Bus firm's fares hike 'confusing'

A BUS company's decision to impose a controversial fare increase on services using transport interchanges in South Yorkshire is causing confusion among passengers, it was claimed today.

Operators Stagecoach started charging 10p extra on fares last month for services using interchanges such as Sheffield, Meadowhall, Crystal Peaks and Rotherham, following a row with the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive.

Stagecoach claims it has been forced to impose the fares hike because SYPTE charges it every time one of its buses drives in or out of an interchange.

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But today Mick Jameson, chair of South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority, attacked the fares rise which he said was confusing passengers - and said he had now complaned to Minister of State for Transport, Rosie Winterton.

Coun Jameson also revealed a ‘misleading’ leaflet issued by Stagecoach had now been withdrawn by the company following complaints by the Authority.

He said charges for the use of transport interchanges in the region had always been levied by the PTE - but other companies such as First has chosen not to pass on the charges to their passengers as part of an agreement over concessionary fares across the region.

“Departure charges have always been levied in South Yorkshire and since 1999 were netted off the concessionary fares reimbursement. This year we separately identified the departure charges from the sums needed for concessionary fares reimbursement. We have reached agreement locally on both issues with all other operators,” said Coun Jameson.

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“Stagecoach, however, have chosen to appeal against the level of reimbursement they will receive from the concessionary fares scheme. In addition they said they would need to raise fares due to the impact of the decision on concessionary fares and in August they introduced an additional 10p charge for passengers using interchanges.

“Subsequently they published a leaflet which is seriously misleading, in that it says SYPTA has introduced departure charges when it has not done so and quotes inaccurate figures.

“Stagecoach are also actively encouraging people not to use interchanges which SYPTE has built using public finds to encourage more people to use public transport in South Yorkshire.”

Paul Lynch, Stagecoach Yorkshire managing director, said: “It is extremely unfortunate that the SYPTE has decided to introduce this charge at a time when the company is working very hard indeed to encourage people to travel by bus.

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“It is a great pity that we are having to pass on the bulk of these departure charges to our customers but the sums involved are too high for us to absorb without seriously affecting our business and the improvements we are making.”

Stagecoach says a typical 10-minute frequency route with buses running 13 hours a day, six days a week, attracts a new departure cost of about 13,000 per year. Mr Lynch claims Stagecoach has been dealt a double whammy because the new charges are more than the amount they were awarded in the first place for concessionary fares.