Carlisle passengers cash in on Stagecoach and Reays bus fares battle
Stagecoach is reducing the pricing of its Dayrider bus ticket in Carlisle, just as rival Reays has increased fares.
But Reays is fighting back with cut-price tickets of its own, including a winter sale allowing passengers to travel for £1 before 9.30am.
The tit-for-tat initiatives are the latest twist in an increasingly hard-fought battle for passengers.
The reduction in Stagecoach’s Dayrider, which gives a day’s unlimited travel, is the third since Reays set up in competition in October 2010.
The Dayrider used to cost £3.60. Stagecoach cut the price to £2.90, then £2.60.
Now the ticket is available for £2, albeit only as a promotion until February 29.
This undercuts Reays’ day ticket, which costs £2.50.
Colin Nicholson, commercial assistant for Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire, denied that the move was a response to competition from Reays.
However, Stagecoach is not reducing the price of Dayriders elsewhere in Cumbria.
Mr Nicholson said: “It’s all part of our winter sales promotion.”
Stagecoach is also offering incentives on some unlimited-travel Megarider tickets through its website
www.stagecoachbus.com.
These apply across Cumbria, not just Carlisle.
Passengers buying a four-week Megarider until March 31 get an extra week’s travel free.
And those buying the 13-week Megarider pass before February 29 get an extra three weeks.
Meanwhile, Reays has hit back with the £1 offer and a new Double Hopper ticket.
This allows passengers to buy two tickets anywhere on the Carlisle City Hopper network for £2.
The second journey does not have to be on the same day as the first.
It also plans to launch a Multi Hopper ticket from Monday, offering 10 journeys for £6.
Reays’ basic fares increased by up to 57 per cent from January 3.
However, its unlimited-travel tickets have not gone up.
Chris Reay, managing director of Reays, said: “We are still the cheapest way to travel in Carlisle.
“The fares increase was unavoidable because of a combination of factors beyond our control, including a cut in government subsidies, cuts in local authority concessionary subsidies and rising oil prices.”
Reays says it has new buses on order and plans for more routes.
Mr Reay added: “Since we launched City Hopper in Carlisle it has become cheaper and cheaper for the public to use buses in the city, while the standard of vehicles and service has risen.
“This is no coincidence. Our presence smashed Stagecoach’s monopoly, which had allowed them to charge what they liked for years with no opposition or alternative."
