BUS journeys in the North East now cost just £1 for all passengers aged 21 and under – but transport chiefs have admitted that services must become more reliable to make the offer a success.

Young people across Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, and County Durham can now get the reduced fare rate on almost all bus services across the region, as well as on the Tyne and Wear Metro and Shields Ferry, in the latest step in a drive to make public transport more affordable.

Cheaper prices and multi-modal tickets for adults to allow for seamless travel around the North East are also due to launch later this year.

But after a torrid time for passengers since the onset of the Covid pandemic, since when the bus network has struggled amid delays, cancellations, and cuts to timetables, Martin Gannon, who chairs the Joint Transport Committee, says that services must get better to ensure they are a “reasonable alternative” to cars.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “It is fantastic news, of course it is brilliant to have young people under 22 being able to travel for £1. It is exactly what we need – people travelling by public transport, reducing congestion, and making it easy and affordable.

“The issue is reliability – it is great having a £1 bus fare, as long as there is a bus there.”

There had been fears that private bus operators in the North East were about to slash their services by up to 20 per cent earlier this year, before a Government relief fund was extended to the end of June – continuing to prop up routes while ridership numbers remain below pre-Covid levels.

The region’s bus operators had already slashed their mileage by 15 per cent in 2022.

Cllr Gannon said the network remains under “enormous strain” and that the business model for running buses had been “destroyed” – as he called for Government support to become a permanent fixture in order to guarantee services’ future.

The new £1 fare initiative has been funded via the Department for Transport, following the awarding of £168m for a North East Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIP).

Roads minister Richard Holden told the LDRS that he hoped that the North East would act as a pilot area for the cheaper fare to be rolled out across the UK.

The North West Durham MP added: “Particularly for people in rural areas like mine, or Hexham, or Bishop Auckland, often those journeys can be quite expensive at the moment. It used to be a fiver to go from Hexham to Newcastle, so to reduce a £10 return journey down to £2 is absolutely transformational.”