As reported in the Peterborough Telegraph a Werrington mother is unhappy after discovering the cost of a return fare for children going by bus to Arthur Mellows Village College in Glinton, was to rise by 88%!

According to the article return tickets have risen from £2.50 to £4.70 for the Kimes Route 71 service from Queensgate to the college.

The article goes on to say that while a discounted rate for children aged under 14 at £1.75 single and £3.30 return, will apply, it does NOT take away the fact that parents only found out after a letter from bus firm was brought home after the first day back at school!

Commenting local LIB DEM ward Councillor, Darren Fower, said:

“The company say that the fare change aims to encourage more people to buy season tickets (a cost of £224 for over 14s and £156.80 for under 14s for the autumn term), but they fail to realise that not everyone has £200 sitting around unused! Annual  tickets cost for example, are £592 for over 14s and £414.40 for under 14s!

“Quite simply this seems like profiteering to me? And given the need to encourage alternatives modes of transport in this city, I don’t think this is the way to go about it. Some youngsters maybe able to cycle, for example, but the cycle ways need more money to be spent on them and dare I say, this is a clear reaction to the Tory controlled Councils cut backs to bus subsidies for school children in recent years.”

A spokesperson for the bus firm told the Telegraph that “…a solution proposed earlier this year for some pupils to use the council-subsidised 413 service had been rejected by the college as it required students to walk outside of the college grounds to catch it.”