than the £3-plus fares some operators have since moved to.

Herefordshire’s own 232 Daffodil Line service, which has held a £2 fare since its launch in 2023, continues to enjoy strong year on year passenger growth, at a time when patronage on other services in the county is shrinking.

"Operators who opt out are not just making a commercial choice - they're making a choice about who gets to work, to study, and to take part in this county's economy, and who doesn't," said Les Lumsdon, Rail & Bus for Herefordshire.

"The government has put money on the table specifically to protect fares at £2. Every month that Herefordshire's operators stay outside the scheme is a month where that support goes unclaimed and passengers pay the price.

“We're asking Sargeants Bros and Yeomans Travel to do the socially responsible thing: rethink their position, even if it's a little inconvenient commercially, and confirm publicly that they'll join the scheme in time for January 2027."