Edinburgh bus and tram fares to rise

Bus and tram passengers in Edinburgh and the Lothians are facing fares increases later this month.

Lothian Buses and Edinburgh Trams have announced adult single fares are to go up from £2.20 to £2.40 while a child's ticket will cost £1.20 - up from £1.10. Day tickets will also increase by 50p, to £6.

NightBus single fares (1 zone A/B) and Airlink Airport bus single and return fares will remain at the same price.

Fares will increase from Sunday 22 February.

Lothian Country and East Coast Buses are also included in the price fare hikes.

The bus service review will also include changes to services in west Edinburgh and Midlothian, aimed at improving connections to new housing developments and local communities.

These include:

• New local links in Midlothian for Bonnyrigg, Hopefield, Cockpen, Brixwold and Dalkeith
• West Craigs added to the bus network when infrastructure becomes available
• New links between Shandon, Slateford, Chesser and Edinburgh Park and the Gyle Centre
• A direct link between Rosewell and Edinburgh city centre, running throughout the day, seven-days a week

Sarah Boyd, chief executive for Lothian and Edinburgh Trams, said the season ticket Ridacard continued to offer the lowest possible fares for travel across the city.

"Since our last fares review, we have experienced significant cost increases across all areas of our businesses," she said.

"Despite taking steps to mitigate these pressures and absorb some of the impact, rising costs continue to affect our operations.

"With all fare revenue going directly back into the running of a comprehensive public transport network, our decision to increase fares at this time will allow us to continue to prioritise investment in our fleet, our premises, our people and our customer offering."

She said the rise will protect services in the long term.